Putting together an issue on “young alumni” can be an unsettling experience for an editor who no longer falls into that category, no matter how hard he tries.

Let me admit it right here at the start: I was born too late for MTV. Music Television premiered in August 1981, three months after my graduation from Holy Cross. The first video ever played on the network was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. The choice was more appropriate than I could have imagined. A child of radio, I saw the fledgling station as a novelty, a curiosity whose chance of survival was probably slim.

But then, I’m also the guy who told his younger sister, “In five years, this new singer, Madonna, will be a trivia question.”

I guess the lesson is—do not come to me for pop culture prophecy.

Twenty years after its debut, MTV is a mainstay of the culture and an entire generation has grown up on music videos. And these days, those videos are being introduced to us by Holy Cross’ own Dave Holmes ’94. Dave came to the Hill from St. Louis, Mo., and caught the acting bug while performing with the campus comedy troupe, The Crusadists. As you’ll read in his story, he paid his dues in classic aspiring-performer fashion until he beat the odds (4,000 to one, it turns out) to become everyone’s favorite video jock.

Elsewhere in the magazine, you’ll read about Kierán Suckling ’88, founder of The Center for Biological Diversity, a group The New Yorker has called one of the most powerful environmental organizations in the country. You will also read about Maria Ferré ’89 and Loren Ferré Rangel ’92, sisters who have turned their family-owned newspaper, El Nuevo Día, into the largest daily in Puerto Rico while simultaneously launching other publications and ventures.

When you’re done reading about these talented, intelligent, successful young people, maybe you could send me your suggestions for our “late bloomers” issue …

Jack O’Connell ’81