My wife Logan had a piece published in the New York Times this weekend, and I couldn’t be more delighted for her. We met in 2008 when we were working at the same newspaper in Portland, Oregon. We only knew each other on a casual basis but you can read the wedding story for the details, if you’re interested. She moved to New York and started a personal finance blog for young people called The Billfold. It was very good. I was struck by her ambition. I have always said that Logan is the best writer I know, and I stand by that. She doesn’t believe in AI, she always has her own take on things, and it’s always original. It’s hard to acknowledge when you’re married to a better writer, when you’re a writer. But that’s what this is. She gets the medal. She is brilliant.
Her career took a bit of a foray into writing for tech startups. Would you believe there was a time before AI convinced them all that real writing was for losers? Despite her brilliance many of these companies treated her in an appalling way. As her husband it was hard to watch. One company didn’t give structured vacation (“take us much as you want!”, a.k.a “none”) but did promise plenty of money if they went public, in the form of shares. Instead, the founders missed the boat to do that, and eventually sold out at a basement price, then laid off a bunch of their staff, who all got nothing. Less than nothing. They once spent close to a million dollars on a TV commercial nobody watched. And we still had to pay a huge tax bill on the worthless equity stake in these jokers. I gather the founders’ multi-million-dollar house, which they presumably bought with their proceeds from the sale, recently burned down in the California fires.
[Musters self-control]. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Sincerely. Sincerely! How awful. Although I did once have a yoga friend whose childhood home burned down, and she described it as a tremendously educational experience in the value of non-attachment. But still. Awful.
Since then, Logan has been working on a few different projects. She started a successful consultancy working with a variety of impressive clients. While doing so, she realized that her strength and passion has always been editing great writing. Whether that’s for the Internet or elsewhere. She is also a very private person and hates to put her business on the street. She’ll want to murder me for writing any of this. Sorry, love! I didn’t show it to you first because you’d have talked me out of it!
She’s been a fantastic daughter to her grieving father after the tragic loss of her mum last year. I couldn’t believe how strongly she supported her mum through the last weeks and days. “Hero” doesn’t do it justice. She’s been a supportive and loving sister to her wonderful brother. She’s been a loving and joyful mother to our son Freddy. She’s been a great friend to her many and interesting friends. She’s been a supportive and understanding wife. I often tell people that I wouldn’t have made a success of my business if I hadn’t had her counsel. She pulls me off various ledges daily. I tend to want to get a little too much justice sometimes. She tends to tell me, “Their cat may have died, Matt.” Usually we meet in the middle and that’s priceless. Although in fact, I can put a number on it, not that a marriage is all about ROI. This isn’t a tech startup. She also makes me a nicer person, and I can’t tell you what a relief that is when you walk around being this guy.
More good news: This week, Logan has started a fulltime job as an Assistant Editor at Slate. She’ll be editing columns for their advice section. I know that the publication will benefit in a huge way from having her around, not just because this is the perfect job for her but also because I know first-hand how good she is at giving great advice. I’m very proud of her patience and dedication in getting this job, and again, to have such a brilliant writer and person choose to stay married to me. We celebrated five years of marriage last month and I hope she’ll chose to re-up for at least another five. I’m not always an easy person to be married to. I realize that. I love her, I’m grateful for her, and I am proud of her. What more can I say? It’s a blessing I don’t deserve. Also, if anybody is thinking about treating her in a bad way over the coming months please do give me a call for a chat. I promise I’ll talk you out of it, South London-style, whatever may have happened to your cat recently.
Thanks for reading, as always. Please share this email with anybody you feel might appreciate it.
Matt Davis is a strategic communications consultant in Manhattan.
