Longtime Small Market Meetings contributor Ann Witmer died last month after a battle with multiple myeloma, a type of cancer.
Witmer was a lifelong writer and editor who began a second career in travel journalism 1994. Her articles appeared in Small Market Meetings for the better part of the last decade, and she continued to contribute to the magazine through last year while also battling her illness.
“No matter where Ann went to research and report stories for Small Market Meetings, I would always hear the same refrain from those she met along the way: ‘We love Ann. She is so professional and so much fun to work with,’” said former editor Vickie Mitchell. “That’s just what you want to hear as an editor — that those who are representing your publication are representing it well.
“But beyond that, Ann was a fine writer who was always able to capture the sense of a place. Her stories were fresh, fun and full of energy and interesting information. She made things come to life on the page.
“I personally will miss her; we had become good friends as we worked together all these years. And I know the readers of Small Market Meetings will miss her stories.”
In addition to writing for this magazine, Witmer contributed a weekly travel column called “Not Far by Car” to her home newspaper, the Patriot-News, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and published other travel articles in a variety of outlets.
