Each month, SD/PEN selects one of its members at random to profile his or her background and experience. This month we are featuring Mika Ono, editorial director at the University of Redlands.
How do you describe what you do to someone whom you’ve just met at a networking function?
I’m a terrible networker, so I’d probably say, “I put out the alumni magazine for the University of Redlands.” I’m actually involved in many projects in addition to the magazine, including executive communications, web content, brochures, and social media. In the time I’ve been at the University of Redlands, I’ve found it to be a real gem—offering a genuinely warm community and commitment to personalized, student-centered education.
What made you decide to become a professional editor?
I love working with words. Text is like a puzzle that can be taken apart and put together again in just the right way to make a piece strong and meaningful.
What accomplishment are you most proud of professionally?
I try to be most proud of whatever project I’m working on at the moment—currently, the next issue of the University of Redlands alumni magazine, which explores how technology is reshaping so many areas of our lives, including politics, education, mapping, pop culture, and music.
I’ve also found my book projects particularly rewarding. I co-authored San Diego Book Award-winner Ancient Wisdom Modern Kitchen: Recipes from the East for Health, Healing, and Long Life (Da Capo Press) and worked on memoirs with some remarkable individuals, including a former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist minister who spent his career serving communities throughout California.
Tell us about a book you recently read that you would recommend.
I recently finished The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World (Cornerstone Publishers), which chronicles a conversation over five days between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I not only appreciated the two men’s insights on the human condition, but also the way their conversation illustrated commonalities between Christianity and Buddhism.
Another book I enjoyed was Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta (Simon and Schuster) by Richard Grant. This delightful chronicle tells of the writer’s experience moving from New York City to the Mississippi Delta, describing the culture, challenges, and people of this part of the South with fresh eyes.
Describe one thing about yourself that most people don’t know.
I’m a morning person with a vengeance. My most productive hours are between 5:00 and 9:00 a.m.
