By Jesse Steele, Managing Editor

Kate came to us in March of 2008 as a proofreader and copyeditor and, while still being our goto editor for proof and copy work on nonfiction, has proven to be an outstanding resource for people writing business and instructional books, manuals, written materials to accompany video, and academic works.

She also happens to be the mother of our Managing Editor.

KJS: Sort of by default. When I worked in the phone company (it was still Ma Bell back then), my job originally was claims, which meant that I dealt with people inside the smaller companies all the time, and because I am an explainer by nature, they would come to me and ask questions they weren't about to ask anybody in personnel. The Bell system was breaking up into a number of small companies, and because there were so many new things, I started writing little manuals for different people in the company. Then I started getting invitations for talks for the American Society of Structural Engineers, civil engineers, a number of others. I would talk to them about all sorts of things, and then I ran into the fellow who was education director for the Associated General Contractors of America. He had seen something I had written and wanted to know if I would teach the class on letter and report writing that was part of the Superintendent curriculum that the AGC had. One thing led to another, and it grew from there. It was a matter of teaching a bunch of folks that did not value good writing, grammar or spelling to understand that they were judged on the quality of their written work. I taught them that everything you write, whether you intend it to be or not, is a page in your professional autobiography. What do you want your professional autobiography to say about you?

There was an older guy in one of my classes who was very grumpy about being there and resented it, then in the end was so proud of himself when his boss asked him to look over a letter before he sent it out. It was very rewarding work.

JS: What is it you like about working with business books?

KJS: Well, I particularly like the fact that in maybe the last eight to ten years more and more business books deal with the reality of human beings in the workplace as individuals and how individual realities matter and how they enrich the professional environment. Because when I started working there were some very basic ideas, and people were interchangeable, or were supposed to be. The idea of contributing was very nebulous. Community and business were recognized as being important to each other, but not officially. There was no such thing as bringing your personal stuff to work. What I like about working on business books now is helping the people who are trying to figure out how to make the workplace better. And seeing the different opinions and attitudes and ideas people have about that (about how you define better) is fascinating.

JS: I'm asking everyone this question. What was the first book that made you love books, your first literary love?

KJS: Wow. My first literary love. Boy. It's hard to say. I read a lot of books early, and they were too complicated for me to understand. I read Moby Dick when I was maybe ten, and you could study Moby Dick for half your life and never understand it all.

Probably Rudyard Kipling. My Grandmother had a library in one of the upstairs bedrooms of her house. I can remember sneaking up there to read, away from the hubbub. The Just So stories made sense to me. I appreciated them.

JS: If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

KJS: Oh, my. I would be able to read people accurately. To be able to understand how we are influenced by things that we ourselves don't see or aren't aware of because we're too close. That's what I'd like to be able to understand. Those incomprehensible, invisible powers or influences that make us human, that make us individuals.

JS: Okay, I know this is funny for me to ask because-well, it's me, but how do you like working with your daughter? Is it strange?

KJS: (Laughs) No. Because my attitude has always been that if we're lucky, we learn from our children. And I always felt that I learned a great deal being your mother. So for me, it's a perfectly natural development. You know, I think about "would my mother have been able to tolerate me being her boss?"

I have to admit to a certain amount of pride that you've gone out and discovered these things and made them yours. That's very satisfying. You've always tried to make your own way, to figure out where you fit, and I think that's marvelous.

I think there are lots of mothers, brothers, sisters and wives who wouldn't be able to work in a "you tell me what to do and I do it" kind of way, but in my case I've always respected your intellectual capacity, and the fact that we share a passion for writing, editing, and learning--that makes all the difference.

I mean, if we were manufacturing widgets or something, I think it might be very different.

The best part was the day that someone asked if you were my mother (chuckles).