National Geographic editor uncovers wonders of our world

Whether landing on Arctic ice to interview frost-bitten members of a dogsled expedition team or guiding writers in the discovery and telling of stories about the wonders of our planet, Lynn Addison says she has enjoyed every step of her career at National Geographic.

A graduate of the Stanford University graduate program in journalism, Addison’s first job was with Time-Life Books, where she spent six years writing and editing a series of home repair books. “It was good training in how to write clearly and chronologically,” she says.

Addison’s talents soon took her beyond the world of two-by-fours and into the National Geographic Society’s world “and all that is in it.” In 1984, she started as a book editor and often traveled for the sake of understanding a story. It was then that she and a photographer made a trip to the Arctic Ocean, where they were involved in a series of crashing-down and flying-back-up maneuvers that tested the ice before landing the plane (a process that the other passengers neglected to mention beforehand). Their mission was to interview and take photos of the 1986 Steger Expedition that was attempting to re-enact Admiral Peary’s1909 dogsled trip to the North Pole. They flew on a Twin Otter that was sent to pick up a group of sled dogs that were no longer needed for the expedition.

“When Peary made the trip, he killed the surplus dogs and fed them to the other dogs. Flying those extra dogs out is how the Steger Expedition addressed modern sensibilities,” Addison explains. “But, the team gave us the wrong coordinates, and we couldn’t find them at first. They had already waited three days for us while we sat through a blizzard, unable to fly out of Resolute, Canada. I got off the plane and confronted 42 dogs, six men and one woman. The explorers were frostbitten and exhausted. I couldn’t bear to ask them anything. They were miserable. I just stared at them and watched the photographer work. Then the team piled 21 dogs on the plane and warned, ‘Don’t even look at them. They are really, really hungry.’ So I didn’t.”

After six years in the book division and eight years with National Geographic Traveler magazine, Addison now is “pretty stationary” in her role as senior editor at National Geographic magazine, where she’s worked since 1998. From her office in Washington, D.C., she leads readers around the globe and beyond. Her work involves choosing story topics, assigning writers, determining how each story should be covered, deciding where writers might travel and giving input on how the story will be visualized.

“It’s a challenge to find really wonderful writers who can tell all kinds of stories. It’s not an easy job to get an assignment at National Geographic. We invest a huge amount in gathering materials, so we don’t hire untested writers,” Addison says.

When the manuscript comes in, Addison edits the story in a back-and-forth process with the writer and passes it along to the magazine’s rigorous research department.

Established in 1888 by Alexander Graham Bell and others, National Geographic has always been known for its unfailingly positive view of the world, Addison says: “Our readers have definite tastes. We can’t venture too far into the political world or areas that are controversial. But, in the past decade we’ve covered topics, like slavery in the 21st century, where there’s not such a great deal of hope in the end. We want a balance.

“We have always been able to go very broadly, looking at anything to do with Earth’s issues, environments, cultures… anything that defines what’s on the planet. It’s the world’s best job.”

– Sharon Huss Roat AS ’87