This issue marks the official retirement of Jim Blackman as Editor of Infants and Young Children (IYC). As most readers know, Jim was the founding and sole editor to date of IYC. Under Jim's stewardship during the last 15 years, IYC has produced nearly 60 issues and approximately 500 articles. But this quantitative perspective provides only a glimmer of the extraordinary impact that Jim's vision and hard work have had on the field of early intervention. More than anyone else, Jim saw the need for and means to bring research and innovative practices to the attention of all those involved in the field of early intervention. Through some mysterious technique, Jim was somehow able to encourage contributors to IYC to adhere to rigorous standards of analysis and description, yet convey the information in a manner that allowed readers to incorporate the information into their practice or to challenge them to consider alternative approaches. The balanced presentations of controversial topics and the general integrity of the articles published in IYC are clear reflections of Jim's intellectual integrity and his profound understanding of the field of early intervention.

After receiving his medical degree from Ohio State University, Jim completed his pediatric residency at the University of Michigan. This was followed immediately by a year of training in ambulatory pediatrics where he was a senior resident at Children's Hospital in Boston (Harvard Medical School). In the next three years, Jim completed his fellowship at Boston Children's in developmental pediatrics. After 8 years as a faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Iowa, Jim moved to the University of Virginia where he is now Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Research at the Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center and Research Institute. During this time, Jim was active in the full spectrum of activities; teaching, clinical work, and research. He has maintained a special interest and made important contributions to our field in the areas of early identification of developmental disabilities, the evaluation of muscle relaxant drugs for children with cerebral palsy, feeding problems during infancy, follow-up of high risk infants, and public policy for children with special health care needs. Jim received his MPH degree in 1987 from San Diego State University, and has maintained a strong interest in and substantially contributed to many issues regarding health care policy.

Despite the demands of his professional activities, Jim found time to share his passion for communication not only through his clinical teaching, but also through developing various instructional technologies that could be used on a wider scale. It was through IYC, however, that Jim was able to fully realize his commitment and vision to enhance the development of vulnerable young children and to support and strengthen their families. To that end, no one encouraged our field more than Jim to think in an integrated, interdisciplinary manner when engaged with children and families. As Jim stated in the very first issue of IYC in 1988 in his "From the Editor" column commenting on how our field should pursue the goals of P.L. 99-457: "We know that good intentions are not sufficient and that disciplinary isolation in training and therefore in service is not acceptable" (p. v). IYC has created a special and unique place for fostering interdisciplinary practice.

In many ways, quality interdisciplinary practice is a highly personal matter; an individual must have a strong motivation to collaborate with others, to vigorously seek their perspectives, and to critically, but thoughtfully consider how those perspectives can best be integrated into their own thinking. Certainly, this was part of Jim's makeup and resulting vision. As one of his original Editorial Board members noted: "[IYC] is a place where top flight researchers and practitioners from a variety of disciplines share their perspectives. The result has enriched us all." Another member of Jim's original Editorial Board nicely captured these important characteristics when discussing her experiences with Jim: "[horizontal ellipsis]he understands writers-the gentlest of pressures at just the right times, much encouragement, values simplicity and complexity, clarity and accuracy. He has a masterful range of the field, respects many different audiences, has been a seminal force in building a knowledge base for our field." A former colleague and Editorial Board member brought this into focus with her comment that: "Jim 'gets it' when it comes to interdisciplinary practice and bridging theory to practice issues."

Our field will be indebted to Jim forever for his remarkable vision and accomplishments.