Dear Jan:

I read with sadness and celebration Pauline Beecroft's editorial "Passing the Torch" in the March 2002 issue of Clinical Nurse Specialist. I have worked closely with Dr Beecroft on a variety of NACNS activities over the past 5 years, including the writing of the Statement on Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education. Dr Beecroft and I represented NACNS at the annual AACN meeting in San Diego. We had the opportunity to present to this dean's group the statement and answer their questions about how the statement added to and complemented the AACN Essentials of Master's Education statement. Dr Beecroft is a champion of the NACNS' Statement on Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education. She has always been very active at the NACNS Annual Conferences and usually presented well-attended and highly regarded preconferences on writing for publication.

The sadness I experienced when reading the editorial was associated with Dr Beecroft's passing of the torch and how much she has given to CNSs in general and to the NACNS organization. Her commitment to staying true to her dreams by creating a venue for CNSs to share and learn from each other through Clinical Nurse Specialist is a contribution for which many CNSs have and will continue to benefit. Without dreamers such as Dr Beecroft, NACNS would not have had the wonderful history upon which to build its future. As Orison Marden once said: "All men [and women] who have achieved great things have been great dreamers." Dr Beecroft was one of our pioneer dreamers who turned her dreams into realities so that we all could reap the benefits.

The celebration that I experienced was the enormous growth, visibility, and influence of CNSs that have grown out of Dr Beecroft's legacy to NACNS. For NACNS to understand its future, it must be fully informed of its past. The future of NACNS is extremely bright because the "new generation of CNSs" can build and grow the organization built upon the efforts of our pioneers, such as Pauline.

My personal gratitude goes to Pauline for the legacy she has given to CNSs and NACNS. Thank you, Pauline!

April 1, 2001

Dr Jan Fulton

Interim Editor

Clinical Nurse Specialist

3969 Green St

Harrisburg, PA 17110

Nancy E. Dayhoff, EdD, RN