Feb 8 2008 9:06AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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This month's cover story is our stab at the 10 most influential people in remodeling. And yes, we know it's 11 (we're counting Home Depot founders Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus as one). This prompted a series of discussions in our offices (Should we say "11 Most Influential"? Should we put an asterisk on the cover? Should we hope our readers can't count?) In fact, the debate is still ongoing even today, despite the fact that the issue's already out the door. These are the things editors argue about.

Even more difficult than that decision, though, was deciding who would make the list. We didn't want it to be just another list of the greatest remodelers (although we included two) or a rehash of the NAHB Remodeling Hall of Fame. What we tried to do was pick 10 (11) people that influenced the industry in ways people might not have thought of. We're hoping a few of them are surprising. Some were a little obscure (We didn't even know who Edwin Meredith was until we put the list together. I was actually sent out of one meeting with the mission of finding out who started Better Homes & Gardens.)

We'd love to know what you think, because even we don't all agree these are the 10. Tell us who you think should have been included and who we should have kicked off. Heck, if you're going to be in Orlando next week for IBS, you can track us down and tell us in person.