Breen, first Fast Company editorial staffer, dies

Bill Breen, the first editorial staffer at Fast Company magazine when it started in 1995, died Thursday at the age of 69 due to pancreatic cancer.

William Taylor of Fast Company writes, “A few lessons of Bill’s tenure at Fast Company are that no one should ever be too busy or important to be kind, that there is never an excuse to miss an opportunity to put a colleague at ease, to show interest in them as a person, to be a force for calm in moments of panic and confusion. Kindness and calm were Bill’s superpowers.

“Polly LaBarre, one of Fast Company’s essential figures in the startup years, ran the magazine’s ‘front-of-the-book’ section, Report From the Future. In her tribute to Bill, she said she thought of him as ‘a model and a mentor, not just in terms of magazines and career, but as a human being. I can’t remember an interaction with you when you were not unfailingly generous and kind and oh-so wise. You were the eye of the hurricane, a center of calm amidst the swirling storm.’

“Kate Kane, one of the youngest staffers at the magazine, explained why she still thinks of Bill every winter. Apparently, Kate got lots of colds during those work-around-the-clock days, especially when the Boston weather turned chilly. Bill pulled her aside one day and told her, ‘Listen, you are not wearing a scarf often enough, and when you do wear one, you are not wearing it properly.’ To this day, Kate said, ‘When it gets cold in the winter, I think about you, I think about my scarf, and I put it on properly.'”

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