Georgia Bulletin’s New Executive Editor Named

By ERIKA ANDERSON, Staff Writer

Published: September 4, 2003

ATLANTA—Bringing with her a wealth of experience in corporate writing and editing as well as a special enthusiasm for serving the Catholic Church, Mary Anne Castranio has been named executive editor of The Georgia Bulletin.

Her appointment was effective Aug. 25.

Castranio, 46, holds a bachelor’s degree in English education from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., as well as a master’s degree in English education from Georgia State University and a master’s degree in technical communication from what is now Southern Polytechnic University in Marietta.

For 23 years, Castranio worked on a software development team as an information developer, first at IBM, and later for MAPICS, Inc., an Alpharetta-based company. Castranio served primarily as a technical writer, but wore many hats, she said.

“For all those years, I was with the same people doing the same thing,” she said. “I think it instilled in me a faithfulness and loyalty.”

A victim of workforce reduction in 2001, Castranio went in search of something new.

In 2002, she began work as a contractor at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a biomedical writer and editor for a scholarly journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases. Though a big change from her former position as a technical writer, Castranio welcomed the challenge.

“(In my career) I have really learned respect for the individual as well as discipline in approaching a job,” she said. “My work at CDC was extremely detailed.”

A native of Cary, N.C., Castranio grew up as one of four children in an active Catholic family. Despite few Catholics in their hometown, the Castranios made their church the center of their lives. So when she moved to Atlanta in 1979, Castranio immediately became active at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Atlanta.

A piano player since she was 8 years old, Castranio served on the liturgy and music ministry committees at OLA, worked with the youth group and taught in the parish school of religion. Now residing in Kennesaw, Castranio plays the piano for the 9 a.m. Mass at St. Joseph’s Church in Marietta, where she is a parishioner.

“The church has just always been there for me and I’ve always been active. I used to wonder, ‘How can I do this for a living?’” she said. “This job is like a dream come true.”

Castranio realized another dream, when, in 1998, she adopted her daughter, Amy, from China.

“All of the happiness in my life comes from her,” she said, adding that her parents and siblings have welcomed her. “She is a great blessing to our family. They adore her.”

Active in the Atlanta adoption community, Castranio serves as president of the Atlanta chapter of Families With Children From China.

“I have many good friends in that community. It’s very supportive,” she said. “It’s great because Amy knows other families who look like ours.”

Castranio is enthusiastic about her new role as executive editor and said she will strive to make the paper the best it can be.

“This paper is what binds the Catholic community and is the direct means of communication for the archbishop,” she said. “It’s the way that parishes can find out what the others are doing. Communication is an essential part of our community.”

“I want the paper to be something that people look forward to. I want other dioceses to want to publish our articles and for a reader to cut an article out and send it to her mother in Iowa,” she said. “Whatever it is now, I want it to be more.”

You can contact Mary Anne at: mcastranio@georgiabulletin.org or editor@georgiabulletin.org.