Steve Charles Knows His Business is People
by Brooky Brown
Steve Charles could have been a hermit. That’s how much he loves solitude. But the Wabash College Director of Publications, Wabash Magazine editor, and father of six has learned it’s people that make the solitude rich.  "Thomas Merton said it something like this: ‘We don’t go into the wilderness to escape people, but to come back to love others better,’’" Charles said. "I’m solitary. I like to be alone, but I’ve learned that it’s really the connections with the people you meet that make life meaningful."
Charles has worked at Wabash for 10 years, and before that his career, whether in magazines or newspapers, centered on writing and publishing. "Before Wabash I thought it was all about stories, but here I’ve learned it’s the people behind the stories," he said. Charles gains richness and insight from the Wabash students he watches learn and mature during their four years on campus. An example is Carlos Carrillo, who on a trip to Chiapas, Mexico met an anthropologist and medic. "Carlos told me he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, but he wanted to be a man like that man," Charles said. Carrillo also visited Peru where he was in a car accident and afterwards told Charles he couldn’t wait any longer to make a difference in the world. "On his last day in Peru, where he was helping remodel an orphanage, Carrillo donated his pay check back to the orphanage," Charles said. "These students teach me." As an editor, Charles admits deadlines and production can sometimes sentence him to a desk. "But anytime I begin to wonder why I’m here, I go to the classroom and watch the students and that makes it worth getting up in the morning." The man who writes important messages on the palm of his hand after his palm pilot batteries died, has figured out what his calling is. "I was put here to connect people through stories," he said. "I enjoy the editor-writer relationship and trying to get people to go deeper." In some ways Charles has come full circle. Writing other people’s stories is his profession, but recently he’s applied it to his family when his father was dying. "I got my father’s stories. I learned that on the job and took it back to my family," he said. "I tape recorded him, and I took pictures over a three-year period. It’s important to tell your children these stories – the good and the bad." Charles loves his work, but his family is his center. "I’ve been married a long time, and I’ve raised six kids," he said. "While I love the job, balance is very important to me. The family has always supported me in the job, but my anchor is at home." Charles said the best advice he can offer others for living successfully is advice his brother gave him. "Show up, pay attention, tell the truth and don’t anticipate the outcome."  Brown is a reporter for the Paper of Montgomery County.
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