I was awed at my first meeting with Ann Levison—whom I call the legend of the Harvard Post—some months ago. I had heard about her since I started covering Harvard news in 2004. People with past connections to the Post would tell me they had worked with Ann Levison, speaking her name with great import.

When I came to the Press last fall, I found her influence alive and well in its pages. She was an ardent supporter of this fledgling newspaper, read every issue cover to cover, and offered a critique on how each one could have been improved. She always pushed us to do better, and some of the changes that have evolved in the paper during the last several months are a direct result of her keen observations.

At our meeting—the only one I ever had with her—she laughed modestly when I actually called her “the legend of the Harvard Post.” She gave me some advice on things we could be doing better, and then added, “But you don’t have to do what I say—you’re the editor.” Coming from the Ann Levison, that suddenly sounded like a monumental responsibility.

Ann set the bar high for what a community newspaper should be, and in the process earned the respect and affection of those who worked with her during the heyday of the old Harvard Post.

We were all deeply saddened at her passing this week. But she will always be with us as we challenge ourselves to do better and ask ourselves, “What would Ann do?”

—L.K.