The Ashtabula Harbor Lift Bridge is basically the town’s mechanical celebrity, and watching it lift to let boats through never gets old no matter how many times you see it.

Print’s slower, less distracting pace supports the reflective engagement that stories often need, giving young readers room to inhabit a character’s emotions.

For seven years, Billy Rule wrote features for STM, including one heartbreaking tale that won a Walkley Award. To mark the magazine’s 21st birthday, he recounts the power of a story.