This one's pretty unexpected. Susan L. Taylor, who was Essence's EIC from 1981-2000 and the mag's publication director from 2000-2007, is stepping down. Taylor was with the mag since 1970(!) and she's helped turn the publication into one of Time Warner's top-performing titles since the mag's acquisition by the megafirm.

Taylor was the only single mother working at Essence when the magazine started in 1970 and she helped launch the careers of Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Edwidge Danticat among others.

Like many a successful press guru, she's moving on to a new project: the National Cares Mentoring Movement