Nancy Nitchie
Nancy Nitchie is the co-founder of Banjo Newsletter with her husband, Hub Nitchie, and the founder of the Maryland Banjo Academy. The family lived on Martha's Vineyard from 1970 to 1972, and she and Hub started the magazine after returning to Maryland, publishing the first issue from Annapolis in November 1973. She took over its business side as manager, handling subscriptions, addressing, and mailing, while Hub wrote and edited. In the 1980s their children Don, Emily, and Spencer helped with the work. Hub died in 1992, and Don and Spencer took over the publication in 1993. In 1996 she began organizing the Maryland Banjo Academy in Hub's memory, as a successor to the Tennessee Banjo Institute. She worked with the magazine's columnists and had encouragement from Pete Seeger and John Hartford, though some well-known banjo players resisted the idea at first. With help from local banjo players Reed Martin and Ray Hesson, she chose the Claggett Center in Buckeystown, Maryland, as the site. The first academy, in April 1997, drew about 200 students and 30 to 40 teachers. It was held four times, in 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2002.