Warwick Sabin

Sabin, a New York native, attended the American Legion Boys State program and represented New York at Boys Nation. He met former Pres. Bill Clinton “30 years to the day that Clinton met late Pres. John F. Kennedy as a Boys Nation representative from Arkansas.” Sabin said, “That made a big impression on me, and during my senior year of high school, I received a letter from [University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (UA)], which I only opened because of my experience meeting Bill Clinton.” Sabin attended UA, moved for grad school and later returned to Arkansas to work for the Clinton Foundation. He last served there before joining the staff at UCA.

OA was founded in 1992 in Oxford, Miss., and renowned author John Grisham became publisher soon thereafter, according to Sabin. In 2002, the magazine was purchased by At Home Publishing Group, which no longer exists. However, the publication still experienced financial difficulties. Sabin, Mark Smirnoff, OA founder/editor, and others brainstormed to save the magazine. At Home paid the magazine’s debts and turned it over to UCA in 2004. Last year, former operations manager Renae Maxwell allegedly embezzled more than $100,000, according to Sabin. UCA loaned OA $140,000 last April and asked Sabin to become publisher; he receives no compensation for his work. This February, an anonymous donor gave OA $100,000, erasing its IRS debt. Maxwell's trial is set for May 7, according to the Faulkner County Prosecutors Office.

Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods, one of the region's most respected marketing firms, recently became the agency of record for OA. Sabin said, “We hope to soon write the final chapter in OA’s business troubles, so the only news to report is about its great stories.”