When looking for a new editorial team for Ocala Magazine, Publisher Linda Marks didn’t have to look too far. Ever the advocate of all things Ocala, Linda found exactly who she was looking for... right here.

“I conducted a national search and found the best editors already here in Ocala,” says Linda, “So I decided to ‘buy local.’”

She couldn’t have gotten much more local than native-born Ocalans Buddy Martin and Amy Mangan. On April 7, Ocala Magazine welcomed Martin as editor in chief and Mangan as executive editor of both Ocala Magazine and its quarterly special interest publication, Ocala Home Magazine. Martin and Mangan bring extensive journalism experience to the publications.

“Both Amy and I have been overwhelmed at the positive response from the friends and staff of Ocala Magazine,” Martin says. “We only ask that the staff and the readers be patient with us as we transition into our new roles. This is an exciting time for us and, hopefully, for everyone.”

Martin, an award-winning journalist who began his career at the Ocala Star Banner, has served in numerous editorial positions nationwide, including news features editor of the St. Petersburg Times, assistant managing editor of the Denver Post and sports editor of the New York Daily News. He also co-founded Sportstalk AM900 and AM1230 in Ocala/Gainesville in 1996, where he hosted the morning show for two years. He still does a weekly radio show in Denver.

Martin has won more than 160 state and national awards, including an Emmy for working with Terry Bradshaw on “The NFL Today” show at CBS Sports. A product of University of Florida School of Journalism, he currently serves in a voluntary capacity as co-creator of the Sports Journalism Summit at the Poynter Media Institute in St. Petersburg.

“This is a dream job to be editor of the best publication in my home town, with a chance to work with such a talented team,” says Martin. “I’m especially gratified to work alongside one of my favorite people, Amy Mangan, a highly respected writer and columnist and one of the brightest young editors in the business.”

Mangan has served in editorial positions for Ocala Style Magazine including editor of “The Style Book,” the magazine’s first home and garden book. She has been published in Southern Living Magazine and Better Homes and Gardens’ Creative Home Magazine. She has served as an editorial contributor for Southern Accents Magazine and assisted in developing their well-received “Sense of Place” editorial feature. She is a former columnist for the Ocala Star Banner.

“I’m excited to be a part of the magazine that helped launch my journalism career as a writer,” Mangan says.

1. Martin has written seven books, including the authorized biography of Urban Meyer (“Urban’s Way,” St. Martin’s Press). Go Gators!

2. While some women have charge accounts at Saks Fifth Avenue or their favorite department stores, Mangan has a charge account at the Hungry Bear drive-through and a local convenience store.

3. Buddy’s sister, the late Shirley Lovell Ritch, was instrumental in the establishment of the Historical Ocala Preservation Society, serving as co-founder of the organization. His family includes daughters Lori Gregory and Rebecca Simmons, son Brenden, two grandchildren — six-year old Gracie Bell and one-year-old Alexander — and his wife Joni, Martin’s “biggest fan and cheerleader and best friend.” But it is his 10-pound Lhasa Apso, Rinny, who really runs the house.

4. Mangan has been married to another Ocala native, Mike Mangan, for 18 years. They have two children — three if you count their Chi Poo, Honey. “I love being with my family and friends,” she says. “I’m a volleyball and golf mom, which means I’m a human ATM.”

5. Martin pitched in the first Little League game ever played in Ocala.

6. While Mangan is decidedly Southern, she has managed to wean herself from finishing other people’s sentences.

7. Journalism is in Martin’s blood. Both his father and grandfather began their journalism careers at what is now the Ocala Star Banner.

8. Mangan is a voracious reader of fiction, non-fiction and has recently developed a passion for poetry. She ascribes to the motto, “A girl can never have too many books.”

9. “I’ve known Buddy Martin as a friend and colleague for more than 30 years,” says Peter Roy Clark, senior scholar and vice president of the Poynter Media Institute. “He will bring to his new job a level of experience second to none. Everywhere he’s gone he’s been a teaching editor, a person who teaches the craft to aspiring journalists.”

10.  “What sets Amy Mangan apart from the journalistic pack is the sheer joy she brings to each assignment, each story, each page of a magazine,” says Carolanne Griffith Roberts, planning editor at Southern Living Magazine. “She is a top-notch professional and will translate her city’s story in ways sure to delight and inform.”