This editorial essay is based partly on the interview we had with the editor of the Journal of Public Administration, which this September edition marks a year of his editorship. The purpose of the interview was to understand his editorship vision, especially as it relates to what he consistently refers to in his writings as the principal unanswered question of the discipline. What exactly does this question mean? How is the public administration scholarship responding to it? What is the state of the discourse in the pages of the Journal in relation to the question, and its implications on the epistemological basis of the discipline? We term this exercise editing the editor. Connected to the theme of this editorial essay is the notion of intersection of parallels we use to characterise South Africa-United States dialogue, which part of its proceedings are recorded in this edition.