I have been a professional writer for 30+ years, working as everything from reporter to various features-story section editors (religion, food, music, etc.), to newspaper assistant editor, to three stints as features editor at two very different newspapers.
At heart, I am a features guy, bringing creative techniques to bear on telling true stories. The one constant for me, even now in doing public relations work, is that you always try to serve the story, and you never forget your audience, as that’s the key to how you’re going to tell your tale.
What follows are links to a tiny fraction of what is now countless written works that I have produced professionally through the years. These stories, ranging from very short to, in one case, extremely long, give a good indication of my skills, and my ability to adapt to an assignment. Some pieces are very serious; a few are quite lighthearted. All, I feel, succeed after all this time on their own merits.
At 79, music royalty B.B. King has become the style he plays
Greenville (N.C.) embraces ‘Chernobyl baby,’ mending his heart, changing its own
Newspaper column about one of life’s unexpected, utterly unforgettable moments
* “Among the finest (columns) our newspaper has ever published.” — Daily Reflector Executive Editor Al Clark
the revolution will be harmonized
South African traditionalists Ladysmith Black Mambazo still raise uncanny voices for change
born and brewed in a small town *
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Farmville’s best-kept secret
* Story was picked up by the state wire, appearing in newspapers all across North Carolina.
Newspaper column: A personal eulogy for Shine, for us all
