The long and winding road . . . .
My newspaper career started in 1983-84, when I wrote 14 freelance articles for the Lisbon (OH) Morning Journal.
That led to my second newspaper job, with the East Liverpool (OH) Review. I started as lifestyles editor in 1984, and later became wire editor and feature editor. During my tenure there I wrote 283 travel/feature articles; 13 editorials; and 144 weekly personality profiles. My personal opinion column, Another View, ran weekly from 1984-1991, when I left the Review. As a freelancer, I continued the same column from 1991 to 1999.
The third job was also freelance, for the Youngstown (OH) Vindicator. I did 85 travel and feature articles for the Vindy between 1999 and 2004. Some of the articles are still in the archives at www.vindy.com - just type my name in a search box.
The fourth newspaper job was back at the Review, for which I freelanced on their Future Leaders editions, writing 26 articles in 2006 and 20 more in 2008.
During my time in newspapers, I won four awards:
Award of Merit, Associated Press Society of Ohio
Editorial Award of excellence, Thomson Newspapers
Award of Excellence, Miami Valley Society of Professional Journalists
Editorial Award of Excellence, Thomson Newspapers
So what was it like?
I came from dental hygiene, 10 years in a small practice, and had no experience in writing. My only assets were aptitude and desire. Lynn Browne at the Journal liked a letter I wrote to the editor, complaining about the unhandiness of his office. He gave me a chance, then Glenn Waight at the Review gave me another chance. I started at the Review two weeks before computerization, so I learned newsroom codes on an IBM Selectric in a hurry. I remember saying to the city editor, "These codes are crazy! No one can do this!" He just rotated his cigarette to the other side of his mouth, shrugged, and said, "We do it every day."
I settled in fairly quickly for all that, learning the early newswriting and publishing programs along with the rest of the staff. Soon I had a weekly feature article to do, and a weekly column, along with the daily lifestyles deadlines. I typed my fingers to the bone 45-50 hours a week for seven years, and besides my regular work I took pictures, collected police reports, visited schools and nursing homes, wrote obituaries and editorials, and watched the frequent changes of management. I was nearly fired more than once, and I never made much more than minimum wage.
It was a great learning experience. I could write in a room full of people, with phones ringing, cigarette smoke drifting, press releases dropping on my desk, phone calls every few minutes, and deadlines at the half-hour. I learned how to "write tight;" how to arrange a story in inverted pyramid style; how to cut 15 inches from a 45-inch story in 10 minutes; and how to deflect an angry interviewee. I was in the newsroom for the Challenger explosion, when we stopped the press, and for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, when we put out a special edition. I could - still can - spell Netanyahu and Shreckengost, poinsettia and baby's-breath.
At the end of my tenure I shamelessly took everything I'd learned and boogied out the door to start down another long and winding road as a freelance writer. Browse through the indexing tab above, and through the other dropdowns on the writing tab, to see the result.
My newspaper career started in 1983-84, when I wrote 14 freelance articles for the Lisbon (OH) Morning Journal.
That led to my second newspaper job, with the East Liverpool (OH) Review. I started as lifestyles editor in 1984, and later became wire editor and feature editor. During my tenure there I wrote 283 travel/feature articles; 13 editorials; and 144 weekly personality profiles. My personal opinion column, Another View, ran weekly from 1984-1991, when I left the Review. As a freelancer, I continued the same column from 1991 to 1999.
The third job was also freelance, for the Youngstown (OH) Vindicator. I did 85 travel and feature articles for the Vindy between 1999 and 2004. Some of the articles are still in the archives at www.vindy.com - just type my name in a search box.
The fourth newspaper job was back at the Review, for which I freelanced on their Future Leaders editions, writing 26 articles in 2006 and 20 more in 2008.
During my time in newspapers, I won four awards:
Award of Merit, Associated Press Society of Ohio
Editorial Award of excellence, Thomson Newspapers
Award of Excellence, Miami Valley Society of Professional Journalists
Editorial Award of Excellence, Thomson Newspapers
So what was it like?
I came from dental hygiene, 10 years in a small practice, and had no experience in writing. My only assets were aptitude and desire. Lynn Browne at the Journal liked a letter I wrote to the editor, complaining about the unhandiness of his office. He gave me a chance, then Glenn Waight at the Review gave me another chance. I started at the Review two weeks before computerization, so I learned newsroom codes on an IBM Selectric in a hurry. I remember saying to the city editor, "These codes are crazy! No one can do this!" He just rotated his cigarette to the other side of his mouth, shrugged, and said, "We do it every day."
I settled in fairly quickly for all that, learning the early newswriting and publishing programs along with the rest of the staff. Soon I had a weekly feature article to do, and a weekly column, along with the daily lifestyles deadlines. I typed my fingers to the bone 45-50 hours a week for seven years, and besides my regular work I took pictures, collected police reports, visited schools and nursing homes, wrote obituaries and editorials, and watched the frequent changes of management. I was nearly fired more than once, and I never made much more than minimum wage.
It was a great learning experience. I could write in a room full of people, with phones ringing, cigarette smoke drifting, press releases dropping on my desk, phone calls every few minutes, and deadlines at the half-hour. I learned how to "write tight;" how to arrange a story in inverted pyramid style; how to cut 15 inches from a 45-inch story in 10 minutes; and how to deflect an angry interviewee. I was in the newsroom for the Challenger explosion, when we stopped the press, and for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, when we put out a special edition. I could - still can - spell Netanyahu and Shreckengost, poinsettia and baby's-breath.
At the end of my tenure I shamelessly took everything I'd learned and boogied out the door to start down another long and winding road as a freelance writer. Browse through the indexing tab above, and through the other dropdowns on the writing tab, to see the result.