My storied life
One of my clearest memories from childhood is a leaf-crunching fall day in Ohio when the sky was bluer than any color Crayola could conjure. My third-grade teacher taped magazine pictures to the chalkboard and asked us to create a story about one of them. I don’t recall all of the details of what I wrote about, but I do remember the delight of sculpting words into a story.
And in a sense, as a journalist, I’ve been writing stories ever since.
Of course, back in third grade when I was laboring with my number two pencil, writing in my very best cursive, I never imagined that someday those words could be tapped out on a keyboard and be read by anyone in the world who might stumble across them online.
In this blog, look for inside information that didn’t make it into stories in the Beacon, along with thoughts on aging (I entered the Beacon’s demographic this year) and information on ways you can share your own opinions and ideas on our revamped website.
And while I’m getting to know some of you through your posts to the site, I thought I’d share a bit of background on myself.
In my 11 years as managing editor at the Beacon, I’ve written articles about everyone from Academy Award winners like Sally Field to winners of local volunteer awards who are making our communities a better place for all of us. Each month, I also help select and edit the stories that make up the Washington and Baltimore editions of the Beacon.
I’ve written and updated several editions of the guidebook Insiders’ Guide to Washington, D.C., and you’ll also see my byline from time to time in the Washington Post, where I write freelance articles.
Before I began editing the Beacon, I was publications director for a nonprofit group called the American International Health Alliance, formed to connect doctors in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe with ones in the United States. And prior to that, I was editor of an environmental magazine called Environmental Action, for an organization founded by the people who created the first Earth Day.
I have a master’s degree in journalism from Indiana University. I first came to Washington for an internship at National Geographic and have become an assimilated Easterner over the years.
And through all the twists and turns of my career, I’ve never lost excitement of writing a good story, just as I discovered on that autumn day so many years ago.