WRITING

Much of my recent writing has been for higher education and schools. Whether the assignment is a profile, feature or news story, my approach is to entice someone to keep reading even if they know nothing about the school. I believe both that the story is about the institution, not the person or program, and that the human story is what stands out. Samples of my donor profiles are available on request.

Profiles

• “Shinnecock Tribal Leader Lance Gumbs ’93: ‘Adelphi University Made Me the Tribal Leader I Am Today’” (Adelphi University)

• “Doctoral Candidate, Adjunct and Nonprofit Leader Uses Social Work to Fight Racism and Oppression” (Adelphi University)

• “A Lifetime Dedicated to Researching and Teaching About the Mayan Civilization” (Adelphi University)

• “A student, a teacher, two pianos — and Zoom” (Mount Holyoke College)

• “Sandra Gets a Life: What’s a welfare recipient and ex-addict with two kids doing at an elite college like Wellesley? Collecting A’s” (Life magazine)

Features

• “What Can You Do With a Degree in Theater? These Alumni Run the Gamut” (Adelphi University)
  My Adelphi editor knows I had a theater background and I am often assigned stories about the university’s outstanding theater program.

• “Adelphi Acquires the Papers of Rep. Lester L. Wolff and Gains a Unique View of the 20th Century” (Adelphi University)
  The headline belies this fascinating story.

• “The gold standard: Librarians are teachers and information literacy is their subject” (The Harker School)
  The library program at this private school in San Jose, California, focuses on four areas: information literacy, pleasure reading, robust resources and curricular collaboration. This is the first of several stories I’ve written for Harker Magazine.

• “Why Facebook Users Really Like the Bangor Police Department” (AARP)
  @BangorMainePolice carries the message of community policing to the constituents of Maine's third-largest city and to the page's more than 200,000 followers throughout the U.S. and beyond. The subject, who has been profiled numerous times, said I was the first writer to really understand what he was trying to do with the account.

• “Laboring for Love: The working life of a rural midwife” (Life magazine)
  This was my first feature in Life, at the beginning of my career. It was optioned for TV movie after it appeared.

News Stories

• “‘Kids Those Days’: Collection Co-Edited by English Professor Explores How Children in the Middle Ages Had—or Didn't Have—Control Over Their Lives” (Adelphi University)
  I like interviewing faculty and learning a little about their field.

• “Environmental champion: Jay Turner renews focus on environmental exposures ‘in St. Louis, for St. Louis’” (Engineering Momentum magazine, McKelvey School of Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis)
  I appreciate the opportunity to write about topics I don’t typically cover, like STEM.

• “A Magic (Painted) Carpet Ride: Cara Lynch ’12 and Fellow Alumni Create Public Art in Brooklyn” (Adelphi University)
  This was the first of several stories I’ve written about this prolific alumna.

Essays

• “On the pronoun known as singular they” (NGXchange)

• “How long do I have to live in New Gloucester to have my voice count?” (NGXchange)

• “Fact-checker, fact-checker, check me a fact” (Tracking Changes)
  the quarterly journal of ACES: The Society for Editors

• “What I Learned in Library School: Observations from the Editorial Fellow” (School of Library and Information Science, Simmons University)
  When Wondertime magazine closed, one of more than 500 magazines during the Great Recession, I got my MS in library science. Technology skills are essential in 21st century communications, so my studies included web design, digital libraries, and social media.

Brochures and Reports

Organizational writing such as annual reports, donor profiles, and marketing materials are not by definition dull and dry. Successful publications bring together individual stories to convey the institution’s core values and messages.

• Mary Lyon Society newsletter (Mount Holyoke College)
  This is a sample of a quarterly newsletter that I worked on with advancement staff. I wrote profiles, copyedited the content, and worked closely with the designer.

• “Carrying the Time: 2020 Report on Philanthropy” (Mount Holyoke College)
  Working closely with the advancement staff, designer, photographer, and videographer, I wrote faculty and student profiles, copyedited all the content, and proofed the final.

• Engineering Solutions 2013 (Western New England University)
  My version of this annual admission brochure.

• Forbes Library Strategic Plan 2012-2017 (Northampton, Mass.)
  I wrote the content, based on the staff’s research and previous strategic plan.

• History of the New Gloucester Public Library (New Gloucester, Maine)
  This is part of my pro bono portfolio. I updated and fleshed out notes from the previous writer and organized the material to tell the story and make it readable for the web.
  

EDITING  & COPY EDITING

My work includes development and execution of content for magazines, college websites, alumni magazines and newsletters; editing special-issue magazines; and creating print and email newsletters for community development corporations, foundations, and organizations. I have also guided clients unfamiliar with marketing and communications through the strategic and editorial processes, when asked.

• “Head Case: The survivors guide to lice (we hope you never need it)” (Wondertime magazine)
  As associate editor at Wondertime, I found, developed and edited a variety of features and stories for departments and other content.

• “How picky eaters are born — and made” (Wondertime magazine)

• “4 sisters, 1 college — it’s a family affair” (Mount Holyoke College)
  During a period when I was unofficially serving as the interim news editor, I hired, assigned and managed freelance writers.

• “Data needs ethics — and outspoken nerds” (Mount Holyoke College)
  I found newspaper reporters to be outstanding freelancers to work with.

• Family-Centered Coaching Toolkit (The Prosperity Agenda)
  I was hired to copyedited this 40-page guide. In consultation with the client I set up a style sheet to ensure agreement on language and nomenclature. Given that the piece was still rough in spots, I paid particular attention to the consistency of fonts, photos, and layout.

REPORTING & RESEARCH

Reporting and research for magazine writers and book authors.

• “The Secret Life of a Tree in the Rain Forest” by George Howe Colt (Life magazine)
  The first in a series about biodiversity that also featured an alligator pond in the Everglades National Park and a tide pool in Pacific Heights, California. On this story I pulled myself up our tree into the canopy alongside the photographer, spent the night in the rain forest near our tree, and spent hours at its base, observing the life around it.

• The Wall: A Day at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Life magazine and St. Martin’s Press)
  I was part of a team of Life reporters, writers, editors, and photographers who spent 24 hours observing the activity at the once-controversial memorial.

• The Life Millennium: The 100 Most Important Events and People of the Past 1000 Years (Life magazine and Bulfinch Press)
  I was one of two associate editors on this project. I assisted in managing staff and freelancers in the vast amount of reporting and fact-checking that needed to be done, first to devise the list and then to track down and interview experts in the various fields. I served a similar position on Life’s special issue on Heroes.

• “Brothers: What the van Goghs, Booths, Marxes, Kelloggs — and Colts — Tell Us About How Siblings Shape Our Lives and History” by George Howe Colt (Simon & Schuster)
  I did research for George’s book. It was a joy to reunite with my old Life magazine colleague.

• The Breeders Cup horse race for William Nack, Sports Illustrated
  I reported on the first Breeders Cup and other stories for Bill Nack when I was at Sports Illustrated. After I moved to Life he wrote a piece for us and requested me as a fact-checker.

• Mister Rogers, written by Jeanne Marie Laskas, Life magazine
  I reported on the set with Fred Rogers when the writer was unavailable. It was a privilege to know him, the closest thing to a saint I’ve ever met.