With more than 25 years experience in journalism, I’ve written and edited newspapers in California, North Carolina and Virginia. In California, I worked for a weekly paper in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I’m from originally.
In North Carolina, I worked two years (1990-92) at the Sun Journal, a daily paper in New Bern. There, I covered county government, commercial fishing – which is a big industry there – and the Gulf War.
New Bern is near the Marine Corps Air Station in Havelock, so I did lots of stories on the effects the war had on the wives and children left behind while the husbands and dads were fighting in Iraq. As one elementary-school teacher told me, “If one child’s father or mother is killed, the security for the rest of the students is shattered.”
In addition, my photographer and I were lowered by helicopter onto the USS Iwo Jima as it returned to port in Morehead City after deployment. I got to interview the sailors and Marines aboard ship and experience, firsthand, their welcome back by local residents who greeted them in the water in hundreds of small boats to escort them home.
I also interviewed parents of Marines killed in the war, as well as a Marine pilot whose aircraft had been shot down overseas. He spoke about what went through his mind while parachuting into the desert and what happened to him while he was a POW. Luckily, it was toward the end of the war and he was eventually freed to return home.
I also worked three years for the Prince William Journal, covering the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, as well as a slew of criminal cases. And I’ve been with Centre View for almost 19 years, covering Centreville, Chantilly, Clifton, Fair Oaks and Fair Lakes. For the past few years, I’ve also covered Fairfax and some of Lorton and Fairfax Station for the Connection.
Recent Stories
‘We Welcome Anybody – the Broken, the Wounded’ in Fairfax
The Lamb Center honors its guests, looks to the future.
Lamb Center
‘It’s about Getting Seen and Knowing that You Matter’
Westfield High presents timely play, ‘Anon(ymous)’
Westfield High’s play, “Anon(ymous),” brings the immigrant experience home by focusing on what happens after a mother and daughter coming to the U.S. are separated when their boat capsizes at sea. Neither knows if the other survived, but they never lose hope.
‘What We’re Actually Doing Is Improving People’s Lives’
Breaking ground for Route 28 widening.
ribbon cut on Rt 28
Supporting the ‘Dreamers, Risk-Takers and Doers’
Ribbon-cutting held for Office Evolution in Fairfax City.
Office Evolution
‘Find Interesting and Unique Things that Tell a Story’
Fairfax Funky Flea opens Sept. 25 in Fairfax City with up to 60 vendors, music, food and more.
Funky finds
Shoestring Theatre Co. Presents ‘The Frenchman’
Original play about a French colony in Virginia
In the 18th century, a citizen of France traveled to America, came to Virginia and changed it forever by founding a French colony here.
‘Nothing More Rewarding than Working with Kids’ in Fairfax City
TPG Pediatrics opens new office
Point 50 is one of Fairfax City’s newest commercial centers, and now making its home there is TPG Pediatrics (The Pediatric Group).