The words I needed during my career freefall
At 55 years of age, I dove off a career cliff. I left Alaska, where I had worked in journalism, …
He taught me the most important writing lesson
I never had a better boss than Tom Gibboney, the publisher at a weekly in an Alaskan fishing village …
She broke through fear to give students a better life
Our world would be better if we honored those applying their genius to humbly help others and paid …
What I learned from a man who was eaten by a bear
What is a good man? That question always makes me think of a story I wrote as a newspaper reporter …
This is not my beautiful life
I’m fascinated by stories of abrupt, drastic life changes. They light up the far corners of what’s …
Back in the trenches of local science reporting
Writing projects sometimes start at odd places. I met John Upton in a coffee shop near the Port …
Is a good book a window or a tile?
My son Robin was about five years old when he asked me at bedtime one night, “Is a computer screen a …
Why some good books should remain unpublished
George Fischer wrote 19 autobiographies without ever planning to publish them. And he could have. …
Bill McKibben, social progress, and the empty church
In this dark time for our country, we could use the progressive, unifying influence of the mainline …
Mark Rowland’s legacy of stories well told
The death two weeks ago of my father-in-law, Mark Rowland, got me thinking about where writing …
How tiny details spawned a TV doppelganger
It was a weird feeling to have my former boss and old friend portrayed on television in an eerily …
The mind-meld of a great idea
Dr. David Nash and I had thought Covid had killed our book idea. But in August of 2020, we …
My first big break
Among the great (and some hilariously awful) editors I have worked with over the decades, Rebecca …
Truth-telling and the decision to kill
Christine Cunningham explained to me the choice she made between being a vegetarian and a hunter. …
Facing the final final deadline
Dave Rose had his wry smile even as he told me why we needed to finish up his book faster than we …
Everyone has a story. Lou Grant said so
During our second conversation, over coffee, it came out that what Dan wanted most at 36 was to grow …
The best thing about the best writing
In 1934, my grandmother, Mildred Wohlforth (pen name Mildred Gilman), went to Germany to interview …