A memory from my first year as a reporter way back in 1983, first recounted in 2015. --- I walked into Numa Baker’s office on some random day in June of 1983. By any standard it was an immaculate setting. By news reporter standards his desk was clean enough for open heart surgery to be … Continue reading Throwback Thursday: I almost didn’t survive my first county budget
Reporting and journalism
Memory of hurricanes past: Fran
I'm reminded today that 21 years ago North Carolina was hunkered down for a major storm that would -- following Hurricane Bertha in July -- alter the state's coastal landscape and cause heavy damage inland -- particularly in Raleigh. Burlington and Alamance County didn't escape unscathed either. It was Hurricane Fran. It went on and … Continue reading Memory of hurricanes past: Fran
‘Black Coach’ revisited: Before ‘Remember the Titans’
“Black Coach”; by Pat Jordan; 1971; The Cornwall Press, Inc.; 248 pages. Late summer was dissolving into early fall the first time I walked into Burlington Memorial Stadium to watch a high school football game involving Walter Williams High School. The year was 1985. I began working as a sports writer for the Burlington Times-News … Continue reading ‘Black Coach’ revisited: Before ‘Remember the Titans’
Dan Collins, a ‘Book of Fame’ worthy sports writer
When I was a shaggy young sports writer with a scraggly chin beard that was far more goat than tee, I cut an impressive figure in press boxes and press rows around the Atlantic Coast Conference, so outstanding almost no one noticed me at all. Typically I wore an outsized sports jacket courtesy of my … Continue reading Dan Collins, a ‘Book of Fame’ worthy sports writer
Fourth of July flashback: Newspaper people should not serve food
The date was July 4, 1999. I was working for the Jacksonville Daily News, a newspaper on the North Carolina coast that serves Onslow County, Camp Lejeune and Carteret County. And by serve, I mean news. Food, well ... Before going further, note that the events you are about to hear occurred before there were … Continue reading Fourth of July flashback: Newspaper people should not serve food
Going by the book; or, keeping the wheel of life turning
About 20 years ago a cop reporter I worked with at the Jacksonville Daily News gave me her copy of a famous book written by a cop reporter from Baltimore. “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets” by David Simon was published in 1991. By 1993 it had become a TV show on NBC, a … Continue reading Going by the book; or, keeping the wheel of life turning
Remembering The great Tim Duncan
In my life I've only had a handful of favorite NBA players, usually they don't overlap. A favorite is, after all, a favorite. All shared a few characteristics in common. They played the game the right way, they played it well, they conducted themselves professionally, they were intense and refused to back down. And yeah, … Continue reading Remembering The great Tim Duncan
And another light goes dark …
When I was a newspaper editor, that time dating all the way back to eight months ago, we had loyal readers who fit into too many categories to adequately list here. Let's just say it was a diverse bunch who either loved us, hated us, or didn't really care one way or another as long … Continue reading And another light goes dark …
Jane Bachman Wulf: A name I always remember
I was out of college nearly seven years and in journalism for six of them when I got the audacity to write a letter to Sports Illustrated in search of a job. I was working as a sports writer for the Burlington Times-News at the time -- 1988 -- and was going nowhere fast. Back … Continue reading Jane Bachman Wulf: A name I always remember
You don’t say; or how I nearly got myself killed one morning
People usually edit their memories in one way or another. Some even manage to forget specific events completely. Facebook doesn't have a selective memory function. What someone produced on their Facebook page on a random day in say, 2011, will turn up on that same day in 2017 in a daily feature the social media … Continue reading You don’t say; or how I nearly got myself killed one morning
Madison's Avenue 