Since the mid-1980s I have continuously earned my living as a freelance writer and editor. In addition to education, environmental and health clients, I have written and/or provided editing services for a wide range of other clients, including legal and accounting firms, cultural organizations, municipal agencies and utilities.
I also work closely with Twist’nShout editorial and design services. Its creative director, Amy Pollack, is one of the key associates upon whom I rely to provide my clients with comprehensive communication services.
Like most freelance writers, I’ve been asked countless times if I’ve ever written about such-and-such. Sometimes the answer is “Yes,” sometimes “No.” But if you are intellectually curious—as I am—about people and how the world works, you can write well about nearly anyone and any topic.
Journalism Experience
That confidence, in part, comes from my extensive journalism experience. I covered everything from zoning board meetings to front-page murder and political corruption trials. I have also interviewed and written about best-selling authors and Hall of Fame athletes—and many so-called “ordinary” people whose stories have turned out to be anything but.
A magna cum laude graduate of LaSalle University’s English program, I first worked as a writer and editor—both news and sports—at the Intelligencer in Doylestown, Pa., then covered the federal and city courts for the Philadelphia Journal. I also have worked or written for the two existing major Philadelphia daily newspapers, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, as well as the now-defunct Philadelphia Bulletin.
Freelance Journalism
My freelance journalism has also appeared in: The New York Times, Washington Post, Times of London, Reader’s Digest, Audubon magazine, Philadelphia magazine, New Jersey Monthly, and Atlantic City magazine; the Sunday magazines of The Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Orlando Sentinel and San Jose Mercury News; and the magazines of the Pan-American Health Organization and the American Psychological Association.
Books
I am the author of a well reviewed nonfiction book, Eagle’s Plume: The Struggle to Preserve the Life and Haunts of America’s Bald Eagle (Scribner, 1996; University of Nebraska Press, 1997). I also co-edited, with Larry Niles, Endangered and Threatened Wildlife of New Jersey (Rutgers University Press, 2003) and authored Riverton Country Club: A Resilient Refuge, the 107-year history of a South Jersey golf and country club.
Most recently I copyedited Life Along the Delaware Bay: Cape May Gateway to a Million Shorebirds by Larry Niles, Joanna Burger and Amanda Dey. Rivergate Books, an imprint of Rutgers University Press, will publish the book in June 2012.
Personal Interests
In my free time I am a voracious reader—both fiction and nonfiction books and, of course, magazines and newspapers. I also enjoy: hiking, bird watching, canoeing, bicycling and golf; attending live sports, music and theatrical events; and traveling, particularly to western parks and Europe. My wife, Kathie, also says I’m a pretty good cook.