Articles and Opinions, Features and Columns
Perhaps my favorite aspect of journalism is that it creates a direct connection between writer and reader. Good journalism entertains, informs, illuminates, challenges, even inspires people. Great journalism actually opens up an unspoken dialogue, the written words serving as messengers in conversations that are both internal and universal.
Over the years I have written for a wide variety of publications, local and national. I’ve written columns and op-eds, news stories and interview features, travelogues and reviews. My words have reached readers in USA Today, the Advocate, the Times-Picayune, Adventure Travel, Inside Radio, Offbeat, Biz New Orleans, Resources, New Orleans CityBusiness, the New Orleans Tribune, Catalyst, the Trumpet, and Tribe, among others.
Below are a brief excerpts, with some longer pieces available on the Blogs & Rants page; I’m happy to provide more samples upon request. I’m always interested in new challenges, so if you are an editor looking for an award-winning writer with an absolute commitment to quality, professionalism and meeting deadlines, I would love to hear from you.
A few brief journalistic highlights ....
From Biz New Orleans monthly Entrepreneurship column “Economies of Scale (Whack Those Moles!)”, March 2020
“For most small business owners, economies of scale are difficult to achieve. Whatever you are not doing yourself or in-house, you are contracting out by yourself, usually to other small, local businesses. This creates obvious financial disadvantages compared to larger businesses and especially to chain operations, where everything from advertising to legal services to accounting is typically done on a combined basis.”
From cover story in Wavelength Magazine, May 1981
“In the world of rock and roll, ten years is an eternity. Ten years ago the Beatles were still a band, Jim Morrison was still alive, and disco was still just a gleam in some mad producer’s eye.”
From Biz New Orleans monthly Entrepreneurship column “Great Inventions”, February 2019
“Another key early invention was human language, thought to have emerged in several cultures about 100,000 years ago. This greatly enhanced the ability of early mankind to collaborate on food and shelter, and is considered critical to our ascent to the top of the evolutionary ladder. About 99,999 years ago, early mankind discovered arguing about food and shelter, not to mention everything else under the sun, which nearly kicked that ladder out from under our species. Linguists estimate that today, approximately 5000 languages are spoken worldwide (about one-third of them in Africa alone), yet amazingly, you cannot get accurate directions from a stranger standing on the corner in any one of them.”
From The Numismatist, July 2021
“By the end of the 3rd century AD, dolphins disappeared completely from Roman coinage. As the primary purpose of coinage at this time was to promote the political propaganda of the emperor, and dolphins are notably apolitical, this is hardly surprising..”
From Adventure Travel, Spring 1988
“Three hours after leaving port, the boat anchors near a small wreck in about twenty feet of water. There is abundant life in these waters: lazy, lurking barracuda, graceful rays, iridescent flying fish, and hundreds more. But these are the warm-up for the main act.
Which is, of course, the arrival of the dolphins. Usually, the first one leaps out of the water, or shows a dorsal fin a few hundred yards from the boat. Immediately the tranquility of loafing around on the decks is shattered. People snap into action. Snorkeling gear is pulled from on-deck lockers; masks are rinsed and strapped on. As the dolphins’ approach is tracked, nobody speaks.”
The reviews are in:
