fred wants me to introduce myself so here goes.<\/p>\n
mini bio: baby boomer. grew up in jersey, outside philly. went to college (in chicago) on an academic scholarship. did one year abroad (canada.) graduated magna cum laude (english literature and history.)<\/p>\n
few years after college started freelancing as a general assignment feature reporter for a gannett paper (120,000 daily circulation back then) in jersey. (was lucky to get into a newsroom just before the post-watergate flood of newbies came out of the j-schools.) then moved on to the philadelphia bulletin, a philly institution, when the death rattle was almost audible in the newsroom. cranked out hard news stories and features.<\/p>\n
after the bulletin folded, i wrote for the philadelphia daily news ’til 1988 — a privilege as the legendary gil spencer was the executive editor. that guy was one in a million, tough as shoe leather when he had to be and a sweetie pie when he didn’t. everybody in the newsroom knew gil had your back, even when you screwed up. especially when you screwed up.<\/p>\n
it was clear by the mid-1990s there no future in newspapering so i reinvented myself and went to work for a big charity in philly as press contact and grant writer. (don’t get me started on what a mess nonprofits are.) pushed out in 2008 at the very beginning of the recession. retired since 2011.<\/p>\n
**************************<\/p>\n
on the personal level, i am:<\/p>\n
a radio addict since junior high school (under the covers at night with a transistor radio — the whole bit)
\nvery private and a homebody
\na middling but enthusiastic herb gardener (culinary and medicinals)
\nstill grieving the cancellation of “hill street blues,” the best hour-long drama ever on network tv
\na christian (came in kicking and screaming at age 40, after reading mere christianity by c.s. lewis.) non-evangelical, non-charismatic
\na conservative (since RR’s first term)
\nuser of complementary medicine since the 1980s: homeopathy (including constitutional treatment); european and asian herbs; traditional chinese medicine (TCM), which incorporates acupuncture, cupping and qigong; therapeutic massage, especially shiatsu
\nprone to having heroes who fight the good fight — paul of tarsus, dietrich bonhoeffer, richard wurmbrand, aleksandr solzhenitsyn — and bear the cost with stoic resolve<\/p>\n
************************
\nyou all come to this blog for the same reasons i first did nine years ago: fred’s original and tenacious research; his brilliant and dead-on analysis of news events; his gentlemanly “c’mon, let’s just talk” approach to almost all feedback; and the polls that would make you laugh even while in the ER getting a broken arm set. but, ok, i’ll put my two cents in once in a while, especially on the lively topic of serious journalism in america and why it’s (almost) dead as a door nail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
fred wants me to introduce myself so here goes. mini bio: baby boomer. grew up in jersey, outside philly. went to college (in chicago) on an academic scholarship. did one year abroad (canada.) graduated magna cum laude (english literature and … Continue reading