Nick Grabbe was a longtime editor of the Amherst Bulletin, a weekly paper that covered Amherst, Massachusetts, and was owned by the DeRose brothers, who also were the publishers of the Daily Hampshire Gazette. 

I met Nick in the late 1990s, when I was working for the Gazette as special sections editor; it was my job to assign, edit, and lay out the stories in 52 sections the paper put out each year, from its Wedding Showcase to Spring Home & Garden to First Snow.

Nick worked in Amherst most of the time, but when he was producing pages for the Bulletin—laying them out and walking them through the process of getting plated and readied for the press—he worked in the Northampton office. He and I often were readying pages at the same time.

Nick is roughly a decade older and wiser than me. Back then, he kept to himself, yet his reputation spoke volumes. He was known as a tireless advocate and defender for the Bulletin, a hard worker, and a particular editor. I was a bit intimidated by him for all of these reasons. I don’t remember that we spoke much, aside from idle chitchat in the break room.

I left the newspaper in 1998 to start my business, Beetle Press, and Nick was still plugging away for the Bulletin. I didn’t hear from him or of him until late in 2019, when he contacted me because he had written a book and was looking for an editor.

In true Nick character, he had a healthy list of questions for me to answer about my editing style and approach, and wanted to know what other clients I had engaged. He sought permission to speak to a recent client and ask some questions, and I was happy to agree.

Nick’s questions for my client were good ones. First posed by Nick to author Judith Kelliher, these queries continue to be put to use when I complete a project and seek client feedback. They tend to get at the heart of each client’s work with me.

A Q&A with Nick, which also makes use of his questions, will post in the coming weeks.

Even better, Nick’s book will be available soon.

Called “Print and Privilege: Newspaper writer tells his own story,” the memoir is about Nick’s life, beginning with his privileged childhood, growing up in Washington, DC, in a family with a Russian count in its family tree.

“Print and Privilege” tells the story of Nick’s forty years as a newspaper editor and writer, taking readers from the age of manual typewriters to the decline of print journalism. He shows how he survived an elitist childhood, struggled through his erratic twenties, somehow found fulfillment in career and marriage, and became an advocate for simple living. 

Nick also describes pioneering as a man at a traditionally women’s college, raising a son with Down Syndrome, and taking part in a campaign to change a local form of government. Through it all, Nick discovered his own meaning of “privilege.”

As a journalist in Western Mass, I found the book to be fascinating. I enjoyed reading about Nick’s roots and his early entry into the local scene. I also recognized some of the characters Nick worked with and was impressed by the methodical, thorough way in which Nick led the Amherst Bulletin, the creative stories he assigned, and the meticulous notes he kept about his work and ideas.

In reading Nick’s book as I made my edits, I also enjoyed Nick’s own introspective look at himself as he matured into a husband, professional, and father of two.

When we started working together, Nick asked me to read his book and offer my feedback and suggestions. These ranged from starting the book with a broader look at his world to providing readers with a deeper look at his parents, sister, and wife, Betsy Krogh. Nick accepted almost all of my recommendations, and I enjoyed the easy way in which we interacted.

As we neared the design phase, it was exciting to enter into email conversations with Nick about particular words, phrases, sentences. I don’t often have this level of engagement with clients, as many of them are not longtime writers, as Nick is. Nick and I kept each other on our toes, and together, we did our best work.

Whether you live in Western Mass or read the local papers here, you will enjoy Nick’s book. It is an honest look at a life in which things didn’t always run smoothly. “Print and Privilege” also provides seasoned journalists and those with little knowledge of how a newspaper runs with an inside look at what’s involved, the pressures, the ethics.

“Print and Privilege” is coming soon. Make room on your shelf!

The post Helping a seasoned writer tell his story appeared first on Beetle Press.

What prompted you to write a book? And why?  

 I have always wanted to write a book for many years. I believed that I had enough experiences in my life that I could share with others who might be experiencing different traumas.  I hoped that if my story ever reached the right people that perhaps my small contribution would help someone.

How did Janice help you get started?  

Janice was kind enough to even consider taking a chance on someone with no experience in writing. She gave me words of encouragement that made me believe that I could indeed write my memoir.

How did she help you complete your project? 

She was my right-hand companion, guiding me every step of the way, and showing me how to better my work with each new chapter.  

What did you consider the most valuable part of working with Janice on your book? 

Janice turned me completely around from being insecure in my writing to finding the courage to dig deep into my emotions and bring them out in a descriptive way. It was not easy reliving some of my low moments, but Janice gave me the courage to follow through so that I would be able to reach out to others in hopes of helping someone.

What kinds of suggestions did Janice make? Did you act on all of them? If you had differences, how did you resolve them? 

One suggestion Janice made was not to be repetitive. In my case, with the English language, I found myself writing as if I were writing in French. In other words, I had the tendency to put the cart in front of the horse; Janice said my sentence structure needed work. Anyone who knows the French language understands what I mean. I did rely heavily on Janice’s knowledge in writing, and when I saw her suggestions, I saw she made me sound like I was already an author. She did so with such grace and poise, it was easy to act on her recommendations. The only very little differences we had were resolved easily. She let me own my story; it is mine, and she so freely let me be who I am. She let me tell my story my way.  For that, I am truly indebted for her wisdom.

In what way did your book turn out differently from what it would have been if you had not worked with Janice on it? 

I have no doubt whatsoever that this book would not have happened at all if it wasn’t for Janice. There is no one who had more patience than Janice did, and for that I am truly grateful that I do have a book that actually exists.

How are you feeling, now that the book is nearly out?

I have mixed emotions. Mostly, I am so excited to have reached this point. I just can’t wait to see it all come together. I also have a little fear that because of the experiences I went through, that some people might not accept me for who I am in the present and think of only my past. But I can truly say that I am not that person anymore, except for the fact that I have always cared for people, even though I didn’t always know how to show it.

Anything else you want readers of Janice’s blog to know?  

If there is anyone out there who has ever considered writing a book, and you don’t think you have the capability, and it’s stopping you from making your dream come true, don’t look any further. With Janice in your corner, you will succeed. I have no doubt whatsoever that you can do it. Janice is a very compassionate, lovable, caring, and brilliant person. She could not have picked a better profession for herself. Janice is one of a kind, and I have been blessed to have found her, and you will be too.

The post Feedback from a Client appeared first on Beetle Press.

Note: My client Vincent “Vinny” Valetutti has published “If I Were President: 29 alternative ideas for solving global problems” in the days surrounding the presidential election to get Americans thinking about solutions—rather than controversy. Vinny is not a candidate for any office. His book is intended not as a platform for a campaign but instead to raise awareness and offered frustrated voters some food for thought. It is interesting and earnest. I wrote the Foreword for the book, which appears below. Learn more about Vinny and “If I Were President” here.

Vincent “Vinny” Valetutti is my friend Becka’s partner. I met him several years ago when he offered to drive our entire book group to a vineyard in a van so we could all relax and enjoy. Meeting all of us for the first time, Vinny was friendly and pleasant, and also a good driver!

This year, I assigned a student intern working with me in my public relations business to interview Vinny and write a press release on the traveling, thirty-foot-high, mock Sea Level Rise Ruler he created to raise awareness about rising sea levels. When standing next to the ruler, one has a close-up, dramatic view of how high the sea would rise if only five to ten percent of Antarctica and Greenland were to melt. 

Vinny towed his ruler on a trailer and parked it in a lot in downtown Northampton, Massachusetts, so people could visit it and learn more about one impending circumstance of climate change. He later towed his giant ruler to Washington, DC.

Helping get some media attention on this innovation gave me a deeper view into the mind that is Vinny’s. So, when he contacted me a few months after his initial outreach and asked for help with this book, I was interested in working with him. I have since learned much about the man behind the ruler.

Vinny grew up in Westchester, just north of New York City. He was the oldest son of seven children who were raised by an at-home mom and a father who worked alongside his own father in the perfume delivery business. Vinny’s grandfather founded the company in the early 1900s with a horse and buggy.

As a child, Vinny felt different from other children. He was bullied a lot and withdrew into himself. He spent his afternoons and weekends tinkering with toy cars and trucks. As he grew up, he continued to enjoy working with his hands and was always fascinated with mechanical devices and how things worked. 

As a teen, Vinny worked in a bike shop, doing repairs. He once dismantled an entire grandfather clock to see how it worked; in taking it apart, a spring sprung and damaged the teeth on some of the gears for the gong, which he couldn’t repair. Vinny got the time piece back in working order on his own, but the clock never sounded again. At seventeen, he tinkered with his first car, replacing the clutch, his biggest project with that vehicle. 

A mild Asperger’s diagnosis in 2011 helped Vinny understand why he preferred to spend time alone, and why his mind works as intently as it does. He learned why emotions or body language had never played into his psyche. By that time, Vinny had amassed a great deal of experience as an engineer, and he’d worked extensively in energy conservation, aircraft structures, nuclear piping, moveable bridges and with heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in office buildings. 

In his first job after graduation from the Academy of Aeronautics in Queens, he worked for a company called Republic Aircraft, helping to design the moveable surfaces on the wings of the Boeing 747 aircraft. 

During the 1970s, after the first Arab oil embargo, the nuclear industry was planning to build a thousand nuclear plants by the year 2000, and engineers like Vinny were being recruited. He began designing piping systems, but after a partial meltdown of a reactor at Three Mile Island in 1979, Vinny’s love of the environment won out. He worked for an energy conservation company that performed energy audits in schools and hospitals and later ran his own firm, which included working for lawyers on accident cases. 

Vinny also spent some years working on movable and retractable bridges—like those over canals—and had a team of iron workers, machinists, electricians, and carpenters under his charge. He also spent time working to solve systemic problems in buildings in New York City. Vinny was the guy who was called when an old city high-rise had significant problems with rainwater leakage, also when there were problems with the air conditioning system in a major public train station. 

As Vinny says, “My brain is wired to figure things out.” This is likely because Vinny absorbs information. He surveyed the Twin Towers ten months before 9/11, for instance, and had intricate knowledge of the building’s structural integrity. So, after having many conversations about the cause of the collapses, Vinny read the structural section of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) report to fully understand what happened—why the buildings came down the way they did. That was not out of character for a man who once went to a New York public library and read the entire ballistics section of the Warren Commission’s report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 

In 2004, Vinny retired from his work as an engineer and travelled literally all over the world to points that included Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, the Galapagos, and much of Europe. He saw how people live in other countries—lower standards of living, open-air markets—and how the world is changing rapidly, even in undeveloped countries. He once spotted a woman in Africa lugging water in a jug on her head on a dusty road, talking on a cell phone.

Vinny’s career and his travels inform and inspire ideas. As he imagines, he meshes his deep passion for the environment with his knowledge of history and politics, his global savvy, and his lifelong experience as a pragmatic, creative problem-solver. 

Perhaps due to his Asperger’s, Vinny sees the world differently. He doesn’t consider himself a Democrat or a Republican. His lens doesn’t focus solely to the left, or the right, and it also doesn’t land in the center. “I consider myself a realist,” he explains. “Think of a line. At one end, you have the left—liberal, Democrats. At the other, you have the right—conservative, Republicans. In the middle, you would have the Independents, who sometimes go to one end or the other. I like to think of my mind where the line is simply the diameter of a sphere, where I can find ideas anywhere within the sphere.” Sometimes, I also think outside the sphere—kind of like thinking outside the box. I’m a warehouse of spheres, and sometimes, I think outside the warehouse.”

While Vinny attended a Catholic high school for a time, he does not think of himself as religious. He describes himself as an agnostic because he cannot prove there is or is not a god. His thoughts on religion are like his other musings—outside the warehouse. At times, he quotes the bible, recalled from his religious education as a child, as he explains an idea because a word or a phrase has caught his attention.

As he talks, Vinny often punctuates his sentences by saying, “Okay?” As in, “Are you following me?” In our interviews, I always was; if I wasn’t, I asked a lot of questions. This book holds the ideas Vinny described to me. They are his original thoughts on how to solve some of the problems that plague the United States and the world.

“These ideas have been forming in my brain over decades, certainly not just something that popped in the last couple of months,” he says, adding, “I’ve always had ideas, and they’ve changed from time to time.”

Vinny offers the disclaimer that his proposals are not intended as fully formed concepts, and they are not intended as facets of a presidential platform. They are simply food for thought for all of us to create a better world.

I offer the disclaimer that the Janice Beetle Books indicia on the book jacket does not signify an endorsement of the specific ideas within but rather wholehearted support of the author’s innovative thinking and global compassion.

The post Client’s Book Offers Look at Solving Global Problems appeared first on Beetle Press.