I started my career as a journalist in 1985 at what was then called the Springfield Union-News. I was a part-time correspondent, covering two small towns in Western Massachusetts. We got paid by the word, so I wrote long stories!

I loved my job and felt important.

Later, I shifted into full-time reporting at the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

Over about eight years, before I started having children, I covered four communities, wrote feature stories, covered accidents and events, and learned so much about things from zoning laws to budgets to laser surgery.

I worked with editors who were excellent writers and mentors, and I loved my work. Today, I still write for the Springfield paper, now called The Republican, and I work well with editors at the Gazette, who pick up releases I send for clients.

Now, I’m excited that I am forging a relationship with a third daily, the Laconia Daily Sun, in Laconia, New Hampshire.

I began writing features for the paper about four or five years ago, and going forward, expect I will be writing more regularly. I’ve been asked to report on three specific communities and write features, and that feels like returning to my roots.

I value that the Sun is a top-notch paper with solid staff members who are compassionate, solutions-minded, and have a nose for news. (Here’s a story I recently wrote about the Sun’s anniversary and staff team.)

What also excites me is I will continue meeting people in the Lakes Region, where I live near both my brothers and my mom. So far, through my work as a journalist up here, I have met and interviewed community volunteers, police fire and rescue workers, marina and restaurant owners, mountain bicyclists—all kinds of people.

It’s great to be telling their stories and expanding a new network a few hours north of my 30-year network in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts—where I visit several times a month to keep those ties strong.

I will occasionally send you some links to Sun stories.

If you need help telling your story, I’m all ears. Be in touch!

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