>> Well, it's -- I received a bachelor of art's degree in Journalism from Michigan State,
and while I was still a senior I sent out resumes to several newspapers and wound
up being interviewed by the editor at the Rochester New York Times Union,
who for three days put me on the street as a reporter before he even interviewed me.
The next story to send me to was an interview, ROTC colonel at the University of Rochester
who was very excited and happy to be leaving the university because he was being sent off
to Vietnam, because the university ROTC had been the target of some riots and protesting
by anti war demonstrators at the University of Rochester.
So he was happy to go to war.
So these were the couple of stories that I got.
And finally after those stories were in the paper the managing editor sat me
down for an interview and offered me the job.
So I was hired before I graduated.
Didn't even go to my own graduation because I had to start working.
Well you know, being a newspaper reporter, like you said, you see an awful lot of stuff
and it's different from day-to-day.
I spent probably 15 years of my career as a reporter out on the streets.
Then I moved into the editing position where I was then responsible
for covering geographic areas of the -- of the Philadelphia region.
So we had several offices in the suburbs, I had at one point three offices that reported to me
and 60 reporters and 40 photographers that we used to cover all of the western suburbs.
And at one point I was the director of the news research department
for both the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News, then I returned to reporting for a while,
and spent the last few years of my career as the editor
of the Chester County borough in suburban Philadelphia.
And for the past almost eight years now I've been a freelance writer and photographer,
moving from anybody to everyone who will pay me to write for them.
So that's a quick summary.