Born and raised in Farmington, N.M., in the Four Corners Region, I am the product of my environment. I grew up with the racial diversity of New Mexico -- anglos, Hispanics and a half dozen different Native American tribes. Then there was the landscape. Topography in the Four Corners ranges from lowland desert to high desert canyons and mesas to high-country mountains taller than 14,000 feet.
Diversity has been my hallmark as a writer as well. As a journalist, I have covered just about every topic imaginable on the local, state and national level. I've interviewed people ranging from street bums to high-ranking Washington politicians and cabinet-level officials. I've seen life lived to its fullest and death at its cruelest.
My experience is diverse. I've covered business, government at the local, state and federal level, courts and the law. I've written travel and tourism stories, as well as profiles of people and places. But it's always been about the outdoors for me.
The first check I ever cashed for my writing was from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish's publication, "New Mexico Wildlife." That $100 check for article and photos arrived and I thought I had it made. When I submitted another story and photos and a second check for $125 showed up a few months later I was on my way. Then I buried myself in the grind of day-to-day journalism. I learned more about reporting and writing in a month on the job than I ever did in a classroom, but outdoor writing disappeared under an avalanche of deadlines and column inches. I wrote outdoor pieces on and off but it was four years later that I began writing about the outdoors regularly. It took a move to another newspaper before I finally got the chance I had been waiting for. I convinced the editor the paper needed an outdoor section -- hoping perhaps for a column in the Sunday sports section. She gave me four pages every Thursday. I worked my tail off to fill four pages each week in the two days I was given to do it. The section bounced around from one to four pages over the next seven years, generally settling out at about a page and a half.
I spent most of those seven years absorbing everything I could about the outdoors -- wildlife management, the environment, conservation, habitat and outdoor recreation. The "Me and Joe" stories were easy. It was explaining why things mattered to Joe that excited me.
In addition to my newspaper work, I worked as a correspondent for a now-defunct outdoor online publication and wrote outdoor pieces for Jeep.com. My work appeared in dozens of newspapers including some of the biggest papers in the western United States. I won a few awards, earned something of a reputation as an outdoor writer, made a few enemies and heck of a lot of friends in those seven years.
Then I went and fell in love. That's how it happens sometimes and we ended up packing up and moving across the country to Vermont where we've settled. I traded the high-desert mesas of the Four Corners for the rolling hills of Vermont, accurately named the Green Mountain State where my wonderful wife, Lori, and our two daughters currently live.
More than 19 years after seeing my name in print for the first time the thrill hasn't gone away. But today, the thrill is less about seeing my byline as it is in knowing the words I've written have made a difference -- whether it's to bring clarity to a confusing subject, exposure to a worthy cause or, maybe, just a smile to your face.
No matter the issue, writing about the outdoors always makes it worthwhile.
I am available for assignments big or small. Please contact me so we can discuss your needs and how I can meet them.
This page last updated June 7, 2011