journalism blog

It has fewer than 80 pages. It’s a book every writer, reporter, and anyone interested in writing just about anything should have. “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk and E.B. White is a simple guide to beautiful writing. It was originally written, and privately published in 1919, by Cornell University professor William Strunk  who used it

We all have the dates of days that are important to us. Birthdays, anniversaries, deaths. As someone interested in history, and its impact on the present and future, I’m probably a little too obsessed with historical dates. But they give me a guidepost to events and help me understand the flow of history. It makes

America used to be the place where people came to be included in the greatest country in the world. Where if you worked hard, you would be absorbed into the great melting pot. You could find success and happiness. Now, we know history tells us we weren’t so inclusive all the time. We can start with

Presidential elections can change history and the direction of the country for years.  We are in the middle of one of the most contentious and divisive campaigns in our history. But history also tells us about another presidential election that most people don’t know about. It changed the country. It changed the lives of millions for generations. In 1876,

It’s a city that sings. It sings about love, loss, hope, and even drinking. It even seems to sing about its history. Sitting on the banks of the Cumberland River, my wife and I spent a weekend in one of America’s great cities. Nashville will make you tap your feet, enjoy rich southern food, discover

As he plows through the primaries piling up delegates, Donald Trump has the Republican party in an absolute panic. Not only about the election this year, but the very future of their party. This guy could divide the party so badly between radical conservatives and the rational “establishment” members of the party, that the Republican party as we

  It’s a world that travels at 80 miles per hour. The speed limit signs may say 65 miles per hour, but you will feel like you’re standing still if you follow the rules. I’ve been driving the New Jersey Turnpike for over 35 years to visit family in northern New Jersey and Connecticut. Over the last

Shouting, name calling, insults about the size of sex organs, threats of physical violence, and ridicule are what we hear coming out of the mouths of the men who want to be president. The most memorable quote from this year’s presidential campaign is Donald Trump reacting to a protestor at one of his rallies by telling the crowd,

The most important tool a journalist has is their brain. How we think about the world we cover determines whose work will make a difference in people lives. We have to know something about everything. That takes drive and curiosity. We have to be skeptical and question everything. Why are things happening? Objective and fair decisions

It will be 40 years since the Opening Day that will stand out above all others forever. Yes, that’s me standing with Mickey Mantle in Yankee Stadium in 1966. Like thousands of New York kids growing up in the fifties and sixties, Mickey was our idol. He wasn’t just a New York hero, he was