The pdfs below represent a small sample of my magazine writing. If you would like to see more stories or are interested in hiring me for a freelance assignment, write me a note.
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FEATURES
I Do! (But I’m Doing It My Way)
Twenty years ago, wedding photographer Bill Wilson sat behind his secondhand Macintosh unable to stifle a laugh. On the screen in front of him was a photograph he had recently manipulated – that of a fisherman on a pier wearing both yellow waders and a cat-that-just-caught-the-canary smile. The reason for that smile could be seen to the fisherman’s immediate right, for dangling upside down from a hook as if she were a record-setting marlin, was his new, beaming bride, resplendent in a wedding gown and veil. Read More.
Topping the Table
The conversations that occur around a Harkness table are an essential component of the Lawrenceville learning experience. What’s found on the Harkness, however, can often reveal the ideals and pedagogical philosophies of the teachers who sit at the table’s head. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of Lawrenceville’s adoption of Harkness teaching, The Lawrentian shows how a simple centerpiece can be a window into a master’s soul. Read More.
Farmer’s Market
Alan Danser lives on a quiet suburban street lined with middle class colonials, respectfully spaced, with generous expanses of green front lawn. On Danser’s lot, milling around the in-ground swimming pool, three black Labs, heads cocked, tails wagging furiously, welcome just about anyone or anything that crosses their line of vision. Danser is not as enthusiastic as the canines (for no biped can be), but he, too, is welcoming. He holds court at the dining room table; an eight-point buck hanging on the wall peers over his left shoulder and, over his right, a picture window overlooking the backyard reveals not a patch of lawn as the view from the street would suggest, but a wide vista of protected farmland which will soon be home to regimented rows of corn. Read More.
PROFILES
Schmear Campaign: Whatever you do, don’t even think about wandering into Brooklyn’s Mile End Deli and asking for beef brisket with mayo. If you do, expect the owner, Noah Bernamoff, to politely but firmly refuse your request. His smoked meat goes on rye with mustard. That’s it. Will Bernamoff hold the mustard? Okay, but you’ll have to pay a ten-cent fine for the privilege. And that little conciliatory nod is the extent of Bernamoff’s flexibility. If you’re looking for any more exceptions, he will gesture to the bodega across the street. Read More.
Beantown’s Best: According to Bob Ryan, The Best of Bob Ryan contains false advertising. Out of the 44 Boston Globe columns contained within the new ebook, Ryan feels that only about 20 of them rank as “the best.” Or maybe 15. Not that he’s complaining. And not that it matters all that much, anyway. As fellow Globe scribe Dan Shaughnessy, who wrote the foreword, points out, a book titled “The Worst of Ryan would have been better than The Best of the Rest of Us.” Read More.
The Voice: There is really no way to escape the appealing, dulcet tones of Steve Kamer’s voice. He was heard during the Sochi Winter Olympics. His voice graces the trailer of the Oscar-winning film Argo. It is he who politely yet firmly tells you to “stand clear of the closing doors” on the PATH Train. Kamer’s was the voice you heard before seeing Geraldo Rivera, Phil Donahue, Martha Stewart, and Regis Philbin. He’s urged you to buy your entertainment center at Circuit City, lean back in a La-Z-Boy, and sprinkle your stinky feet with Gold Bond Powder – as well as advised you on hundreds of other purchases that will make your life more deeply satisfying. Read More.
Hey, Look! A Writer Fellow! 