About me

I grew up in Bowling Green, Ohio, a small college town in the Northwest corner of the state. Shortly after I graduated from high school, I visited a friend who was living in Port Angeles, and I fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. I decided then I would move to Washington when I was ready to put down roots. A few years later, that's what I did.

I moved to Bellingham, enrolled at Western Washington University, earned a Bachelor's Degree in journalism, and for the next 40 years I was a reporter, editor and manager at weekly, twice-weekly and small daily newspapers in the Northwest. Twenty of those years were spent at the Port Townsend Leader, first as a reporter covering the courts and county government, and then as the General Manager.

I left The Leader in 2015 and became the Executive Director of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, a non-profit organization founded 138 years ago to represent weekly and small daily newspapers across the state. I retired from that position in 2024.

In my spare time, I like to play guitar and mandolin and have had the pleasure to play in a few groups around town that included a swing music trio and a contra dance band.

My wife Mary is a retired school teacher. We have been married for 47 years, and pretty much every week are thrilled to have our grandchildren visit. The youngest, River, was born in January 2025. His older brothers are Rowan, 3, and Atlas, 5. Their big sister Isla, is 11.

Slideshow:

1. Crowding in for a selfie at a bill signing ceremony in Olympia with the governor to be.

2. Accepting the Master Editor Publisher Award from the newspaper association.

3. At the helm of my son's Danish folkboat.

4. Posing for a contra dance band photo with Marsha Weiner and the Hotdogs.