I'm a recovering newspaperman - started out at the KCStar in 1964, spent a year at the Jefferson City, Missouri News Tribune, two years as city editor at my hometown paper, the Santa Fe New Mexican, and a decade at the Oakland Tribune in CA.
After 15 years of it, however, I got sick of journalism, went into the insurance business, returned to journalism after another decade as that rare bird, the reporter who actually knows something.
In my case it was risk; I understood what insurers mean by risk - how they identify it, manage it, price it. The insight served me well, as I ended up writing a column on finance and insurance for the biz page of the LATimes and contributing to a number of national magazines.
I am now retired, more or less, and spend as much time in my garage shop as I can. My most recent efforts have centered on making infill planes. Earlier I made bedroom furniture for myself and my sweet wife Elise. What joy it is to make - well, I won't say fine things, since I'm not that good - how nice it is to make something well.
Location:
Santa Maria, California
Interests:
I bristle when people say that my woodworking is a hobby, as it's a pretty serious undertaking for me. I spent my working life writing words, words, words - about as purely a mental exercise as you can get. Now I work with my hands - a new exercise.