Author

Trevor Pyle

@trev_pyle

Trevor Pyle was a newspaper reporter in the Pacific Northwest for several years, and is a communications officer for a regional nonprofit.

"Words are living things. They have personality, point of view, agenda."

“Words are living things. They have personality, point of view, agenda.”

 When looking for advice, writers shouldn’t be picky; sometimes even a fictional cannibal will serve.When NBC aired a series about Hannibal Lecter, the psychiatrist who moonlights as a serial killer…
June 16, 2020
A day-in-the-life profile of a grocery store during the coronavirus shutdown

A day-in-the-life profile of a grocery store during the coronavirus shutdown

With a cell phone, an eye for evocative detail and 50 pages of notes, Brittny Mejia of the Los Angeles Times turned a day at a grocery store into a…
June 2, 2020
A religion reporter profiles a charismatic community drawn to a "miracle Bible"

A religion reporter profiles a charismatic community drawn to a “miracle Bible”

Surprising stories spring from any number of places. Investigative or narrative or explanatory stories often start with curiosity sparked by a local news story or feature. That’s what happened when…
April 14, 2020
When a profile is also about art is also about climate change is also about grief

When a profile is also about art is also about climate change is also about grief

Julia Rosen has probed the myths of America’s deepest lake, looked down on Prince William Sound from a floatplane and joined a quest to scour the Bronx for jumping worms.…
March 12, 2020
How the personal narrative can make the difference between prison and release

How the personal narrative can make the difference between prison and release

A veteran journalist discovers the role of story in America's prison system — and "human resilience and grace in the face of adversity"
February 25, 2020
Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant's death inspired deadline writing as daring and creative as he was

Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant’s death inspired deadline writing as daring and creative as he was

Kobe Bryant had enough championship rings for a fist, a mural bearing his image on Melrose Avenue and a history that echoes loudly in the #MeToo era.The former Lakers star’s…
January 28, 2020
The chronic pain of runaway medical debt

The chronic pain of runaway medical debt

An investigative narrative exposes a system where the bounty hunter rules
December 24, 2019
“Failure is the best. After you fail, you’re free.”

“Failure is the best. After you fail, you’re free.”

Lizzy Goodman’s “Meet Me in the Bathroom” is such a raucous oral history of New York’s indie rock scene that readers’ ears are in danger of ringing while reading. It’s…
December 12, 2019
Stories that unfold — and pain that is measured — from the ground up

Stories that unfold — and pain that is measured — from the ground up

You can almost smell the cedar-hewn totem poles and see them rise from the soil, so evocative is “We Didn’t Stand A Chance,” Joshua Hunt’s personal essay about opioid abuse…
October 9, 2019
A bag of ashes, a research-loving reporter, the public library, and a three-hour hunt

A bag of ashes, a research-loving reporter, the public library, and a three-hour hunt

It was an intriguing bit of crowd-sourcing: Police in Portland, Oregon, said they had “exhausted all resources” in attempts to find relatives or friends of a dead WWII veteran, and…
September 6, 2019