Two months into my just-the-facts-ma’am, inverted pyramid life as a novice reporter assigned to cover every commission had that ever been formed anywhere in any municipality on Earth at any time (planning, zoning, parking, library, arts, historic preservation, downtown … Read more
Tributes this past week to basketball great Bill Russell were as many as they were deserved. I couldn’t follow them all, which is a pity. Sportswriting and obituaries often display some of the best writing in journalism. Wedding the … Read more
A note from a professional friend landed in my inbox a few days ago, with this quick header: “… the best lede I’ve ever read.” So I clicked. (Wouldn’t you?) It took me to a piece by Dana Milbank, … Read more
The temperatures topped 100 Fahrenheit week (38+ Centigrade) up at the mountain cabin one day last week. The three-man yardscape crew seemed indifferent. They spent their first afternoon prepping the site; they dumped mounds of dusty gravel, unloaded heavy … Read more
A fave recent story find: a tight little feature in the Boston Globe: ‘Please do not erase’: A treasured whiteboard at Boston’s Children Hospital has not been touched for 15 years. Whiteboards are on my geek-love list, along with … Read more
Stand-out story craft never loses its luster. But it really is time to start sharing gems from my STORYBOARD SAVED file before they lose their sparkle. With no particular order or theme, here are a few that caught my … Read more
If there is such a thing as the perfect summer read, this might be it. First, it’s about baseball. Even if you’re not seduced by the sport, the writing it has inspired through the years can be superb … Read more
In the first half of 2021, Matt Sullivan and his family took refuge in Miami from the pandemic in New York City, and to finish his first book, “Can’t Knock the Hustle: Inside the Season of Protest, Pandemic, … Read more
Much attention has been rightly paid to the congressional hearings into events before, during and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. By any account, it qualifies as a big deal. Perhaps one of the biggest … Read more
A Storyboard standard was tracking and reporting on as many of the top annual journal conferences we could, from association events — like the Society of Environmental Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Association of Health Care Journalists and … Read more