I am a multi-award winning journalist who is a retired journalism professor at Columbia University. I have trained, mentored or edited hundreds of journalists and writers working today.
I graduated from Amherst College with a degree with high honors in history and an ambition to become a great writer. I had studied under two great writers, Chinua Achebe and Sonia Sanchez, and after college I set out to learn writing by becoming a news reporter, like my literary heroes Mark Twain and Ralph Ellison.

I spent 35 years as a newspaper reporter and editor, covering everything from the second Iraq war to what makes men sexy. I've met presidents and other officials and traveled to more than 20 countries as a journalist, ,most notably India, Jamaica, China, and Germany.
After leaving the news business I taught writing, editing and reporting Columbia University and other schools. I have written and/or edited literally millions of words. I have spent my life writing and teaching people to write.

My teaching demeanor is to challenge while encourage, to enlighten while building confidence. I believe in learning by experience, by trial and error and by constant re-evaluation. To coax out inner skills and talents, a teacher must be kind and patient.

I left a life of deadlines and pressure in New York City to retire to write, but now I miss the interactions and kinetic energy I had in classrooms and newsrooms with bright young people who are eager to improve. I chose to enter this program because I want to continue to make the world better.

I still advise high school journalism students and teachers in NYC.
I write daily.