Introduction: I am a writer and editor based in St. Louis with more than 30 years of experience, first as a reporter, copy editor and managing editor and later as a free-lance business writer and editor. My primary focus when taking on a project is to give my client the product we agreed upon when I accepted the assignment, and to deliver the work on time.
I have written short features, long features, departments, marketing copy, columns for trade magazines, internal and external newsletters, newspapers, and have prepared marketing materials for direct mail distribution and use on the web. Among others, I have written for the physical rehabilitation, telecommunications, insurance, Yellow Pages and automotive industries.
Topics on which I have written features include physical therapists doing charity work in Haiti, independent Yellow Pages publishers in the Northwest, picture frame makers in Long Island City, N.Y., Good Sam Club members piloting motor homes across the U.S., and a telephone company sales agent from Tulsa who sparked raucous applause after singing the Chinese National Anthem in Mandarin in Beijing. I have covered Civil War reenactments, news conference, and even delivered Yellow Pages directories for a first-person article.
My wife and I have written and updated editions of "Missouri Family Adventure Guide" and "Fun with the Family in Missouri," travel guides published by Globe Pequot Press, and several chapters in Midwest Living's "Mississippi River Getaways." I write periodic travel features for "Midwest Traveler" and "Southern Traveler" for AAA Midwest.
I can travel if necessary, but I now primarily work from my home office and conduct interviews via telephone and, where no other method is acceptable to a client, via email. I have listed an hourly rate but prefer being paid by project.
I understand the reticence of a client when dealing with a new writer and will furnish references and samples of my work if requested. My website lists some of the publications for which I have written. I also have no problem with writing a trial article providing its approval by a prospective client will lead to additional work.
I also am a lifelong Cardinals fan who watches the Rams, supports the Blues, has a wife and two grown children -- one of whom is an author and editor -- and a dog named Lucy.