What was your first job as a journalist?
I was offered a job as a beat reporter for Gannett but turned it down and continued to write as a freelancer while running an import company
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes. I typed both of my master's dissertations on an IBM Selectric.
How is social media changing news?
Pre-Elon Musk for the worst by silencing conservative voices on Twitter's platform. Post-Elon Musk, we'll see.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
J. R. R. Tolkien
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Journalist: "to journal" - observe and write it down without interjecting opinion. "Just the facts ma'am, just the facts."
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
E-mail
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Microsoft Word
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter
Who do you wish followed you?
More of my students
Why did you become a journalist?
As a means to give my artsy side an outlet, to see my photos published with a story in newspapers and magazines.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, I submitted sports articles and one year, won 1st place for sports writing in St. Bonaventure's journalism contest.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
My two books, "The View from the Grass Roots," and "The View from the Grass Roots - Another Look" - anthologies of published columns.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Keep it tight, light, bright and right. Read the work of other journalists in your field. Writing is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Any time
What's the best pitch you ever got?
To write a column about Fox's "Temptation Island," for the Religion Section of the Bergen Record. It won 2nd place and $5,000 .
What's your favorite drink?
Coffee in the A.M., zero alcohol beer in the P.M.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
In chemistry lecture or lab
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The Wall Street Journal Op-ed page
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
Faith and science must be kept separate. They are incompatible with each other. But history says otherwise.
