Outside the Box, by Cheryl Hatch. Copyright 2016 NOTE: I am reposting this piece on June 5, 2022, to honor and remember photojournalist David Gilkey. Wheels up. My friend David Gilkey sent me a text as he left Washington, D.C. last March. He’d already posted a photo of sunrise from his plane window as he … Continue reading Wheels Up, David
I just realized that I had not shared my audio essay, “The War is Not Over,” on my blog. It was originally pitched/discussed/commissioned as a September 11th remembrance piece. As I have listened to the months of coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war that’s ravaging the Ukrainian people and their beloved … Continue reading The war is not over
A couple months ago, I was sitting in a Southwest Airlines wheelchair, waiting to preboard my flight. Passengers were disembarking in one long, hurried rush. Suddenly, I felt a jolt of pain and screamed. A young woman, dragging her wheelie bag in her right hand and reading the phone in her left, had slammed into … Continue reading Screaming to be Seen
Wendy Stephens, 14 years old. In late 2001, I was a staff photographer for the Associated Press based in Seattle. One of my reporting colleagues decided to follow up with the lone detective still working on the murders of the serial killer known as the Green River Killer. Detective Ted Jensen was the one person … Continue reading Their names, faces, stories
“This I Believe. By that name, we present the personal philosophies of thoughtful men and women in all walks of life. In this brief space, a banker or a butcher, a painter or a social worker, people of all kinds who need have nothing more in common than integrity, a real honesty, will write about … Continue reading This I Believe
Last month, after the inauguration of our new president and vice president, I wrote President and Dr. Biden a letter. I posted it in an envelope I addressed by hand and hand-selected the stamp. I once worked as a summer congressional intern, answering constituents’ mail, so I know mailing a letter to the president and … Continue reading Dear President and Dr. Biden
(Note: the quotes in this piece are from a transcription of an interview with Sgt. Rob Taylor in Khenjekak, Afghanistan, C. Co. on February 2012. Sgt. Rob Taylor. Born Neville, NJ. August 1, 1981.) This time last year I was heading for a two-day interview at Syracuse University. On the drive through western Massachusetts, I got … Continue reading Remembering Rob Taylor
As a journalist, I have written many, many obituaries. It’s a regular task–a privilege/challenge–as a community reporter. As a journalism professor, early in a beginning news writing class, I’d assign the students an obituary to report and write. It teaches all the most critical skills; it’s vitally important to get the information accurate. Every detail. … Continue reading Writing an Obituary
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