Having written more than 3,000 stories in my career, I’m starting to forget some of them. But many will always stand out, whether for subject matter, an extraordinary quote or the capturing of a historic moment.
After Steven Spader was convicted for the gruesome and random murder of a Mont Vernon woman and the maiming of her young daughter, it seemed appropriate to ask religious figures about the dynamic of God, a heinous crime and forgiveness. Click to read
People always complain about the smell of a municipal landfill or, if they’re really unlucky, a wastewater treatment facility. In summer of 2010, I took a somewhat scientific look at just how stinky those places are in Nashua. Read here
I had perhaps no greater sense of duty to reporting than traveling to Washington, D.C., with a busload of World War II veterans for the dedication of the national monument for the Greatest Generation. Click to read
Investigative reporting is challenging but rewarding. Imagining diving into hundreds of pages of records, making heads or tails of stilted and disorganized information and then organizing it into something readers can easily grasp. It’s almost like a college research paper, except thousands of people get to read it. Click here to review some of my investigative projects
One of my favorite feature stories took me and Telegraph photographer Bob Hammerstrom on a 244-mile journey through 37 New Hampshire cities and towns. We traveled the old Route 3 in summer 2001, observing how the road defined the state and illustrated its many traditions and changes. The story won the New England Press Association’s first-place award for best human interest feature story. Read all about Discovering Route 3
I got to see New Hampshire from another perspective: the air. A pilot let me guide his plane for a story that I’ll never forget. Click here
Imagine living with the same name as a celebrity. Sure, you might get a choice restaurant table if you make a telephone reservation, but you’ll also get a lot of doubtful head shakes. Read more about J-Lo, Barry Sanders and Bill Clinton
On Sept. 11, 2001, I rushed to Dracut, Mass., after learning John Ogonowski, the pilot of hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, had a farm there. Media trucks lined the driveway, and reporters waited for something to happen while battling back personal anxieties. Eventually, Ogonowski’s brother, Jim, remembered his brother with fitting words that also calmed our nerves and offered a dint of hope.
I returned to the farm for the one-year anniversary of 9/11 and again for the 10th anniversary, and both times found a family unwilling to collapse to grief. They struggle with John’s place in history but know they must carry on. Here’s the piece about the decade after that day
The story I’m most proud of is my tribute to my first dog, Eddie. A spunky and quirky wire fox terrier, Eddie helped heal the loss of family but then left a void when he passed. Read about him