I found a home in the newsroom

newsroom

I can’t remember what all I brought with me my freshman year at Washington State University. I do know I had a spanking new Merriam-Webster paperback dictionary, a second-hand Neil Young “After the Gold Rush” album and some vague notion that I was going to major in accounting.

The dictionary grew dog-eared and the album scratchy from years of use.

My ambition to become an accountant didn’t last a week.

I guess I always knew I’d rather be a storyteller than a bean counter, even if the tradeoff was dimes on the dollar.

Newspapers lured me in from an early age. I graduated from Peanuts and Seattle Pilots box scores to crossword puzzles and current events.

The day I first walked into The Daily Evergreen college newsroom to the clack and hum of IBM Selectrics, I felt a sense of purpose and belonging. I found a home there and my future wife.

For nine years, I worked for small weekly and daily newspapers, mainly in timber towns. Everett seemed big time, and I knew Snohomish County was where I wanted to plant roots and raise a family.

It’s hard to believe that I joined The Daily Herald 30 years and thousands of bylines ago.

I often wonder what kept me in this sometimes heartbreaking, often stressful, mostly unpredictable business for so long. Perhaps I wasn’t original enough to re-invent myself, but I prefer to believe that I still find meaning in the work, that chance to write a story that just might resonate with readers or do some good.

Nearly 40 years later, I’m indebted to strangers who are willing to share with readers a part of their lives.

The job has given me license to explore my love of history, to dig up documents, to learn from tribal elders, to watch high school science students cut and paste DNA in their labs and to write obituaries for the well-known and the little known, and occasionally my own co-workers.

These days, I’m literally the graybeard in the newsroom, the local news editor overseeing a staff of about a dozen reporters, including three Everett High School graduates. Each – the 20 somethings to the 60 somethings – is bright, polite and hard-working.

I am grateful every day.


Eric is The Herald’s local news editor. Support him and the newsroom with a subscription or donation.

Talk to us

More in Local News

Members of South County Fire practice onboarding and offboarding a hovering Huey helicopter during an interagency disaster response training exercise at Arlington Municipal Airport on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, in Arlington, Washington. The crews learned about and practiced safe entry and exit protocols with crew from Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue before begin given a chance to do a live training. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Snohomish, King counties train together for region’s next disaster

Dozens of agencies worked with aviators Tuesday to coordinate a response to a simulated earthquake or tsunami.

Police stand along Linden Street next to orange cones marking pullet casings in a crime scene of a police involved shooting on Friday, May 19, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lake Stevens man identified in Everett manhunt, deadly police shooting

Travis Hammons, 34, was killed by officers following a search for an armed wanted man in a north Everett neighborhood.

Ciscoe Morris, a longtime horticulturist and gardening expert, will speak at Sorticulture. (Photo provided by Sorticulture)
Get your Sorticulture on: Garden festival returns to downtown Everett

It’s a chance to shop, dance, get gardening tips, throw an axe and look through a big kaleidoscope. Admission is free.

Funko mascots Freddy Funko roll past on a conveyor belt in the Pop! Factory of the company's new flagship store on Aug. 18, 2017.  (Dan Bates / The Herald)
Lawsuit: Funko misled investors about Arizona move

A shareholder claims Funko’s decision to relocate its distribution center from Everett to Arizona was “disastrous.”

Lynnwood
1 stabbed at apartment in Lynnwood

The man, 26, was taken to an Everett hospital with “serious injuries.”

A firefighting helicopter carries a bucket of water from a nearby river to the Bolt Creek Fire on Saturday, Sep. 10, 2022, on U.S. Highway 2 near Index, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Red flag fire warning issued west of Cascades

There are “critical fire weather” conditions due to humidity and wind in the Cascades, according to the National Weather Service.

A house fire damaged two homes around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 6, 2023 in Marysville, Washington. (Photo provided by Marysville Fire District)
Fire burns 2 homes in Marysville, killing 2 dogs

Firefighters responded to a report of a fire north of Lakewood Crossing early Tuesday, finding two houses engulfed in flames.

Snohomish County vital statistics

Marriage licenses, dissolutions and deaths.

An external audit listed over 100 recommendations, such as getting body cameras, minimizing excessive traffic stops and hiring more officers, for the Edmonds Police Department. (Edmonds Police Department)
Police: Man impersonating Edmonds officer pulls over citizen

The man wore a vest that said “sheriff” and claimed to be an Edmonds police officer.

Most Read