Select writing credentials
Magazine writing
Began career as a researcher for Golf Digest, then worked for Tennis magazine, eventually as senior editor. During that time, and in the nine years as a freelancer afterward, wrote articles about tennis and related topics (equipment, travel, tournament coverage, humor, etc.). Have since written for several other tennis publications, along with titles from other genres, including Men's Health, Wired, Front Desk New York, Connecticut Home & Garden and Country Club Quarterly.
Photographing National Parks (book)
I did not intend to write this book, but began to after B&H Photo pressed me into quickly developing a lecture on the same topic to present as part of an event they were organizing to celebrate Ansel Adams’ birthday. After building the two-hour presentation, I realized I’d done 75 percent of the work involved in writing a book, so mentioned it to a publisher and he loved the idea. It was a project that brought together many of my passions, and was thus a joy to work on; I love that the book is now on the market, but I think I'll always be nostalgic about the time spent working on it.
Photographing Tennis (book)
Wrote a how-to for photographing tennis, an effort also known as “let’s see how narrow a niche a book can be marketed to.” The pages of Photographing Tennis offer a breakdown of everything the photographer needs to know before heading to court: how to choose the right gear, how to choose positions to shoot from, strategies for composing photos, techniques for timing, how to capture the ball and freeze motion, and more. The review I found most satisfying was, “It doesn't come across either as condescending or too complex.” In support of this book, I have lectured on the topic three times at B&H Photo.
The Lennon Prophecy (book)
Edited a book about John Lennon, including extensive research to fact-check and to find original, credible sources to back up the history and the problematic theories presented in the text. The book was covered by national press and radio, and climbed into Amazon's Top 500. It was controversial and polarizing, praised and ridiculed for its premise, but, as the publisher later said to me, “No one said it was badly written.”
Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games (book)
Edited this book about not just the events surrounding the boycott, but also about the athletes who were affected. Eighteen would-be competitors are profiled, including interviews about the work and sacrifice of building an Olympics-worthy career, and how the lost opportunity to compete in 1980 altered their lives. This book was released in an Olympic year during the threat of another boycott, and still failed to sell, proof of the unpredictability and ruthlessness of the publishing market.
Champions of Equality (magazine article)
The tennis piece that I feel proudest to have written. In 2007, the American Tennis Association, the oldest African American sports organization in the U.S., celebrated its 90th year, and most Americans didn’t know it exists. Since 1917 the ATA has championed racial equality in tennis. Commencing in an era of all-white policies on courts and in clubhouses, the ATA quietly rallied never for black tennis, but for equal tennis. They were the platform upon which Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe were built, and the subsequent short bridge to Venus and Serena Williams and the hundreds of thousands of minorities playing a game once reserved for others. Shortly after “Champions of Equality” was published, the president of the ATA shook my hand and said, “You nailed it.” Being a white writer writing about a black cause, I could not have been more appreciative of an endorsement. (Their 100th anniversary is a great target for a documentary.)
Double Duty Dads (blog)
New project in 2013, writing and editing an essay-driven blog by and about fathers who work from home (DoubleDutyDads.com). Modest audience early on, but hoping to turn this into a book deal in the next two years or so.
Humor (Men' Health)
Published in 2007, “My Cyber Valentine” is a fictitious essay that details a man's experience taking a newfound object of desire on an online night out, meeting at sites around the web for virtual dating activities.
Tennis.com series
In 2011, wrote a two-part feature detailing the experience of being a photographer at the US Open. “Capturing the Chaos” discusses dealing with weather while trying to cover as many simultaneous matches as possible; “The Second Week Scene” follows me from match to match trying to photograph the dramatic decisive moments of late-round matches.
Training Materials, Brooks International
Edited and published a set of training materials for Brooks International, a consulting company headquartered in Florida. The materials include a 300-page training manual, a 200-page workbook and 30 standard operating procedures.
Press Releases, Sacred Heart University
Long-standing relationship with Sacred Heart University writing press releases for the Department of Marketing and Communications. Other projects have included writing announcements for new hires, writing bios for campus-event programs, and writing and editing articles for the university's alumni magazine.
Villanova School of Business Magazine
Writing and editing articles for the Villanova School of Business magazine. Have written articles about innovative courses in the university's business program, features about community outreach efforts, and profiles of interesting and successful alumni.