Sunday, February 22, 2009

Narrative work

From early 2002 until late 2006, I edited the Sunday features section of The Dallas Morning News. I was fortunate to be surrounded by phenomenal talent -- our staff included a Pulitzer finalist, a Poynter lecturer, a Nieman fellow and many people of equal caliber. The department won a Missouri Lifestyles Award and was ranked among America's top features sections by the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors.

We all were students of the narrative form, and one of the best pieces I worked on was a four-part series called "Call of the River," about life along the Rio Grande, written by Beatriz Terrazas and photographed by Erich Schlegel.

I also worked with Bryan Woolley on "A Writer Begins," his serial memoir of his early days in journalism in 1950s El Paso.

I worked with talented young writers as well, such as Katharine Goodloe, who spun a narrative about the opening of a Nobu restaurant in Dallas (with contributions from veteran writer Michael Granberry.)

For a period, each week I was editing full-length Sunday features of this nature along with a feature-length profile. (I can't find any of them online still, but will update with links if possible.)

And thanks to a team of great designers and photographers, I also learned a lot about visual journalism. I can't take credit for the award-winning design work and photography that they created. But I'm pleased to have had a role as their enabler.