Entertainment
Melissa Etheridge: not in Kansas anymore - First and foremost, Melissa Etheridge is a performer. For her solo “This Is M.E.” tour, the rock star is showing off her lead guitar chops.
Live from Nevada City, It’s the Geezer Gig! - “Party like an animal and be home in
bed by 10.” Proving you’re never too old to rock’n’roll, Bob Woods and friends tear
it
up in a world-wide webcast by KVMR community radio from the Crazy Horse Saloon
in Nevada City, California.
Easy reading is damn hard writing.
- Maya Angelou
What follows are links to samples of my writing from very asssorted genres. I will rotate articles from time to time. Some of the links will take you off-site. Please don’t forget to come back.News Reporting
Native Americans locked out of their cemetery - This was the beginning of a strange tale of covert racism, white guilt, intertribal tensions, and bureaucratic gridlock. The cemetery was quickly reopened, but the underlying issues were still unresolved when I left the the newspaper. Raid on a pot farm - It can take a long time for law enforcement officers to trust a reporter. While it’s easy enough to get a press relations ride-along in a patrol car, it’s not so easy when guns and deep undercover officers are involved.
Investigative Reporting
I’ve investigated street drugs, alleged prostitution, illegal marijuana grows and crooked contractors, but the most enterprising investigation I’ve ever done was to find out who ran a secret satirical e-zine that was amusing and annoying prominent citizens. It took me months to pierce their veil of secrecy: The Nevada County Scooper sheds light on “issues of the day” through satire.Creative Nonfiction
Sometimes you get an assignment that is so weird that you have to take a weird angle to do justice to the subject. As my publisher Gil Gordon noted in his introduction to A Tale of Two Commuters, the topic was, on the face of it, totally crackpot - until I put a face on it. One Minute to Deadline - This hasn’t been published yet, but it’s here because this is a true story creatively told. I wrote it when I was supposed to be writing something else. Some stories just write themselves.Technical Writing
SETI Researchers Sift Interstellar Static for Signs of Life - Soft-core technical writing for executives and non-engineers. Digital Radio Receiver System - Technical marketing to engineers. SMAC TM - Applied as a New Gigabit Ethernet Protocol - Hard-core technical writing for engineers.Ghostwriting
In my capacity as managing editor of Xcell Journal, it was my occasional privilege to interview Wim Roelandts, the CEO of Xilinx Inc., and write his column. Here’s what he had to say about How to Survive a Recession and Gain Market Leadership.Copywriting
Durkin Gibbs & Associates - I wrote this about 35 years ago. It was my philosophy then, and it still is.Marketing
In 2017, One Source-Empowering Caregivers was a new nonprofit that needed to establish its service to the community, so I put them on the front page: Caring for the Caregiver. For the next two years, I maintained their dynamic presence in print and social media. The contract concluded with a creative training and recruitment documentary called It Takes a Village.Legal and Legislative Analysis
CTA v Gould I - Pre-verdict analysis of a multi-year, multi-million dollar lawsuit by the California Teachers Association against the State of California over the misappropriation of funds from Proposition 98 lottery income designated for education. There was a gag order, but I found deep- throat sources on both sides. CTA v Gould II - Post-verdict analysis. CTA won. Most papers reported a $373 million settlement, but that was only the first payout. The actual settlement was $1.76 billion. Most papers didn’t get that.
Personality Profiles
Julie Baker took a “funky little performing arts center” in Grass Valley, California, and turned The Center for the Arts into a nationally known venue for A-list performers and stars in niche genres. After eight years, she stepped down to start her own arts and entertainment company.
- Blah, blah, blog
- Mortal Coil Shuffle
- Why I hate "the homeless"
- Choose your groove
- Give us shelter
- We need ADUs, not excuses
- Myth of the accidental overdose
- Invisible People
- Close encounter with a porcupine
- Write to Be Read
- Forgive Me Not
- Stop the steal of our flag
- Jan. 6, a day of infamy
- Code Compliance Cop-Out
- The Eff It Doctrine
Entertainment
Melissa Etheridge: not in Kansas anymore - First and foremost, Melissa Etheridge is a performer. For her solo “This Is M.E.” tour, the rock star is showing off her lead guitar chops.
Live from Nevada City, It’s the Geezer Gig! - “Party like an
animal and be home in bed by 10.” Proving you’re never
too old to rock’n’roll, Bob Woods and friends
tear it up in a world-wide webcast by KVMR
community radio from the Crazy Horse Saloon
in Nevada City, California.
Easy reading is damn hard writing.
- Maya Angelou
What follows are links to samples of my writing from very asssorted genres. I will rotate articles from time to time. Some of the links will take you off-site. Please don’t forget to come back.News Reporting
Native Americans locked out of their cemetery - This was the beginning of a strange tale of covert racism, white guilt, intertribal tensions, and bureaucratic gridlock. The cemetery was quickly reopened, but the underlying issues were still unresolved when I left the the newspaper. Raid on a pot farm - It can take a long time for law enforcement officers to trust a reporter. While it’s easy enough to get a press relations ride-along in a patrol car, it’s not so easy when guns and deep undercover officers are involved.
Investigative Reporting
I’ve investigated street drugs, alleged prostitution, illegal marijuana grows and crooked contractors, but the most enterprising investigation I’ve ever done was to find out who ran a secret satirical e-zine that was amusing and annoying prominent citizens. It took me months to pierce their veil of secrecy: The Nevada County Scooper sheds light on “issues of the day” through satire.Creative Nonfiction
Sometimes you get an assignment that is so weird that you have to take a weird angle to do justice to the subject. As my publisher Gil Gordon noted in his introduction to A Tale of Two Commuters, the topic was, on the face of it, totally crackpot - until I put a face on it. One Minute to Deadline - This hasn’t been published yet, but it’s here because this is a true story creatively told. I wrote it when I was supposed to be writing something else. Some stories just write themselves.Technical Writing
SETI Researchers Sift Interstellar Static for Signs of Life - Soft-core technical writing for executives and non-engineers. Digital Radio Receiver System - Technical marketing to engineers.
SMAC
TM
- Applied as a New Gigabit Ethernet Protocol -
Hard-core technical writing for engineers.
Ghostwriting
In my capacity as managing editor of Xcell Journal, it was
my occasional privilege to interview Wim Roelandts, the
CEO of Xilinx Inc., and write his column. Here’s what he
had to say about How to Survive a Recession and Gain
Market Leadership.
Copywriting
Durkin Gibbs & Associates - I wrote
this about 35 years ago. It was my
philosophy then, and it still is.
Marketing
In 2017, One Source-Empowering Caregivers was a new nonprofit that needed to establish its service to the community, so I put them on the front page: Caring for the Caregiver. For the next two years, I maintained their dynamic presence in print and social media. The contract concluded with a creative training and recruitment documentary called It Takes a Village.Legal and Legislative Analysis
CTA v Gould I - Pre-verdict analysis of a multi-year, multi- million dollar lawsuit by the California Teachers Association against the State of California over the misappropriation of funds from Proposition 98 lottery income designated for education. There was a gag order, but I found deep-throat sources on both sides. CTA v Gould II - Post-verdict analysis. CTA won. Most papers reported a $373 million settlement, but that was only the first payout. The actual settlement was $1.76 billion. Most papers didn’t get that.
Personality Profiles
Julie Baker took a “funky little performing arts center” in Grass Valley, California, and turned The Center for the Arts into a nationally known venue for A-list performers and stars in niche genres. After eight years, she stepped down to start her own arts and entertainment company.
Tom Durkin
multimedia writer-editor-photographer
