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. To see almost everything I’ve published in the last 10 years, please go to my page on Muck Rack.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. Close Encounter with a Porcupine - Some stories just write themselves. And this story is true. I don’t think I actually hit the porcupine but I must have nicked it. The story is really about how I learned to hit a drop-dead deadline.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.Copywriting
I wrote this a long time ago. It was my philosophy then, and it still is.Editorial/Op-Ed
Confessions of an Oxytocin Junkie - Is the pandemic causing us to lose the human touch? What’s Wrong with Women’s Rights? - Her body. Not your choice.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. Workers Compensation Fraud: Crime and Punishent - Tired of watching workers comp stakeholders blaming each other fraud, I decided to examine how each stakeholder group defrauds the system, feeding on the injuries of workers.
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.
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.
Peer Counseling
Handbook for Peer Counselors - Since there was no “textbook,” I wrote one.
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. To see almost everything I’ve published in the last 10 years, please go to my page on Muck Rack.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. Close Encounter with a Porcupine - Some stories just write themselves. And this story is true. I don’t think I actually hit the porcupine but I must have nicked it. The story is really about how I learned to hit a drop-dead deadline.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. Workers Compensation Fraud: Crime and Punishent - Tired of watching workers comp stakeholders blaming each other fraud, I decided to examine how each stakeholder group defrauds the system, feeding on the injuries of workers.
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
