My plan for after I retired from federal service last September was to first spend a few months visiting family and friends, and catching my breath after 36 years in the workforce. After those few months my idea was that I would spend my time editing and publishing the things I’ve written (essays, stories, poems, a novel) over the last few years, writing new things and spending more time than I’ve ever had before in one of the places I love best, my garden. Imagine my surprise and delight to have been asked to become the new editor of the Greenbelt News Review. Though I am still writing and gardening, I have now joined this fantastic team that produces and publishes our local newspaper, as it has been published and produced every week without a break since November 1937.
The work I have done over my varied career has uniquely prepared me for this exciting role. I have been a youth social worker, Lutheran clergyman, pharmaceutical representative and a U.S. diplomat (Department of State Foreign Service). In those jobs I communicated using written and spoken word to many different audiences, edited my own and others’ writing, and reported on topics and events that had been assigned to me. I love getting to know about the places I live. As I get to know Greenbelt I am fascinated by its unique background and ongoing contributions to the world and am glad to have become a Greenbelter myself.
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