Tag Archives: Chicago

A little newsroom nostalgia thanks to my visit to Chicago’s WBEZ91.5

Posted on by March 20, 2013

Last week I had my first real hard-to-reach itch to get back in a newsroom since I left The Associated Press. And it was all WBEZ’s fault.

I was in their studio on Chicago’s Navy Pier to record my story that won Story Club’s January open mic. A friend of mine introduced me to an amazing storyteller, filmmaker, producer and radio host, Luis Antonio Perez, who said he’d tape and lightly edit my story to be featured on Story Club’s web site as … Read more ...

Now That’s A First ….

Posted on by January 20, 2013

*Since some of my readers had a hard time accessing my first storytelling piece. Here it is in its entirety.

Everyone remembers where they were that day. You know the day. THAT day. People were at work, getting ready for work, getting the kids ready for school. All in our usual morning routines on that particular September 11th.

At the time, I was a journalist for The Associated Press and hours after the towers fell, I was one of the four … Read more ...

My New Obsession, Part II: They Gave Me A Mic

Posted on by January 10, 2013

We all know that I’ve got a new drug. I wish it were exercise, but whatevs. It’s something even better.

In my previous post, I told you how I stumbled onto the craft of storytelling. Hearing people on stage telling true yarns of their adventures, some happy, some sad, others randomly in between. All of them honest, stark and bare.

Reading my First story at the Holiday Club in Chicago at the Story Club Chicago event. Photo via Lily Be.

I’d quickly fallen in … Read more ...

My New Obsession (Don’t Worry, It’s A Healthy One) Part I

Posted on by January 7, 2013

I’ve got a new obsession. It’s storytelling.

It’s not the stories I cover as a journalist, this my friends is much different. It’s part of an old/new genre that’s growing in Chicago where people gather to hear true stories about each other’s lives.

It’s a bit of a throwback to the days when we’d gather around the fire to roast the freshly caught deer, duck or squirrel. Or fast forward a few generations to after Thanksgiving dinner and the grown folks tell tales from the … Read more ...

My Co-hosting Debut: Did I blow it up or bomb?

Posted on by December 6, 2012

So, how’d it go? That’s what a lot of people were asking me when they found out I was going to be live on the air. Well, in case you missed my debut on Vocalo’s The Barbershop Show, let me give you a peek at my time behind the mic.

I was strangely nervous before the show. I say strange in that public speaking doesn’t scare me, it excites me and I really enjoy it. But for some reason speaking out to some unseen … Read more ...