Still writing, after all these years

Since we announced the sale of the Bitterroot Star last week I have been in a kind of shock. Not at the sale and my sudden change in life, but at the response. You would think I died. It was the kind of praise and appreciation I’ve only heard at funerals. Kind of scary. The fact is life goes on and so do I.

It’s true, I am retired. So the first question that comes after the kind remarks of appreciation, which by the way I truly appreciate, is “So what are you going to do?”

Many people are moving to the Bitterroot valley because it’s a spectacular place to retire. But many of us who have worked here all our lives look at retiring here a bit differently. It often means looking for an odd job to get by. Being a Bitterrooter, I’m in the latter group.

Lucky for me I found a way to supplement my retirement income right away and it means doing the kind of thing I’ve enjoyed doing for most of my career and gotten really good at (from what I’ve heard lately), writing stories. As soon as the new owner of the Bitterroot Star said that he would be using some freelance writing in the paper, I jumped at the chance.

I take it as a real compliment that he assured me, based on my past performance, that I could count on getting one or two in the paper each week….if they are any good.

As I embark on my new career as a freelance writer, you may someday see my byline in other newspapers and even magazines. You might also expect to see my name on a few books, including some poetry books. But in the meantime, there is one publication where you can count on seeing a story or two with my byline on it every week and that’s in the same hometown paper that’s published my stories for the last 35 years, the Bitterroot Star.

It has truly been an honor to serve the community in this fashion and I look forward to doing so for a while longer.