This is the top level portfolio page, which focuses on my freelance writing. If you want to know more about my book on Fr. Walter Ciszek, click here.
I am also a taxonomist/ontologist/ information architect with over 10 years of experience. Click here if you want to learn more about my taxonomy work.
Freelance Writing
Northwest Catholic is the magazine of the Archdiocese of Seattle with a monthly circulation of 125,000. I have written for them since 2014. Most of the articles are online-only, but I have written a couple of features for the print edition, including two cover stories. I have covered the installation of an archbishop, the funeral of an archbishop, the ordination of two priests, and been to churches all over Western Washington reporting on many examples of amazing charitable work.
Feature Stories
Ora et Labora: On Shaw Island, Benedictine nuns share lives of work, prayer and hospitality.
My article on Our Lady of the Rock Monastery was the cover story in the July/August 2015 print edition. I was honored that the article was chosen as one of the top articles celebrating the 10th anniversary of Northwest Catholic in 2023.
Large crowd welcomes Archbishop Etienne as coadjutor at Mass of Reception
My article on the installation of Archbishop Paul Etienne was the cover story in the July/August 2019 print edition.
Online Articles
Influenza of 1918 caused Mass cancellations, claimed the lives of local priests An article I wrote during the COVID-19 pandemic about how priests in the Archdiocese of Seattle responded to the 1918-19 influenza epidemic.
Please check out this link to a full list of my articles for Northwest Catholic. I also maintain a mirror page on this site.
From 2008- 2013, I wrote over 55 feature articles and blog posts for the Ballard News-Tribune, a now sadly-defunct Seattle neighborhood paper. They are currently operating as the Westside Seattle blog. A squatter is now sitting on the ballardnewstribune.com domain.
Feature Stories
Ballard Terminal Railroad Delivers Local Freight: A 2008 story of a short-line railroad that still operates in Ballard as of 2024.
Bardahl Oil Celebrates 70 Years in Ballard: Bardahl Oil is a famous auto additive company that got its start in Ballard. Their headquarters featured an awesome neon sign that, as of 2024, has fallen into disrepair.
Alternative comic legend calls Ballard home: An interview with comics legend Peter Bagge.
Online Stories
I wrote a column called the “21st Century Viking” from 2008- 10, and 2012- 13. In its 2008-10 incarnation, I mainly wrote observations of what was going on around Ballard at the time. In 2012- 13, I was asked to be a tad more political but still through the lens of Ballard.
Welcome to Stumbletown: An article about my neighborhood that received a new lease on life in 2024, and led to me being featured in an article about Stumbletown/ West Woodland in the Seattle Times.
What Happened to Sunset Bowl?: This article was featured in the 3/18/13 edition of The Daily Troll, which was an aggregator of the most interesting Seattle-area stories of the day as picked by the editors of Crosscut.com (now part of Cascade PBS).
McDermott debates…but not with the right person: Part of my 2012 WA-7th Congressional District election coverage.
Goodbye, Viking Tavern!: Lamenting the closing of a local institution and discussing the issues around the densification of the Ballard neighborhood.
Who or what is SALWT?: A report on the mysterious religious cult that lived on a compound that was transformed into Kirke Park.
Check out the complete list of my articles for the Ballard News-Tribune.
Evergreen Material
In August 2013, I participated in the GORUCK Challenge and wrote a blog post about my training regimen and the experience.
Report on Sawin’s and Williams Ponds In 2003, I delivered a report to the Watertown (MA) Conservation Commission on the environmental history of a polluted waterway and wetland in my hometown. The report led to a guest column on the subject in the Watertown TAB newspaper. People are still reading it, as evidenced by this 2023 article in the Watertown News blog: Big Discussions Over the Future of a Small Pond in East Watertown.
I also documented the very beginning of the terraforming of the former Arsenal Mall into the Arsenal Yards, which was featured on an episode of the podcast Lost Massachusetts about the U.S. Arsenal military base formerly located on the site.