My turn: A little good news

Three decades or so ago, two things that affected me happened within a 12-month period: I spent a summer working at the Portales News-Tribune under the watchful eye of my lifelong friend Gordon Greaves, and singer Anne Murray released a song called “A Little Good News.”

Gordon taught me a lot about news writing that memorable summer, but sometime along the path, I realized that my heart was really for the softer side of the news business, items that often found their way into Gordon’s long running column, “By The Way.” A year later, Anne Murray’s longing for “an anchorman to talk about a county fair and how we cleaned up the air, how everybody learned to care” was my longing, too. It still is.

When PNT Editor David Stevens offered me the column vacated by Argen Duncan’s move to Rio Rancho, I was quick to agree. Rather than food, I wondered if my corner be dedicated to a little good news each week. David said yes.

I am happy to be re-affiliated in a small way with a newspaper that has been dear to my heart all my life. There is clearly no shortage of material. I can’t wait to get started!