For the past year-and-a-half, I’ve been freelance writing for a couple of clients and have found, once again, that I love to work. The opportunity to learn about accomplished, involved and interesting people, or events, organization and topics, and then write about them, continues to expand my lifelong learning curve.
Recently, I’ve mostly written profiles and feature articles for Naples Illustrated magazine. This has included interviews with civic, philanthropic and business leaders throughout Collier County, FL, as well as more in-depth pieces about birds and turtles.
While I can’t interview the animals, I do get the chance to speak to experts about our feathered and ninja friends. Research, including interviews, is like eating candy for me – delightful in every way. While my BA in Journalism has proved to be the perfect degree, I think my true calling is to while away my days conducting interviews and pouring over archived material in drafty and voluminous libraries. It’s in those moments that I’ll figure out some minor detail, giving me an insight that turns the piece into compelling reading.
I’m also writing for the North Florida Junior Golf Foundation. The young golfers inspire me as well. They’re trying to craft a future that might involve playing competitive golf, or perhaps it’s just to be a better player and enjoy a walk in the park. Either way, they’re working hard, improving their skills, learning to work with others, sticking to the rules and most importantly, having fun along the way. The PGA and LPGA professionals, accomplished amateurs, men and women volunteers who support these junior golfers, also are incredibly dedicated and praise-worthy, not that they’re looking for all that. They just want the kids to enjoy playing golf. There’s nothing like touching the future, which they’re doing every day.
It all ties back into the concept of lifelong learning, one of the well-known secrets to living a long and fulfilling life. Researching and writing magazine copy, newspaper articles, books, blog posts, you name it, by default, provides a reason to peer through that broader world lens. The view is spectacular.
But enough about inspiration. Today, I’m excited to share my most recent article appearing in the September, 2021, issue of Naples Illustrated about Florida panthers, the official state animal. Many thanks to Panther Cams photographer Jay Staton who graciously shared his amazing images with the magazine, captured with his custom DSLR camera traps in the Collier County area. The copy and pictures in “Felines of the Floridian Forest” shine a bright light on the multi-layered challenges facing this important yet endangered animal.
I was also recently informed that my birding article won a Silver Award in the Florida Magazine Association’s 2021 Charlie awards – for Best Writing: Service Feature in the Consumer: Circulation over 20K category. As it turns out, this was my very first piece published in Naples Illustrated, entitled Take Flight – Birding in Naples. Former Editor-in-Chief, Christina Boyle Cush, helped edit the piece and likewise was recognized.
If you’d like to check out some of the other pieces I have had published for Naples Illustrated, or for the North Florida Junior Golf Foundation, go to the Recent-Articles page here on my website.
#naplesillustratedmagazine #jaystatonphotgraphy #panthercams #northfloridajuniorgolffoundation #floridamagazineassociation
Congratulations on this piece, your awards! Lifelong learning is amazing. I recently turned the corner from regretting that I didn’t know something to embracing my new-found knowledge.
Thank you so much, Marian. Glad you’re on a revised path forward. In the past two years my understanding of birds, and being able to recognize them, has grown so much. It’s a wonderful development, although I still have a long way to go.