The many benefits of features.
I started out in journalism, where grabbing the reader's attention is key. What I discovered early on is that people will always pay attention to good stories. And telling a good story can pull readers into newsletters, websites, direct mail, and almost any other type of copy you're using. Here are just a few of the thousands of feature articles I've written over the years.
Finding Fried Chicken
A lighthearted but serious effort to find good fried chicken in Sussex County, Delaware, the most broiler-intensive county in the United States.
Celebrity chef Curtis Aikens
This award-winning article chronicles the early years of Curtis Aikens, who successfully portrayed himself as literate for years, achieving academic and business success, but only learned to read when his illiteracy eroded his self-esteem and threatened his livelihood. Can also be viewed with original design as a pdf file.
National Book Festival
Visit the Mall in Washington, D.C. and read about—and see photos I took of—this national celebration of the power of books and reading. Also viewable with original print formatting as a pdf file.
Montana Academy, a therapeutic high school
Many people have told me they were moved by this account of a therapeutic high school in a remote valley in Montana, where kids with a variety of serious psychological issues come for help in getting their lives back on track. Can also be viewed with original design as a pdf file.
The Decoy as Art
An article on a museum exhibit that explored antique decoys, revealing them to be a fascinating folk art.