SIX
DECADES ON EARTH AND STILL STANDING
I turned 57 on Oct. 22nd. In my 40 years as a writer, I have
interviewed the famous, the infamous, the mega wealthy and those headed to
prison.
My life as a
journalist, marketer, storyteller and advocate has taken me to places I never
thought a kid from a working-class family – the first to go to college – would
ever go.
Certainly,
my greatest accomplishment has been being a companion to my Heidi for 35 years.
When it
comes to professional achievements, I have a Pulitzer nomination and several
diverse awards on my walls. I have reinvented myself from a sportswriter to
urban affairs journalist, then to a public policy chief, business development
director, marketing manager, communications leader, storyteller and advocate.
One of my
favorite story sources, who became a friend and mentor in Ohio, had an “I love
me” room filled with honors, accolades and scrapbooks from his rewarding life.
Perhaps like me, he sometimes doubted his ability or shrugged off praise while
taking the slightest shortcoming to heart. Maybe that’s why Saul crafted his I
love me room in his cozy abode in greater Columbus.
I recently
submitted an extended bio for a speaking engagement. After publishing about
7,000 bylined stories during the past 40 years, it felt odd to write about myself
in the third person. Despite the awkwardness, I did feel fairly good about
myself (always a challenge in these go-go-go, dog eat dog times), so I will share
some of it:
His 40-year
career, the past 21 in greater Miami, has been marked by dozens of national
stories on the planning profession in diverse publications plus more than a
decade of daily Blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn posts on urban design.
When Wright
came to Florida, he already had been a Pulitzer-nominated, award-winning
journalist who covered the urban affairs, smart growth and planning beat at the
Columbus Dispatch newspaper. His work earned special recognition from
the City of Columbus Planning Department for expert, in-depth coverage of
planning in the growing city.
While
working as the first full-time urban affairs reporter at the Dispatch,
Wright covered not only planning, zoning and development issues, but also
focused on land use’s impact on equity, inclusion, diversity and accessibility.
His marquee story was a first of its kind special section chronicling a year
spent with a photographer in the city’s oldest, poorest, most-neglected
neighborhood – Franklinton, which was under gentrification pressure due to an
Army Corps flood wall that would usher in development.
In Miami, he
has worked with leading urban designers, town planners, architects, engineers,
landscape architects, sustainability experts and similar leading firms that
create a better built environment. He was put his expertise in Universal Design,
Inclusive Mobility and access for People with Disabilities into every winning
project.
