Writing

After more than two decades of professional writing, I have hundreds and perhaps thousands of samples. Email blasts, media kits, product positioning, messaging strategies, web pages, video scripts and voiceovers, CG pages, interactive media scripts, radio commercials … the list is endless. I’ve included the pieces below because almost every one of them had to pass the approval of a professional editor whose career is all about getting it perfect. 

Automotive   Legal   Legislative   Medical (General)   Neurosurgery
Political   Social Issues   Technology or Style?

Automotive Writing

Hybrid Cars     
Long before hybrid vehicles became the fare of daily discourse, I wrote an article about them for Philadelphia Style magazine. The audience demographics were mostly women, ages 25 - 45, so technical issues were not a priority but nevertheless had to be covered in an accurate way.

T-Rex
The T-Rex is a three-wheeled motorcycle designed to give drivers a formula racecar experience. I wrote one article about it for Philadelphia Style magazine and another for Boys’ Life magazine. The demographics for the two publications couldn’t be more disparate, but knowing the interests and reading capacity of each reader group produces two very distinct pieces. The T-Rex is a blast to ride in too. If you ever get a chance to take a ride in one, take it.

Legal Writing

Comcast v. Weedman   
Covering the NJ Weedman, a.k.a., Robert Edward Forchion, Jr. in court was an interesting experience to say the least. In this article, Forchion is suing Comcast for not airing his pro-marijuana political commercial when he ran for a seat in Congress. His legal perspective may not always have the most solid basis in jurisprudence, but the reasoning behind his political position was quite lucid. I’ve had subsequent email interactions with Forchion, and I’ve found him to be a genuinely kind and decent person.

Atlantic City Prostitution Ring   
This article relates one of the most dramatic sentencing hearings I’ve witnessed in almost 20 years of reporting. It’s a fascinating account of how greed and indifference to human suffering can combine to produce horrific results.

Heroin Pizza Ring   
This article is quite old, circa 1989, but I like it because it was my first big court case and my first front page article. I hadn’t even taken my mid-term exam for Temple University’s introductory course to journalism when it published.  It’s a little klunky here and there, but natural ability apparently carried me through to the front page.

 
Legislative Writing

Industrial Truck Standard   
These are the first few pages of a short book I wrote about a complex Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation known as the Industrial Truck Standard. Industrial trucks are better known to most as forklifts, however there’s a great variety of forklifts operating in numerous hazardous environments. Strict regulation is enforced rigorously to avoid accidents. Operators and managers must periodically undergo retraining and maintain meticulous records. I’ve also written about a number of other OSHA regulations and recommendations from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Support for S. 1060  
This article was published as the result of some lobbying work supporting U.S. Senate bill S. 1060. Although it was originally a press release, the industry publication decided it was well written enough to publish as is. As you’ll see further down the page, this happens a lot with my press releases.  Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) did sign on as a supporter of the measure once we called it to his attention.

Orphan Works
I’ve written a lot about Orphan Works legislation that’s currently being considered by the House and Senate. Both versions of the bill extensively modify U.S. Copyright law. Since this is an active project, I ask that you contact me for a sample of this work.

Medical Writing (General)

Other Side of Tort Reform   
The practice of Neonatology is facing elimination in some states because of high malpractice insurance rates. This article is about how a NJ-based neonatal service managed to raise quality standards high enough to make the service profitable in one of the most litigious states in the country.

Biobehavioral Unit Script   
The Biobehavioral Unit at Children’s Seashore House in Philadelphia needed to raise support for their important work, but the facility did not lend itself to personal tours.  The patients could get upset and the vistors could potentially be injured.  I produced a marketing video for them that the marketing director later described in a recommendation letter as “… the best marketing tool I have.”  Please see the recommendations page similar endorsements collected over the years.  Since this production in 1997, I’ve developed a scripting format that saves time in the editing suite.

Neurosurgical Writing

I’m aware that neurosurgery is a medical topic, but I felt these should be singled out because of the nature of the assignment. I was asked to read the latest neurosurgical research papers published in Neurosurgery, the official Journal of the Congress of Neurosurgeons. These jargon-laden medical papers were a challenge to convert to the eighth-grade reading level of common journalism, but in each case it was done with absolute accuracy and clarity. I’ll be happy to send the original studies to anyone who wants to contact me, because it may be the only way to appreciate how difficult these were to write.

Functioning Neurons from Adult Stem Cells   
The original paper this release refers to was about 30 pages and involved some of the most complicated science found anywhere in the world. The Southern Medical Journal found the release compelling enough to publish verbatim, and it also received national coverage.

Sports Concussions   
This release about concussions in young athletes received mostly radio and television coverage in all the major U.S. media markets.

Political Writing

AHS Advertorial   
This advertorial was published as a half-page of the Asbury Park Press. It was written in response to a popular political proposal that would have consolidated all animal shelters in New Jersey under the auspices of a new regulatory office. The political effort that my client opposed did not succeed.

I have many other examples of politically-based writing and government relations work, however I am rather sensitive to my client’s desires with regard to discretion in this arena. If you’re interested in obtaining copies, please contact my office by using the form found here. Among the topic areas are Orphan Works legislation, No Child Left Behind and medical policy for a mayoral candidate in a major U.S. city.

Social Issues Writing

Bullying       
This article is arguably one of my most successful, because it’s frequently requested in libraries across the country. It’s also a topic I feel very strongly about. I’ve seen the destructiveness of this aberrant behavior up close while I worked at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Animal Abuse & Bullying   
I conceived the public relations event that was covered in this article. The Popcorn Park Zoo in Forked River is one of only two facilities in the U.S. that provides habitat for abused animals of all species. I wrote a self-guided tour for teachers and students that covers the topic of animal abuse, intended and otherwise, and related it to an issue many students face every day - bullying.  Studies have linked animal abuse as a bully’s first venture into cruelty, and it often spirals upward to include spousal abuse, child abuse, alcoholism and drug abuse.  The event made a great piece for their media kit too.

Technology Writing or Style Writing?

I’ll let the reader decide. Both of the stories below are written for style magazines, but in both cases technology was a predominate issue. I believe that’s why I was chosen for these assignments, because I can explain highly complex issues very clearly to any audience.

Laboratory Diamonds   
This was the first piece I wrote for Philadelphia Style magazine. Lab diamonds were being covered by everyone in the press at the time, but one of the company owners said to me at the time, “Of all the people I’ve been interviewed by, you understand the potential for this technology better than any of them.”  Quite a high compliment.

It’s Cold Outside   
This article is a style piece about fashion on the ski slopes. It reviews the high-tech gear available to winter sportspeople that’s now available in great looking styles.