As far back as I can remember, I enjoyed writing, whether it was a letter to relatives and friends or a school assignment, such as an essay. Putting words on paper comes easy to me. In my late teens, I wrote a column, “Turner’s Telegraph,” on a freelance basis for a local weekly newspaper called The Towson Times in Towson, Md. The newspaper was part of a chain of weekly eight weekly newspapers in Baltimore County, which borders Baltimore City to the west, north and east. Towson is the county seat of Baltimore County. The The newspaper was part of a chain of weekly eight weekly newspapers in Baltimore County, which borders Baltimore City to the west, north and east. Towson is the county seat of Baltimore County. The Towson Times was purchased by Ted Venetoulis, who served as Baltimore County executive from 1974 to 1978. Various publishing companies bought the other seven newspapers in the chain. The Towson Times is currently owned by the Patuxent Publishing Company. “Turner’s Telegraph” enabled me to write on a variety subjects. In one of my columns, I wrote about Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Anne visiting the White House July 16-18, 1970. I received media credentials from my congressman to cover the arrival of the royals on July 16. I went with a photographer. Unfortunately, the photographer’s car was involved in a fender bender several blocks from the White House. By the time we made it to the White House, the photographer was able to take photos of the Nixon daughters and their British guests waving to the crowd from the balcony on the south lawn. I taped recorded comments by Nixon and the prince from TV coverage that night. The column didn’t last long. I soon found myself writing news stories and features not only for the Towson Times, but also for the other seven newspapers in the Steinberg chain. In one week, I had different articles in seven of the eight newspapers. That was quite an achievement for me, and one that wasn’t repeated. In 1970, I was in the first class at Broadcasting Institute of Maryland, which at the time was located in Baltimore. Following graduation from BIM, I attended Catonsville Community College and later transferred to Towson State University. I continued freelancing articles for the Towson Times and the other seven newspapers in Steinberg chain. I was a mass communications major. I took the minimal amount of credits each semester so I could do my newspaper freelancing. When I wasn’t in class, I covered events, the Baltimore County Council meetings and meetings of the various county agencies, such as Planning and Zoning. In addition to my freelancing, I worked, on a voluntary basis, with the university’s public broadcasting radio station, then known as WCVT. The station’s call letters are now WTMD. When the station was known as WCVT, I had my own talk show, called “Media Makers.” I interviewed many people in the media, such as Jack Anderson, and local celebrities. “Media Makers” was among several shows I had on the air in my capacity as WCVT’s first educational coordinator. I was hired by the university and worked part time as educational coordinator before I graduated in June 1976. After graduation from college, I continued my radio show and newspaper freelancing. By the 1980s, I was working for various newspapers far from home, such as the Tullahoma News and Guardian in Tullahoma, Tenn., a weekly newspaper when I was there; the Cullman Times, a small daily newspaper in Cullman, Ala.; the Journal Messenger, a small daily newspaper in Manassas, Va; and the Potomac News, a small daily newspaper in Woodbridge, Va. My staff positions at these newspapers varied. I was a reporter at the Tullahoma News and Guardian and at the Cullman Times. I was a reporter, wire page editor and editorial page editor at the Journal Messenger and a copy editor at the Potomac News. When I was on the news staff at the Journal Messenger, the newspaper and the Potomac News were rival newspapers. In the late 1980s or early 1990s, the Journal Messenger and the Potomac News became sister newspapers. I remember going to Manassas with my sister, Katie, who had a job interview with a legal firm in Manassas. While Katie was at her interview, I went by the Journal Messenger to see if I recognized anyone there. My former editor, Benny Scarton, was there, and so was a woman in the advertising department whose name escapes me. During the 1990s, I lived in Manassas and worked for various publications. I wrote and edited articles for a monthly magazine called Juke Box-Slots, which is defunct. I was a reporter for the Warren Sentinel, the weekly newspaper in Front Royal, Va. In 1995, I became the managing editor of the Montgomery County Sentinel, a weekly newspaper then based in Gaithersburg, Md. Bob Woodward worked for the Montgomery County Sentinel in the early 1970s before he was hired by the Washington Post. After a year and a half at the Montgomery County Sentinel, I was hired as an associate editor at CD Publications in Silver Spring, Md. CD Publications publishes funding newsletters. I was the editor of the education newsletter and later the disability newsletter. Working at CD Publications enabled me to cover Capitol Hill, which I had always wanted to do. In 1997, I put my career on hold to deal with a family crisis. I ended up helping my mother, Katherine, move to St. Mary’s County in Maryland. I stayed with my mother, hoping I could find a job in the county. Many of the jobs I applied for required technical writing, which I didn’t have. In June 2008, I suffered a mild stroke. I was later diagnosed with A-trial fibrillation, pulmonary hypertion and respiratory failure. I had a tracheostomy, which helps me breathe better. At this writing, I am a patient at St. Thomas More Medical Complex in Hyattsville, Md. I keep myself busy by doing page designs and layouts on my laptop computer. I also research material on various issues I want to write about for a column on a web site called Media Monitors Network. MMN doesn’t pay for articles. It does give people the opportunity to write on any topic they chose.I wrote several articles for MMN in 2000 and then put MMN aside due to my employment situation at the time. Most of my experience in page design and layout has been with Quark Express. The Capital Flyer and The Waterline used MacIntosh computers. My home desktop computer has Quark Express, but the computer is in storage. I use a laptop computer, which doesn’t have Quark Express, so I am limited as to what I can do in page designs and layouts. To demonstrate my page design and layout skills, I am using articles I wrote for military and civilian newspapersover the last several years. The layouts can be found on my website. My family has suffered several losses since 2008. My father, Art, passed away in February 2008. My mother, Katherine, passed away in June 2009. My uncle, my father’s brother, passed away in July 2009. The family now consists of my sister, Katie, a paralegal who lives in Columbia, Md.; and my brother, Charles, a Navy commander assigned to the United States Strategic Command Joint Functional Component Command for Space at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Another member of the Turner family, my father’s niece, Patty Fox, lives in Easton, Md. At the present, I am interested in writing and editing copy on a freelance basis. I also want to continue doing page design and layouts on my PC. A resume is on my website. I welcome the opportunity to discuss my background and experience.
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