Hey
Thanks for visiting my website. I'm a freelance writer. Feel free to give me some work.
The main photo at the top of the page is from the Sabine River, which is the subject of my first book. I'm the writer, and Jacob Croft Botter is the photographer.
Unless we do something to really screw things up, the book might be coming out as early as next year. Yes, we have a contract, and yes, we are full of ourselves.
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Recent-ish Headlines
- “They were fighting in the brush, and I broke it up”
- Ghosts in the trailer park
- Life on the Sabine
- Desperate options
- Baby mama
- The Bigfoot hunter
- Bad air. Blame the trees?
- Old rides, new life
- Longview Transit riders as varied as the routes
- Area mystery mounds delight archaeologists
- A return to 'The Front'
- Virginity rules the sex ed of East Texas
- East Texans recall the Great Depression
- Go north, young town
- The Neches River gets all the love
Category Archives: News
“They were fighting in the brush, and I broke it up”
A night in one of Longview’s homeless camps. Continue reading
Posted in Poverty, Showcase
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Life on the Sabine
Its reputation is foul and dirty, but some people who know it well believe the river that snakes through East Texas is a natural treasure and vital to life. Continue reading
Posted in News, Showcase
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Desperate options
No air conditioning, rotting floors, sagging ceilings: This is how some Longview renters live. Continue reading
Posted in News, Poverty
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Baby mama
A teenager falls in love, becomes pregnant and must learn to raise her baby on her own when her boyfriend is swept up in a federal crack cocaine sting. Continue reading
Posted in Poverty, Showcase
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The Bigfoot hunter
There wasn’t time to fix the propeller, and there wasn’t time for precaution. The party pressed farther into the swamp, because that’s where Bigfoot was. Continue reading
A return to 'The Front'
Twenty years ago, reports of a dangerous slum in Longview spurred the community to organize, leading to massive cleanup efforts in poor areas around town. Some believe a similar movement is needed today. Continue reading
Posted in Poverty
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Virginity rules the sex ed of East Texas
For the past seven years, virginity has ruled the sex education of area teenagers. In that time, abstinence-only programs have come under fire nationwide, and after a cut in federal funding, the future is uncertain for the East Texas Abstinence … Continue reading
Posted in Education
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East Texans recall the Great Depression
Whether they plowed behind mules, fried up bacon for hungry drifters or rode the oil boom out of poverty, five East Texans recall their experiences during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Continue reading
Posted in Poverty
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Area schools' wealth gap widening
An era of constant construction and renovation is under way at the wealthiest schools around the state, including Tatum and Carthage. Continue reading
Posted in Education
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Death Row: 'I was a bad guy. I thought I was a gangster'
Alvin Kelly still maintains his innocence, saying he didn’t know the Spring Hill family found dead in their home. But he talks openly about a series of crimes in the 1980s. Continue reading
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'He's given hero a different meaning'
LAKEPORT — Hundreds of East Texans stood in silent tribute Saturday as a Tatum family grieved over the flag-draped casket of a fallen loved one. Relatives and supporters gathered at the East Texas Regional Airport to meet the body of … Continue reading
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Let’s commercialize high school sports
Pat Collins is a salty old coach, a booster backslapper, a guy whose powers of persuasion can open wallets around town. He wants the best for his kids, and he knows how to get it. For proof, just look at … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Education
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Can Longview’s race “monster” be solved?
In midst of LISD attendance zone debate, race relations still riddle Continue reading
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The ballad of Billy Ray
LINDEN — Whatever happened to Billy Ray Johnson? For years, the middle-aged, mentally challenged black man had been a familiar face around town. But on a September night in 2003, four young white men gave Johnson beer at a pasture … Continue reading
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Some area towns put lots of cash in, get little out
In 1989, the state Legislature authorized a new half-cent sales tax to fund economic growth in small- to medium-size towns. The measure has been lauded as a game-changing force for new jobs and financial prosperity across the state. “I think … Continue reading
Posted in Business, News
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Local school board honors third-graders
On the day he became a legend, on the morning he should have died, the outlaw Danny Tidwell awoke at dawn. It was fall, the last day of September in 1982. He wandered down to the Sabine River’s edge, from his camp on the bank, and he drew a pot of river water to brew his morning coffee. Continue reading
Posted in Education
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