Well, it’s done. On July 1, I turned in the manuscript for “The Findlay Market Cookbook.” It’s a whopper: 54,000 words, about 220 pages, full of 70+ interviews with local farmers and food entrepreneurs and about 125 recipes. The biggest project ...
Are you startled by the fact that it’s December? Scratching your head at how quickly the year’s gone by? Me too. One way that I’m able to make sense of time’s flight is to look back at the year that’s passing, to ...
Do you ever fall asleep on an airplane only to wake up when the wheels hit the tarmac? In a mental fog, you’re thoroughly flummoxed by the realization that you’ve arrived at your destination. I feel the same way as I ...
I love writing stories about creative people in both food and design. This spring, I contributed a sweeping, 10-segment feature package to Cincinnati Magazine's annual City Guide. The project included telling readers—primarily, people who are new to or considering a move ...
What’s ON your refrigerator? No, I didn’t ask, “What’s IN your refrigerator?” What’s ON it? Remember when you’d dash home from the bus stop after school clutching an A paper or a favorite drawing from art class? What happened next? That’s right: ...
An interview with Stanford University professor John Perry on NPR last year caught my ear (one of those “driveway moments” when you can’t leave your car until the story is over). Perry talked about his book “The Art of Procrastination,” ...
There’s a difference between looking and seeing, between hearing and listening. Many of us (I raise my hand) are better at the former than at the latter. We look, but we don’t see. We hear, but we don’t listen. Over many ...
Once, while working on a Habitat for Humanity building project, one of the construction pros volunteering on the job told me, “You have good worksite awareness.” I took it as a compliment ... and then asked what he meant. Good worksite awareness ...
You remember “pink slime,” right? Earlier this year, this PR fiasco in the food industry revealed a huge communication challenge (or, let’s call it an opportunity) for both brands and consumers. And the lesson goes beyond the food industry. (A refresher: ...
I happened to meet Mike and Leslie Dyas, owners of Sterling Cut Glass, at a memorable party last fall. That wine-infused conversation led to a terrific new collaboration. Since midsummer, I've been helping Leslie and her colleagues Linda Sacolick and ...