Once Upon a Tom: My experience as a writer

The first press release I wrote (long before I became a professional writer)was on behalf of a food kitchen where I volunteered. No one was more surprised than I when it garnered nationwide exposure in Newsweek Magazine. What attracted the attention of Newsweek was that I told the compelling story of neighbors working together to uplift their diverse community. The experience taught me the remarkable value and pleasure of people-focused storytelling.

My first paid gig was for an arts and entertainment publication. Soon I was hired to write for travel and lifestyle magazines. I wrote columns for daily newspapers, and had the opportunity and great honor to interview historian Howard Zinn and share funny stories that delighted him − about my mother’s childhood friend, the prolific historian Henry Steele Commager. A few years later a German publisher of a glossy magazine hired me as his English language editor. My challenge was to revise articles contributed by storytellers from Estonia, Hong Kong, Spain, and South America who spoke very little English – and make them print-ready with elegant fluency for newsstands in England and the United States. What began as a side gig had evolved into a full-time freelance career spanning multiple projects, continents, and decades.

A Korean publisher of school textbooks asked me to rewrite the classic novel Don Quixote – which is about 1,000 pages long – as a short children’s story for kids learning to read English. Another publisher invited me to contribute to an anthology of funny true-life travel stories, including one penned by Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief. Next,

I helped write a memoir for a fellow who opened his own chain of retail businesses when he was only 15, while becoming the youngest person in the history of Connecticut to earn a real estate license. He used his profits to purchase a muscle car but was too young to drive, so he leased it to his older sister. Several years later he founded the biggest private auto finance lending company in New England.

“Perhaps my biggest surprise came
when I got a phone call from
President Obama’s Director of the
White House Office of Public Engagement.”

Then an excited Miami ad agency executive called to say that she had won a contract from a South Beach boutique hotel, and one of its owners was Ronnie Wood, guitarist for the Rolling Stones. My responsibility was to craft a video script to convey the storied history of Miami Beach, the ambience of the Art Deco hotel, and the inspiration behind the guitar-shaped swimming pool. Later that year, the BMX Pros Trick Team, the world’s premier bicycle stunt show, needed a writer to promote their nationwide tour with a major media campaign. They asked me to join their team, reassuring me that I did not have to perform any bicycle stunts.

Perhaps my biggest surprise came when I got a phone call from President Obama’s Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. When I finally realized it wasn’t a friend pranking me I almost choked on my morning coffee. They thanked me for a letter I had sent to the White House and asked if I would tell my story to the news media. That helped to confirm for me that there’s no telling who will want to hear your story − or be ready to share their own profound and inspiring story with you.