Writing
‘Wake up the pope’ - A Dallas jury’s historic verdict against a pedophile priest shook the Catholic Church.
- ‘Let’s talk after all’ - A veteran investigative reporter recounts ‘one of the strangest interviews ever.’
- A troubling gift - When she retired, this lawyer donated her vast files on predatory priests to a group that aids victims.
David Ryter/Reuters
An unholy fear - Nationwide rallies by an anti-Muslim hate group warn that ‘Shariah law’ is around the corner for Americans.
The old blue car - Selling our son’s first car meant saying goodbye to much, much more.
Kid brother no more - Thriving suburbs compete with big cities for businesses and young residents.
Driving in Dallas: A newcomer's guide - You're not 'back home' anymore.
Let’s level the playing field - U.S. Soccer treats women as second-class citizens, and everyone in the sport knows it.
Talking turkey - A visit with the third-generation owner of Greenberg Smoked Turkeys in Tyler, Texas.
From briefcase to brushes - At 76, a real estate lawyer pursues his true passion - art.
Editing
Dallas police shootings
The Dallas Morning News was a 2017 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for its ‘timely, vivid and heartbreaking’ coverage of a downtown ambush that killed five police officers. The Pulitzer entry was limited to 10 stories; I was the editor of two of them:
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
- 4 days, 5 funerals - How Dallas said goodbye to its fallen officers.
- Rolling up on Dixon Circle - Four years after a cop shot and killed a fleeing black man, little has changed in this neighborhood.
The Moment
The Moment was an occasional Dallas Morning News series ‘about everyday people at meaningful times in their lives.’ I helped create the feature, then edited all but one installment over its 11-month run. Three examples:
- Answering the call - Through round after round of the NFL draft, a Texas football star waits. And waits.
- Goodbye, Egan Hamish - The family did everything possible for an aging, beloved German shepherd. Finally, it was time.
- Nicole takes a stand - A battered wife steels herself for her day in court, where something unexpected happens.
Others
Shelter from the fog - A 93-year-old Alzheimer’s patient doesn’t understand why lawyers for a huge brokerage firm want to seize her home.
- Note: Three days after this story ran, the president of the brokerage company visited Ruth Sanders and assured her she could keep her house. She lives there to this day.
Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News
Juli’s home - When a Dallas Morning News reporter was sworn in as a U.S. citizen, I urged her to write this first-person account, which I edited. It ran on the front page the next morning.
Carlos Antonio Rios/Houston Chronicle
Portrait of a serial killer - After nearly 20 years, an imprisoned truck driver led authorities to the bodies of the young women he’d murdered and buried along the highway. One question remains: Why?
Omar the tire man - When a gunman walked into Omar’s Wheels & Tires looking for Muslims to kill, he quickly learned that he’d messed with the wrong Muslim.