Working as editorial page editor in Iowa

After working for a couple of years in Manitowoc, Wis., I moved to Iowa City, Iowa. I got a job at the newspaper there, working as its opinion page editor! This was just the job I wanted ever since interning at the Duluth, Minn., newspaper some 15 years before.

While at the newspaper, I wrote the daily editorial, solicited/edited columns, selected the editorial cartoon, edited letters to the editor, spoke on behalf of the paper in the community, and wrote a weekly column called Cornfield Soul (I've posted some of those columns online).

As editorial page editor, I got to meet a lot of interesting people, including presidential candidates and governors. John Kerry probably is the most famous of them; he ran for president in 2004 and is the current secretary of state.

I received a lot of awards at the paper for my editorial writing and editorial pages. We were named either the best editorial or editorial pages among Iowa dailies for three years running!