Words have been the common denominator in my professional and personal life. From the print medium to television and radio news through promotional and public relations writing, a passion for writing has been the cornerstone of what I do. And because of the written word, I find myself up to my virtual waist in the digital world.

I've been writing for as long as I can remember, either conjuring up science fiction tales (Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling, H. G. Wells and Jules Verne are my heroes in this genre) or crafting news and feature articles for anyone or any publication that would take them.

A love for writing and an unending curiosity about everything led me into journalism. I worked for my high school newspaper in Evanston, Ill., (Evanston Township High School).

One of my earliest reporting "coups" came when, as part of a class assigmnent to interview a journalist, I had an opportunity to visit with one of the editors of the Chicago Tribune, who also lived in Evanston. With my trusty cassette tape recorder rolling, I asked what seemed to be a thousand beginning journalist questions and listened in awe to the responses.

The timing was perfect because the editor was about to leave town for a few months.

The next day, I played the tape containing what I considered to be a valuable, historic interview.

But the tape was blank. Nothing was recorded.

And I didn't take notes.

And the editor was gone.

Scrambling to complete the assignment, I managed to land an interview with Joel Daley, one of the anchormen for "Eyewitness News" at WLS-TV, Chicago.

I took a lot of notes.

In my high school junior year, a class in television production gave me a new perspective on writing for the media. In a small video production studio, I discovered the power of writing for the eye and how to use a few seconds of visual images to convey the equivalent of a thousand written words.

College Days
This revelation led me to Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Ill., where I earned a degree in broadcast journalism. While attending college, I worked on the campus television and radio stations, WSIU-FM and WSIU-TV, and took a job doing DJ and news work at the local radio station in town, WCIL-AM/FM.

The AM side was an easy listening music format; the FM side leaned to pop and rock. I worked both sides, so it was not unusual for me to go from one shift featuring Mantovani, Roger Whittaker and Ferrante and Teischer to another shift featuring Queen, Aerosmith and The Who.

I eventually became news director at WCIL-AM/FM and hosted a daily one-hour interview/talk program on the AM side ("Feedback").

From Carbondale, I went to work in Rockford, Ill., as news director of WYBR-FM. The YBR stood for "Yellow Brick Road," part of the "Wizard of Oz" motif the owners developed for the station. WYBR-FM was located in Cherryvale Mall, and a yellow brick road led visitors to the broadcast facility where they could watch station personnel at work.

The World Series Bet
Even though I was working in radio, I did manage to find my way into the pages of the Rockford newspaper. This was the result of a World Series bet between myself and the morning DJ, Jonathan Brandmeier. The deal was that the backer of the losing team would have to drive the winner down Rockford's busiest street at noon while wearing the uniform of the losing team two sizes too small.

I lost.

On the appointed day, I was supposed to drive a small lawn tractor pulling a wagon carrying Brandmeier. For our safety, a police officer was on hand to escort us down the street.

I had never driven a clutch style tractor before and, when it was time to take off, I put the tractor in gear and promptly lurched into the rear of the squad car.

The officer got out to write up the accident and a photographer for the Rockford newspaper captured the moment, which was featured on the front page of the paper the next day.

From WYBR-FM, I moved across town to WREX-TV, Channel 13, working as a photographer and reporter.

By its nature, the broadcast news medium requires a lot of moving from one station to another to build the experience needed to grow in salary and position.

Off To North Dakota
I came to North Dakota in 1979 to manage the KXMC-TV news department in Minot. It was a time of change for the department: Several new reporters and photographers had been hired, 3/4-inch videotape field cameras had been purchased, and the news studio was going from a one-camera operation to a two-camera set-up (I still have videotapes from those days).

From Minot, I went to KXMB-TV in Bismarck in 1981 as news director and, later, anchorman.

After Bismarck, I returned to Minot to work at KTYN-AM as news director, working with R. David Adams in the morning.

From there, I moved to Fargo where I worked as assignment editor for KTHI-TV (now KVLY-TV). During that time, I also produced and hosted a monthly half hour program called, "Kaleidoscope," which focused on interesting people, places and events in the Fargo-Moorhead area. I also did reporting and some weekend anchoring work.

After KTHI-TV, I returned to Minot to get my elementary education degree at Minot State University -- the timing was right and the interest was strong (If I hadn't gone into journalism, I would have gone into teaching).

While earning my degree at Minot State, I worked part-time at KMOT-TV as a reporter. Eventually, I moved into the news director and anchor positions.

After KMOT-TV, I went to Minot State University to work an 18-month stint as public information officer.

In 1991, I went to the Minot Daily News, initially as the "cops and courts" reporter, then editorial page editor, a stint as Sunday editor and, finally, business editor. I also wrote a weekly editorial page column and edited, wrote and laid out the monthly "Dakota Business" magazine.

The Online World Beckons
By the start 1991, I was also developing a passion for the online world which, at that time, consisted of long distance dial-up access computer servers and Bulletin Board Systems. Text ruled the online display screen, along with arcane navigation systems and acronyms. Web browsers had yet to see the public light of day and if you wanted to surf the Internet, you did so using Gopher, Archie, Vernonica, WAIS, Telnet, Lynx and other text-based hyperlinking systems.

And you usually did your surfing late at night, when long distance rates were cheaper, the access numbers were less likely to be busy and you could consistently reach your maximum 300 baud download speed (an important consideration since you were paying for online access by the minute).

Within months, I built a consideral knowledge base of computer dial-up numbers around the world and a simple directory of where specific information resources could be found.

I also had memberships in the fledging online services of the day: PC-Link (which later evolved from a small, simple dial-up operation into America Online), Prodigy, GEnie, Delphi and a few others.

The World Wide Web Arrives
I felt the Internet had the potential to tie in with my multimedia experience, but I wasn't quite sure how -- until 1994, when the first web browser, Mosaic, debuted.

With the birth of the World Wide Web and the ease of graphical browsing and linking, ideas and opportunities for using the web as a news and information delivery system blossomed. I learned how to build web pages by studying the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) of existing web pages. The World Wide Web was still too new for textbooks, classes and "Dummies" guides, so learning HTML was a trial and error process.

On Feb. 14, 1995, my weekly online column debuted in the Minot Daily News.

I also began work on a full-fledged Minot Daily News website that would act as a two-way bridge between the print world and the digital world. After long months of development, testing and coding, the Minot Daily News Online website was launched on Feb. 3, 1997. I served as web editor and writer for the site during those early days.

I also began speaking at public seminars on the Internet, including the annual Marketplace gatherings held in Bismarck every January (I'm priviledged to work with Minot State University professor Tom Seymour at these events).

Minnesota Bound
In early 1999, I moved to New Ulm, Minnesota to develop websites for newspapers in New Ulm, Marshall, Fairmont and Ft. Dodge, Iowa, and commercial websites for businesses and organizations in the region. I also taught community education classes on web page building and general Internet training and searching.

In late 2000, I came to the Bismarck Tribune as Online Services Director. The existing website was redesigned and relaunched as part of a move to go beyond just uploading daily news from the newspaper to the web.

In between all this, I've also managed to do a lot of freelance article writing, produce and narrate videos for several Family Motor Coach Association conventions (including the semi-legendary 1990 Minot gathering), as well as videos for the Norsk Hostfest and other organizations.

I got married -- to Marian Petersen, a veteran newspaper salesperson who has also been an advertising manager, commercial print manager and currently works in sales at the Bismarck Tribune. We have a son, Mackenzie.

Some have told me I've come full circle in my career -- starting out in print and returning to print.

I think, more likely, I've completed one full turn of a spiral -- starting in print at one level and returning to print at a different level and in a different context.

To be sure, it's been an interesting ride through the full spectrum of the communications business -- in Minot alone, I've had the opportunity to work in the three primary news mediums serving the community and the region (TV, radio and print).

I'm often asked which I like best: Newspaper, television or radio.

Well, I truly like them all, mainly because the common thread in each medium is writing, and I love to write. I am creatively challenged by the fact each medium requires a different approach in using words and images to convey a story.

Online And Beyond
And now there's the Internet: An electronic medium that draws on elements of print, audio and video. That fusion is probably the main reason why I've been drawn so deeply into the Net -- all my experiences in all the different communications mediums are easily united on the Internet.

It's a rapidly evolving medium that has done more to reshape, redefine and refine itself in a handful of years than has been similarly accomplished by the other mediums over decades.

I've been there for the online trends, the fads, the booms and the busts. I cut my web teeth on simple HTML coding. Now there's DHTML, XML, PHP, CGI, Java, JavaScript, Flash and more.

The bottom line: As long as there's an audience to reach, as long as there's a good story to tell through words, sounds and images, I'll be involved somehow, doing what I can to contribute to the process.

A love of writing has that effect on some people.