Freelance Journalist
 
I have been reporting about agriculture for various newspapers and magazines since I was a journalism student at the University of Western Ontario in 1963. That first assignment came from Doug Waterston, editor of the Farmers’ Advocate. 

I was employed by the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, then offered the job as the first science writer hired by the federal agriculture department. I eventually headed the news section there and wrote about 300 speeches for the agriculture minister, the late Eugene Whelan. The Record lured me back to Kitchener in 1974 as farm editor and columnist for 20 years when severe down-sizing hit. I launched a free-lancing business, then was hired by Ontario Farmer and have written for them and a number of other farm publications ever since. 

I have been honoured with more than 100 reporting awards, including two Governor-General awards for Public Service in Journalism. 

My wife, Barbara, and I are active volunteers, including a couple of trips per year to serve with disaster-response teams, usually in the Southern United States.