Ottawa Citizen Series

>> Israel Series

I was on assignment in Israel from Feb. 28 - Mar. 21, 2005, reporting on various stories for the Citizen. These stories have appeared in all parts of the paper: Front page, City, Tech Weekly and the Observer.

Middle East middlemen: Canada, forever the peacekeeper, never the peacemaker (June 11, 2005)

Optimism collides with reality in Mideast: (May 24, 2005)

After the Intifada: Why Israel's tech titans are challenging Canadian entrepreneurs as a global force (Apr 28, 2005)

Tech's next frontier: Israel to adapt nanotechnology to its special needs (Apr 28, 2005)

Roger Neilson's legacy helps hockey bloom in the desert (Apr 25, 2005)

Ottawa residents study Dead Sea Scrolls in Israel (Mar 14, 2005)

>> MT. EVEREST SERIES

I closely followed the drama of the Mount Everest expeditions of five climbers from the Ottawa area: Sean Egan, Shaunna Burke, Ben Webster, Larry Legault and Peggy Foster. In doing so, I filed 20 stories on the differing fate each encountered while striving to reach the highest point on earth.

Shaunna Burke reached Everst Summit (May 30, 2005)

Legault says Everest not worth dying for (May 23, 2005)

Friend’s death convinces Legault to quit Everest (May 01, 2005)

Age is nothing to Sean Egan as he heads to Everest (March 12, 2005)

>> Obituaries

I was assigned to write several obituaries and, oddly enough, found I enjoyed doing them very much. I treasure the opportunity to tell the story of a life lived and to speak to those who knew and loved this person most.

Ottawa-raised newsman Peter Jennings dies at 67 (Aug 09, 2005)

Ottawa-raised short story writer Norman Levine dies at 81 (June 16, 2005)

WWII veteran Bob Metclafe dies at 90 (April 11, 2005)

Ottawa photographer Andy Andrews dies at 83 (January 5, 2005)

>> First Person

As a reporter I tend to shy away from writing in the first person. I feel it takes away from the story, distracting the reader and focusing attention away from the subject, where it belongs. There are those unique times, though, when I feel my voice has to be heard, or on those rare occasions when I indeed am part of the story.

• The lost promise of Gaza (July 28, 2005)
• Promoting U.S. idealogue tarnishes journalism group (May 20, 2005)
• Sean died while living his dream: ‘Mr. Egan’ soon became more than an interview subject (April 30, 2005)
• The day that changed me forever (January 22, 2005)