Working at the Word Factory
The Curious Life of a Small-Town Newspaper Journalist
by Eric Poor
Reporter Eric Poor found himself flying in an antique WWII bomber one day and serving on a panel with a MAD magazine editor the next. He might be climbing a mountain in the snow to interview a man celebrating his 80th birthday and the next day be hitching a flight to Belize. His job as a journalist and photographer brought him countless adventures. Curiosity may have killed a cat but it makes a journalist’s motor purr.
If you are considering a life in journalism, or are just curious about what a journalist’s life is like, this book is for you. The author lays out both the challenges and the rewards, and leaves behind a number of valuable tips—for living and for writing—along the way.
About the Author
Eric Poor spent 17 years working as a reporter for the award-winning newspaper The Monadnock Ledger, now known as The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, a twice-weekly community newspaper. During his newspaper career he won numerous writing awards from the New Hampshire Press Association (NHPA).
Those eighteen awards include recognition for investigative reporting, education reporting, editorial writing, sports columns, serious columns, humor columns, spot news reporting, spot news photography, business reporting, and feature writing. He was twice named Columnist of the Year by the NHPA.
He is an avid outdoor sportsman and has been an outdoor columnist for 20 years for Hawkeye, New Hampshire’s outdoor sports newspaper. He has also freelanced stories to publications like the New Hampshire Wildlife Journal.
Now retired from the grind and deadlines of newspaper reporting he is working on a novel and writes occasional poems.
He is a member of the Monadnock Writers Group and serves on its board of directors. He is also an EMT and the photographer and public information officer for Rindge Fire and Rescue. He is a member of the Rindge Conservation Commission and serves on the Contoocook and North Branch Rivers Local Advisory Committee. Visit his website at
www.ericpoor.com.
104 pp, Paperback
ISBN 978-1-939449-00-9
Price: $18.95
