After covering national politics since the 1976 presidential campaign as a newspaperman, I went freelance in 1995. As an editor, I have handled everything from one-minute movie reviews to academic monographs. As a writer, I have authored five books and countless articles. Also, I do media consulting for a variety of private- and public-sector clients.

I was graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and worked as the political editor, political columnist, and city editor for the Chicago Sun-Times and the Atlanta Constitution.

I am the immediate past president of the Society of Midland Authors. At Northwestern University and at Ohio State University, where I was the James Thurber Writer in Residence, I have taught journalism at the graduate level.

Below is a recent profile that ran in the Chicago Sun-Times.