Greetings friends, family, loved ones, dear ones,

Thirty years ago this spring, I stepped out of a college print journalism program and into a job as assistant darkroom technician at the weekly newspaper in my home town of Barrie, Ontario. Three months later I was asked to combine my darkroom duties with those of a general assignment reporter and … well, I never looked back.

I’ve never done anything else. I never wanted to do anything else.

Until now. But after 30 years in the newspaper business ~ almost all of it spent writing and/or editing sports copy ~ I have decided that it’s time for me to call it a career. After many months of deliberation, I have realized I need to pursue my art and writing projects on a full-time basis.

To cut to the chase, today (June 20, 2007) is my last day at the Edmonton Journal. I’m done. From now on I’m a full-time starving artist/poet/beatnik. The pay may not be as good, but the fringe benefits are staggering.

At the risk of sounding corny, it’s time to follow my bliss. There is great joy for me in painting, in throwing colour around, in performing spoken-word poetry, in walking the dog and petting the cat and staring at clouds. I’m not sure that kind of JOY exists anywhere in the corporate media anymore. So I’m leaving it behind. I’m reclaiming my nights and weekends. It’s time.

This transition is exciting and terrifying … and I welcome every blessed minute of it.

Bring it on.