When I arrived at work for the first time at The Albuquerque Tribune — on Jan. 4, 1977 — I was assigned to cover the Bernalillo County government beat and was seated beside the City Hall reporter, a young man named Ollie Reed Jr. I had no idea how lucky I was. Ollie turned out… Continue reading RIP, Ollie Reed Jr.
Tag: Carl Magee
Podcast features Citizen Carl
“Write On! Four Corners” just dropped its latest podcast: an interview with me about Citizen Carl. The show is hosted by DelSheree Gladden, author of several books herself. “Write On! Four Corners” originates at KSJE-FM, a public radio station based at San Juan College in Farmington, N.M., and it highlights books and authors from the… Continue reading Podcast features Citizen Carl
Review finds Citizen Carl ‘compelling’
Chapter 16 — an affiliate of the Library of Congress’s National Center for the Book founded by Humanities Tennessee, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities — just published a review of Citizen Carl. I couldn’t be more thrilled. The review by David Wesley Williams recounts Carl Magee’s rollicking exploits as a journalist… Continue reading Review finds Citizen Carl ‘compelling’
Teapot Dome’s 100th anniversary
I’ve written several guest columns for newspapers about Carl Magee’s life. A few have recently been published in Iowa, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. Each column focuses on how Magee’s story was tied to the local community, but all are pegged to the 100th anniversary of the Teapot Dome scandal. Carl Magee testified before the… Continue reading Teapot Dome’s 100th anniversary
School editors connect after 120 years
The Northern Iowan, student newspaper at the University of Northern Iowa, just published a guest column I wrote about Carl Magee, who was editor of the school’s paper, then called the Normal Eyte, in 1894. Facilitating publication of the column was editor Caroline Christensen, Magee’s successor 120 years later. I suspect Carl would be as… Continue reading School editors connect after 120 years
Citizen Carl publishes
Well, it’s official. University of New Mexico Press just published my biography of Carl Magee, so I donned my cherry and silver for the occasion. It can be ordered from UNM Press or Amazon. Now if the Lobos can just make it to the NCAA basketball tournament, it’ll be a perfect March.
Citizen Carl available for preorder
I recently got a proof of the entire book cover, including front, back and spine. I also learned that my biography of Carl Magee is available for preorder at the University of New Mexico Press, through Amazon, or, as they say, wherever books are sold. Many thanks to Professors Richard Etulain of the University of… Continue reading Citizen Carl available for preorder
The story of Carl Magee
Born in 1873, the son of a prominent Methodist preacher, Carlton Cole Magee was reared in northeastern Iowa. He trained as a teacher and was editor of the student newspaper at what is now Northern Iowa University. By age 23, he was superintendent of schools in Carroll, Iowa. Magee was too restless, though, for a… Continue reading The story of Carl Magee
A journey from journalism
Greetings. Welcome to my blog. I started it to talk about the work I’ve been doing since retiring as a newspaper editor. Mostly I’ve been researching and writing about history. My most recent project is titled Citizen Carl: The editor who cracked Teapot Dome, shot a judge and invented the parking meter. I was inspired… Continue reading A journey from journalism
Jack McElroy Books 