About Me

I’m a writer at heart.

At different moments in my career I have been a senior director of a major league sports team, a national journalist, an artist, a professor, an archivist, a gallerist, and an author. But even when I work in other media, from photography to video and animation, I am always writing: strategic plans, vision statements, investigative journalism, features, interviews, fiction, corporate glossaries, scripts, onboarding packages, oped columns, press releases, company-wide mission presentations, web copy, values exercises, speeches, catalog essays, live-blogging, lectures, grant applications…

I write to understand my subjects at the most intimate level and to convey that understanding to add value and insight for its intended audience.

My interests and subjects have always been eclectic. I have written about sports for some of the world's major newspapers — my bylines on the culture and business of soccer, for example, have appeared in more international outlets than any of my US peers — but I have also written about contemporary art and artists for numerous magazines, galleries and museums. I have reported from World Cup Finals and from games where the players outnumbered spectators. I have written about the politics of globalization, 19th century confidence men, David Beckham and spam emails. My artwork has been exhibited throughout the US and Europe, including solo shows in New York, London, Manchester and Dublin. I have also organized around 40 exhibitions by other artists — and written for several contemporary art magazines and institutions as a reviewer, essayist, educator, assessor and administrator. 

How I work

My experience is wide-ranging, but shares a common methodology of analysis, comprehension, narrative. As an executive, I have helped to bring singular purpose and collaborative function across departments — increasing efficiency, but also understanding and mutual respect, so that from entry level to President, there is clarity of mission and transparency of culture. My years in sports writing have honed my ability to write accurately and emotively at speed, where it is necessary to file on the whistle, or to update as events unfold. My years as a critical thinker within the art and academic worlds have also taught me the importance of understanding and communicating complex ideas for both specialist and lay audiences.

I consider work from any professional sector and adapt quickly to new environments. I am sensitive to context and audience. I can see how people see and present themselves, and I can see how others see them, and I can write with that perspective, so they can live the future plans we write together.

Each time I write, or take on a strategic assignment, I start with the foundational claims and conventions of an individual, a business, or a sector, and I ask, “Do these hold true? Is there a gap between how they understand how they work, and how they actually work? Is there value to be found there?” 

I build understanding from there, always with respect for specialists, but never afraid to ask questions about core principles and assumptions. I believe good writing is the product of good thinking, so I work with my clients to test their own thinking and plans, and the work I produce is the product of a sensitive collaboration to reach mutual understanding. If we have to dig to the core values or core vision of a company or an individual, before we build up again, we do.

And then I write.