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National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Your Pick: Top Columns of 2013?

Six of John Avlon's Top Columnists for 2012 - The Daily Beast

John Avlon again is asking his fellow NSNC members for their choices of best columns posted or published in 2013. John will compile the list — besides the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, he is combing social media as well as polling others, in addition to his own picks — and run it at year…

Dinting Not Daunting

Daily Diary for December This column was originally published in the December 2013 edition of The Columnist, the members’ newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. By Ben S. Pollock NSNC Director of Media I lost in “NaNoWriMo” this past month. The goal of National Novel Writing Month, held every November, is to craft…

Dorothy Brush, 1922-2013

Dorothy Brush, the small-town chronicler named NSNC’s 2004 Columnist of the Year, died this past summer, member Robert Haught has learned. She was 91. The National Society of Newspaper Columnists had honored Dorothy for her courageous battle against cancer, during which the NSNC member missed no deadlines at the Crossville (Tenn.) Chronicle — “doing two…

Mailing in Columns Risky This Time of Year

"Santa Claus and His Works" by Thomas Nast

President’s Message This column was originally published in the December 2013 edition of The Columnist, the members’ newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. By Eric Heyl President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Tis the season to be jolly? For the intrepid columnist, that’s not necessarily the case. “Dog days” refer to that particularly…

Career Longevity Needs a Sense of Purpose

IBM Selectric II typewriter

Art of Column Writing This column was originally published in the December 2013 edition of The Columnist, the members’ newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-06 President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Everything we write is based on an opinion, whether a column is hot with political passion or…

Featured in the December Newsletter

We aren’t exactly offering Santa’s mailbag, but the December 2013 edition of The Columnist has plenty of reading for columnists and bloggers: Donahue, Scottoline Headline Bombeck Workshop — That’s Phil and Lisa, respectively, along with dozens of top experts who will speak on humor, writing and humor writing — and marketing and publishing, as well.…

What I Don’t Know Could Fill a Column

Wall display of cuckoo clocks

President’s Message This piece was originally published in November 2013 edition of The Columnist, the members’ newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. By Eric Heyl President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Brace yourselves. The information I’m about to share will shock some of you. I don’t know everything. I’m sure you thought that…

D.C. Conference Hotel Sets Online Reservations

Washington Plaza Hotel

This piece was originally published in November 2013 edition of The Columnist, the members’ newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The site of the 2014 conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, the Washington Plaza Hotel, has created an Internet reservations link for us. Click on this link to its page to…

Free Verse Isn’t Necessarily Free, Either

This Month’s Daily Diary This piece was originally published in November 2013 edition of The Columnist, the members’ newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. By Ben S. Pollock NSNC Director of Media 2010-12 NSNC president Slaves of the Internet, Unite!” Huh? A late October op-ed column in The New York Times by the…

The November Newsletter Has Been Delivered

Attention, members of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, the November 2013 edition of The Columnist newsletter is waiting for you in your emailbox (the address on file at NSNC HQ). Here’s the news: Conference Hotel Sets Online Reservations – we have a hot link to the Washington Plaza’s great $149 rate for next June…

Rubles Won’t Be a Problem for Columnists

Washington Plaza Hotel

President’s Message By Eric Heyl President National Society of Newspaper Columnists My concern for your jewelry ultimately made it an easy call. I’m sure that after seeing Russian President Vladimir Putin step one of his Russian presidential toes into the waters of column writing, many of you were wondering: Would he be invited to speak…

Stay Dogged for the Underdog

"The Art of the Heist" by Myles J. Connor Jr.

Art of Column Writing By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-06 President National Society of Newspaper Columnists I like the underdog. Recently, I was responsible for featuring notorious art thief Myles J. Connor Jr., age 69, at a rare public appearance that took place in Milton, Mass. Understandably, a powerful aversion to his having a public platform…

In the October 2013 Newsletter

newspaper

Members of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, check your email apps (emailboxes?). The October 2013 edition of The Columnist, our monthly newsletter, will be waiting for you. * “Stay Dogged for the Underdog” — Suzette Martinez Standring’s “Art of the Column” bimonthly piece “Rubles Won’t Be a Problem for Columnists” — Message from President…

No Tears: A Sure-Fire Souffle Recipe

Yahoo's new logo as of 09 2013

President’s Message By Eric Heyl NSNC President Originally published in The Columnist members-only newsletter As you probably have long suspected, being the NSNC president is extremely cool — and not just because of the large army at my command, the life-or-death decisions I often make and the high-quality stationery that comes with the position. It’s…

What We Learned in Hartford

Mark Twain House, Hartford, Conn.

you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Columnist, The Dallas Morning News Originally published in The Columnist members-only newsletter Two months after one of the best-attended conferences in recent NSNC history, I wondered: what was the main takeaway for attendees? I polled them, and here’s what they told me: Cynthia Stead, Cape Cod Times: “Columnists are…

Post’s Weingarten 2014 Lifetime Achiever

'The Washington Post March' score, John Philip Sousa, 1889.

The guy who ‘discovered’ Dave Barry is a humor columnist, editor and Pulitzer-winning feature reporter. Twice. By Ben Pollock NSNC Director of Online Media Washington Post humor columnist Gene Weingarten has accepted the nomination to be the 2014 recipient of the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award, according to Eric Heyl, president of the National Society…

Dave’s Storytelling Session Blew Us Away

Dave Lieber tells stories to demonstrate the power of storytelling. At the 2013 NSNC conference, Friday, June 28, Hartford Conn.

Speaker/columnist/author Dave Lieber of The Dallas Morning News presented the opening program at the 2013 NSNC conference bright and early Friday, June 28, 2013. Titled “Your Column Blows Me Away: Secrets of Amazing Storytelling,” this keynote hits many points about how to tell great storytelling columns. Dave discusses – with examples you can use –…