Mary Keck joins The Clarkston News as the newest addition to its reporting staff.
She moves to Oakland County with her husband, Lance Farrell, from the southernmost tip of Indiana this past week.
“I’ve noticed that while the temperature is a bit cooler, the warmth of Michiganders is in abundance,” Mary Keck said. “Before saying his goodbyes, Trevor Keiser introduced me to a few people. I could see he had a special role in the community and had formed lasting relationships with many of you. While I won’t be able to replace him, I’m looking forward to finding my own unique place here.”
For the past six years, she has been teaching college composition courses and grading research papers while writing for her county’s newspaper, The Mount Vernon Democrat.
“Now I’ve traded in my red pen for a reporter’s notebook,” she said. “While I enjoyed being in front of a classroom, I regularly turned from essay grading to blogging or following a tip from a citizen.”
She’s loved writing since she was a kid copying down sections of the dictionary and penning ghost stories as a teenager,’she said
“Now that I’m a little older, it’s time to stop procrastinating like my students and embrace my passion for writing, which is why I’m excited to be a part of CNews,” she said.
While a freelance correspondent in Posey County, Ind., she mainly covered the school beat. She wrote about New Harmony School’s consolidation and the subsequent citizen protest to save the school. Shealso interviewed the administration about their proactive measures to curb bullying and photographed a student who dreamed of playing varsity basketball despite numerous brain surgeries.
“Now, I’m wondering what stories Oakland County has to offer, and I’d love to hear from its citizens,” she said. “Feel free to pop in to the CNews office and introduce yourself.”
? Phil Custodio