FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Escrow Heights, WA -- Ron Judd has decided to continue writing.
It's not an educated decision, necessarily. It's just the one thing he keeps coming back to after 25 years, and it continues to pay the bills -- although not necessarily on time, or for more than the "minimum amount."
In a career spanning some 2.45 decades, Judd has written piles (literally, you can measure them in his basement) of columns for The Seattle Times, "The Northwest's Thickest Newspaper", on humorous topics ranging from the great outdoors (notably: tips for skiing the North slopes of Oprah) to presidential politics. For reasons he cannot explain, these columns are particularly popular with 69-year-old women in North Seattle.
That's just the half of it, really. Judd also has authored a half-shelf full of authoritative and popular guides to the Northwest outdoors, two works of quasi-non fiction/humor and an upcoming spectator's guide to the Winter Olympics. He's covered the past five Olympic Games and, after taking an extreme wrong turn after Sydney in 2000, wrote about and sailed in the America's Cup in New Zealand (notably: without barfing). History will indicate that the expense account for the latter assignment sent U.S. newspapers into an economic spiral from which they have never recovered.
An active freelance writer, Judd also has lent his skills -- or at least a lot of his words -- to many periodicals, including Outside Magazine, for which he used to write on a semi-regular basis before losing their phone number.
He also is an avid outdoorsperson, spending many, many hours standing in the are-you-kidding-me cold to photograph migratory swans and geese, haughty bald eagles, spawning salmon, stealthy coyotes, soccer moms and other dangerous wildlife. In his spare time, he teaches journalism at his local university, often screaming at students: "Two m's in accommodate. TWO!" and other witticisms.
In a recent midlife assessment, Judd, a native of Duvall, Wash. and Seattle Times staff writer since 1988, decided he could "do a lot worse," and chose to continue doing exactly what he was doing the moment before the assessment began. Look for the results soon in a publication near you.
Judd lives in Bellingham, WA -- farther north than most of the population of Canada; yes it is! Go look at a map -- with his partner, Emjay, also a writer, whom he does not deserve.
For appearances and upcoming projects, check his blog, and leave a note. But only if you feel up to it.