HAVE PEN, WILL TRAVEL: PART FIVE

Memoirs of a Freelance Journalist

Reflections and Conclusions About My Freelancing Life

I find it impossible to compare the three phases of my journalism career and choose one I would consider the best. Big city newspapering from 1968 to 1980, self-employment as a freelancer from 1980 to 1997 or trade press editor from 1997 until the end? I enjoyed each phase and prospered. But freelancing provided some basic lessons of entrepreneurship that I need to record. I’m certain the evolution of the Internet changed the business of freelance journalism in ways I can’t even imagine. But I still feel each entrepreneur needs some fundamental truths to survive. So, here’s a quick list of fundamentals that stand out to me.

"That's $200 per day plus expenses."

·    Remember Rockford. As a TV private eye, Jim Rockford ranked as the role model for low overhead, living in a trailer on Malibu Beach. Most importantly, he knew regardless of the fee structure, he still was selling his time. Get a daily rate and work to receive it. Make adjustments if it benefits your long-term goal. But in the final analysis, remember everyone is working by the hour.

·    Pay yourself a regular wage and save the rest. You have to run your business as a business with yourself as the only employee. Give yourself a salary and live on that even when some large windfall contract falls your way.

·   Make every client feel like he is your only client, whether you are on assignment from Time magazine or The Houston Digest.

·    Never show doubt about the value of a completed assignment. Let the editor volunteer any criticism before you give him a reason to doubt before he’s even seen it. Many times, I became discouraged with a story and wanted to warn an editor that it might not be up to par. But I bit my tongue and rarely heard any complaints. Be assured, your clients will tell you if they have some.  

·    Stay alert for unexpected opportunities falling in your lap. My story highlights the many times that random meetings materialized into meaningful opportunities for jobs.

·    Embrace your curiosity. In freelance writing you should always be thinking about interesting story ideas or angles. But that habit should emerge in any sort of enterprise.

·    Never expect any relationship to last indefinitely. Start planning for the exit as soon as you begin one.

·    Pay your dues and use that experience to become a sponge. For freelancing, I had paid my dues with 12 years of newspaper reporting. In that period, I learned what I needed to know to produce salable stories as a freelancer. Paying dues is less about humility than it is about learning your business. Think of The Beatles performing eight-hour shifts in a seedy German bar where they needed to learn and cover every song ever written to fill their card. Observers have described Bob Dylan as a “sponge” during the years before he started writing his own music, learning every song he could find. If you want to open a restaurant, work in one first and learn all you can. 

Now, here’s an anthology of memorable articles I produced in 16 years of freelancing, listed by publication from my earliest association to the latest.

Westward, the weekly Sunday magazine of The Dallas Times-Herald newspaper

·    “A Trove of Tall Tales of Lost Fortune and Greed” (March 15, 1981)—This article shares the stories behind the five most reliable lost treasure stories in the American Southwest as selected by lost treasure magazines publisher John Latham.

·    “Sour Lake: It Bought Success With Oil But Now It’s Overdrawn” (August 23, 1981)—This cautionary historic tale profiled the rise and fall of the East Texas town of Sour Lake, an early oilpatch boomtown that exhausted its oil reserves so quickly the reservoir collapsed into a polluted sinkhole that encouraged the state to begin regulation of oil drilling under the Texas Railroad Commission.

·    “Football’s Winningest Coach: Bear Bryant and Amos Alonzo Stagg Have Nothing on Brownwood High’s Coach Gordon Wood” (November 29, 1981)—This marked the first time for me to write a lengthy feature about the legendary Texas coach Gordon Wood who had logged an amazing 361 career high school victories, outpacing Bryant’s 316 in the college ranks, with several more seasons lying ahead.

·   “Innocents In The Land Of The Guilty” (December 6, 1981)—This article explored the procedures and emotions related to the real problem of female prison inmates giving birth while incarcerated, including profiles of a couple of women who lived through the experience.

·    “Call Him Dr. Know-It-All: Dr. Richard Evans Is THE Authority In Fields Where No Others Exist” (June 13, 1982)—A lengthy profile of a University of Houston psychology professor who had built a national reputation as an expert willing to explain and speculate on the reasons for almost any sort of human behavior.

·    “The Texas Rangers: No More Shoot-outs and Six-guns. Today’s Ranger Uses Everything from Legendary Reputation to Hypnosis to Get His Man” (September 19, 1982)—Besides including a brief history of the iconic Texas police unit, this article examined its role in the state’s modern law enforcement hierarchy with a profile of one current ranger who specialized in hypnosis as an investigative technique.

·    “The Lady & The Cops: They Said Guadalupe Quintanilla Was Retarded. Now She’s Showing The Houston Police A Thing Or Two.” (April 10, 1983)—This article profiled a University of Houston professor who had overcome a troubled background to forge an association with the Houston Police Department in a bid for better Hispanic community outreach.

·    “Texas Heroes: Eight People Who Made A Difference” (July 3, 1983)—Using research from the Carnegie Hero Commission and news accounts, I located a group of eight Texans who had saved strangers facing life-or-death situations, interviewed them about the impact on their lives and included academic research about the psychology of heroic action to produce an article with some amazingly dramatic stories as well as educational insights.

Texas Sports

·    “A Couple of Wild and Crazy Racquetball Champs” (April 1981)—This article profiled a pair of rising amateur racquetball stars who won tournaments and played practical jokes on their more serious rivals.

·    “The Scientist And The Astros” (June 1981)—Well before the emergence of high technology training methods and intricate statistical analysis across all sports, the Houston Astros were employing a University of Houston consultant to offer unique conditioning programs for the players, and this article introduced him to the world.

·    “It’s A Tough Job, But…” (August 1981)—For this article I attended tryouts for the Houston Oilers’ cheer squad, the Derrick Dolls, explaining the process and profiling a couple of the participants.

·    “High School Coaches: The Best In Texas” (August 1981)—This feature represented an ambitious project to anonymously poll a selection of top college coaches and rank their selections for the ten best high school coaches in Texas, including interviews and brief profiles of each of the ten.

·   “Keeping Score With Sarcasm And Light Humor” (October 1981)—This article profiled operations of the infamous Astrodome scoreboard including tales about its reputation for roiling and tormenting opposing players and teams with animated antics and graphic light displays.

·    “Astros’ Secret Weapon” (April 1982)—This profile of Astros third baseman Art Howe captured the unsung hero’s emergence as one of the best players in the National League, including an interview with his little league coach.

·    “The Kid” (June 1982)—This article profiled the career of Jose Cruz, one the most significant Houston Astros of all time in an attempt to identify the source of his childlike enthusiasm. During my interview with Jose in the dugout of the Astrodome during batting practice, he likely saved my life by intercepting a foul ball headed straight for my head.

Southwest Airlines in-flight magazine (later called Spirit)

·    “One Man’s Election Collection” (November 1981)—This article profiled a Houstonian with an extensive collection of historic election buttons and memorabilia.

·    “Greater Love Than This…These Southwesterners Risked Their Lives For Strangers. Why? What Makes A Hero?” (February 1986)—Here’s an example of recycling as a freelancer, providing an updated version of the same story sold in 1983 to Westward, as explained in that section above.

·    “Hard Line Justice: His Brand Of Sentencing May Be Unorthodox, But Judge Ted Poe Is Leaving His Mark On The Texas Criminal Justice System” (October 1987)—This was one of several magazine features I wrote about a Houston judge gaining attention by requiring probationers to perform unusual tasks to qualify for probation, ordering everything from service on clean-up crews for public facilities to personally hand-written letters of apology to their victims.

Houston City magazine

·    “Card Sharks: Texas’ Poker Greats Tip Their Hands” (February 1982)—This article profiled Houston’s poker community, dividing it into two groups—the professionals and the recreational players playing for high stakes under the radar among the city’s business elite.

·    “End Of An Astro Era? Yankees Are Taking The Wonder Out Of The Eighth Wonder Of The World. If They Take Out The Tipsy Tavern, Can The Scoreboard Be Far Behind?” (June 1982)—This article recounted the detailed history of this legendary sports stadium while analyzing the plans for its future.

·    “They Defend The Police” (June 1983)—This article profiled several prominent Houston defense attorneys with experience defending officers against murder and assault charges, recounting the legal strategies employed in several notorious cases.

·    “Beyond Basket Weaving: The New Wave In Adult Education” (December 1984)—In this article I profiled a Houston entrepreneur who had created a new industry with Leisure Learning Unlimited, providing both an informative small business story and a look inside the thirst for continuing education as a recreational pursuit in a variety of subjects.

·    “Breaking Away: Cracks In The Houston Legal Establishment” (September 1985)—This article chronicled the historic and risky decision by three veteran institutional lawyers to leave those large firms and create a boutique trial defense firm for what they called “You bet the company” litigation while charging unprecedented high hourly fees.

·   “Restaurant Risks: Starting Your Own Little Place” (April 1986)—This article explored the risks and rewards of restaurant entrepreneurship, including a list of suggestions from consultants for anyone ambitious enough to try.

·    “The Life And Times Of D.A. Johnny Holmes” (August 1986)—This article profiled Houston’s iconic district attorney, John B. Holmes, Jr.

Salt (A monthly magazine promoting stories about social justice)

·    “The Gertrude Thomas Home: Where Beauty Is Never Skin Deep” (April 1983)—This article profiled a woman I had discovered six years earlier while working at The Houston Post. I described her as having a monopoly on heartbreak because she had devoted her life toward caring for severely disabled and retarded children abandoned by their parents.

·    “She Speaks Their Languages And Teaches Them Hers” (June 1983)—Here’s another example of recycling, in this case the Guadalupe Quintanilla story published just two months earlier by Westward as detailed above under “The Lady & The Cops.”

The Legal Times

·    “Tenneco Expands Legal Staff In Recessionary Era” (April 4, 1983)—My debut feature for this national legal affairs and business publication involved profiling the in-house legal staff at one of Houston’s largest oil companies.

·    “Bankruptcy Work Means Black Gold For Houston Bar” (August 1, 1983)—This front-page story explored the boom in oilpatch bankruptcy work that had occurred following an oil-price collapse in the previous year.

·    “Health Care Giant Charts New Seas” (August 22, 1983)—This front-page article chronicled the growth of a Houston law firm specializing in hospital representation while exploring the evolution of health care law in an increasingly complex business environment.

·    “Outspoken Texan, Baron Establishes Toxic Tort Domain” (November 21, 1983)—This front-page article profiled Dallas litigator Fred Baron as he built a reputation for representing clients injured by work with asbestos and other toxins.

·    “Texas Capital Feels Winds Of Legal Competition” (March 5, 1984)—This ambitious project involved a profile of the Austin legal community, including profiles of several major players, filling four pages in the paper.

·   “Potomac Fever Passes Quickly For Texas Lawyers” (May 14, 1984)—This article profiled several Texans who had returned to practice back home after serving time working for politicians or the federal government in the nation’s capital.

·   “Offshore Business Gives Houston Maritime Work” (June 25, 1984)—This front-page article recounted the history of maritime legal practice while exploring the role that offshore oil drilling plays in the modern era.

Muse Air Monthly (an in-flight magazine for the short-lived Muse Airlines)

·   “World’s Winningest Football Coach: Gordon Wood, Coach at Brownwood, Texas,

Has A Won-Lost Record That’s The Best In Football At All Levels” (October 1983)—If this sounds familiar, that’s because this article is another example of recycling and updating the Gordon Wood feature written for Westward two years earlier. In my defense, this magazine launched on a short schedule and the editor asked if I had any material ready to go.

·   “Tales Of Hidden Treasure: John Latham Built a Publishing Firm On Rumors Of Gold, Silver And Other Treasures Hidden In The Southwest. Or, So the Story Goes.” (December 1983)—If this sounds familiar, that’s because this article is another example of recycling and updating the treasure stories feature written for Westward two years earlier. In my defense, this magazine launched on a short schedule and the editor asked if I had any material ready to go.

·   “Bright New Lights In The Medical Firmament: After DeBakey And Cooley, The New Super Doctors Of Texas May Come From Among These Six Physicians” (January 1984)—This article profiled six rising stars of Houston’s vaunted superstar medical community and examined the evolving complexity of high profile medical reputations.

·    “After The Game Is Over: Though They Get Little Sympathy, Pro Athletes Suffer Through a Worse Transition Than Just About Anyone Else” (October 1984)—For this article I interviewed several retired professional athletes and chronicled their emotional, physical and financial transitions into retirement.

·    “Here Come The Zebras: A Football Official’s Life Can Be Glamorous, Exciting And Rewarding. But Most of All, It’s Dangerous” (September 1985)—For this article I interviewed several Texas business professionals about their part-time avocation and alternate reality officiating major college football games.

·    “Our Friend, The Alligator? You Can Hunt Them Again, But There Might Not Be as Much Excitement as You Would Expect” (February 1986)—When Texas removed alligators from its endangered list and opened a hunting season in 1985, I persuaded a small hunting guide firm to take me along on a hunting trip as its guides explored the business possibilities for adding alligators to its annual schedule of trip offerings. And Muse Air Monthly bought my article recounting the experience.

The National Law Journal (NLJ)

·    “Texas Firms Reeling From Oil Price Drop” (June 23, 1986)—My debut front-page feature for NLJ examined the impact of oilpatch economics on lawyers and firms who handled legal work for companies in that industry.

·    “A Judge With Unique Ideas On Sentencing” (July 28, 1986)—I would later recycle this profile of colorful Houston judge Ted Poe for Southwest Spirit as explained above.

·   “Jury Sentencing: A Last Stand In Six States” (January 19, 1987)—This front-page article examined the evolution and outlook for the controversial practice of allowing juries to assess sentences in criminal cases rather than leaving that aspect of trials to a judge with the help of research from probation professionals.

·    “No Apologies Made For The Profit Motive” (March 30, 1987)—This front-page feature profiled colorful, high-priced Houston civil litigator Stephen Susman and the evolution of his firm, Susman, Godfrey & McGowan.

·    “Searching For An Old Salt’s Heirs” (January 25, 1988)—This inside feature profiled the probate court work of a pair of married lawyers who specialized in the under-the-radar work of finding lost heirs owed funds from forgotten estates.

·   “Bankruptcy: No Longer A Dirty Word” (March 14, 1988)—In this front-page feature I explored the evolution of bankruptcy as a business strategy for cutting losses and the impact of that growth on the attorneys practicing in that field.

·   “Strange Quiet As Deadline Draws Near” (May 16, 1988)—In this inside article, I examined the work of immigration attorneys meeting the demands of undocumented workers seeking amnesty under the nation’s 1986 immigration reform law.

·   “A Scourge Of Doctors Garners Their Respect” (September 19, 1988)—This inside feature profiled the career of Houston civil litigator Richard Mithoff, who gained a national reputation for medical malpractice lawsuits.

·   “Probate, Texas Style” (May 22, 1989)—This front-page feature chronicled the history of Texas probate laws that had evolved to make the Texas probate code a dominant factor in high-profile national inheritance cases like the Howard Hughes multi-jurisdiction estate battle of a decade before, including highlights of legendary Texas estate legal squabbles.

·   “Increased Mobility Adds To Common Law Claims” (August 14, 1989)—In the wake of several high-profile Houston court cases over claims of common law marriage, this article explored the legal landscape of common-law marriage.

·    “They Face The Same Problems Others Do, But With A Twist” (September 25, 1989)—This inside article profiled the inhouse legal staff at the nation’s largest operator of funeral homes, Service Corporation International, examining some of the unusual types of litigation that can confront it.

·   “Law Firms Scramble For Health Business: Changes In The Industry Pose A Strategic Dilemma For Attorneys” (June 4, 1990)—This front-page article profiled the status of healthcare legal work in Houston and nationally, identifying the business strategies required by firms to remain competitive.

·    “Coastal’s Crusaders: Feisty Corporate Counsel Fight Their Own Battles” (May 4, 1992)—This front-page feature profiled the inhouse legal staff of Houston’s Coastal Corporation, demonstrating how the company’s controversial top executive deployed his legal team as a revenue generator and an industry bullying tactic.

·   “Have Gavel, Will Travel: The Wheels Of Justice Are Spinning In Texas—Literally” (April 26, 1993)—This front-page article examined the controversial Texas practice of appointing retired judges as “visiting judges” to help solve courtroom delays caused by heavy dockets.

·   “The Dead Rise Again In Court: Historical Figures Get Their Day. Legal ‘Ghostbusters’ Say Serious Issues Are At Stake.” (June 21, 1993)—This front-page feature chronicled a trend in using modern forensics to solve historical cold cases, examining legal strategies like those offered in the civil lawsuit by the descendants of alleged 1874 Colorado cannibal suspect Al Packer to clear his name or the entertaining mock trial of alleged Lincoln assassination conspirator Dr. Samuel Mudd.

·   “Blowing Whistles: Spilling Beans In The Private Sector Is Now Big Legal Business” (September 20, 1993)—This front-page feature examined the evolution and growth of civil whistleblower litigation arising when private sector companies retaliate against employees for alerting the government about corruption on federal contracts.

·   “This Hit Man Is Shooting For Arrests” (October 18, 1993)—In this inside feature, I chronicled the story of an investigator for the Harris County District Attorney’s office who had built a career posing as an undercover hit-man for hire and collecting a long list of convictions.

·   “Gaming Industry A Legal Jackpot: Lawyers Representing Gambling Businesses Hit The Big Casino” (February 28, 1994)—This front-page article explored the legal community impact of increased interest by states across the country to legalize casino operations within their borders.

·   “Fire And Death In Waco Spark A Legal Slow Burn: A Billion Dollars In Litigation Includes A Novel Bid To Hold The Media Liable For Killings” (December 12, 1994)—This front-page feature presented a roundup of all litigation stemming from the April 1993 confrontation between the federal government and the Branch Davidian church group of David Koresh in Waco, Texas.

·   “How Weil Gotshall Lassoed Houston: Using Texas Talent The New York Firm Has Become One Of The City’s Top 10 Players” (May 8, 1995)—This front-page feature provided the inside story of how a New York firm invaded the Houston legal community.

·   “He Tamed Texas’ Wild Forensic Frontier: Houston’s Medical Examiner Made The Old County Morgue A More Modern Operation” (September 18, 1995)—This inside feature profiled Houston’s legendary medical examiner Dr. Joseph Jachimczyk, who had retired at the start of that month after 38 years in that post building a national reputation for work on numerous high-profile criminal and civil cases.

·   “Fake Evidence Becomes Real Problem: From Fingerprints To Photos To Computer Data, Lawyers Are Learning To Be Vigilant” (October 9, 1995)—This front-page expose examined examples of attorneys attempting to submit phony evidence in several criminal and civil cases nationwide. One law professor assigned it for several years as required reading in one of her classes.

Houston Metropolitan Magazine

·   “Trial By Legend: When Mike DeGeurin Inherited Percy Foreman’s Criminal Law Practice, He Knew His Toughest Battle Would Be Against His Mentor’s Mythic

Reputation” (July 1989)—This feature profiled one of Houston’s rising young legal stars as he worked to succeed one of the nation’s most famous legal icons.

·   “The Finders: Local Seekers Prove Wherever There’s A Need, There’s A Market” (December 1989)—In this article I profiled a couple who operated an unusual but successful business locating things for other businesses that were difficult to find, such as older model cars for use in period movies.

·   “Expert Witnesses: A Growing Sideline For Know-It-Alls” (January 1990)—This article explored Houston’s importance as a place that could provide experts in many technical fields for testimony in civil lawsuits and the agencies involved in matching experts with lawyers-in-need.

·   “Trigger-Happy Cops? With More Trouble On The Streets And Fewer Officers To Face It, Does Houston Have The Right People Behind The Badge?” (May 1990)—This article chronicled Houston’s historic struggles with police brutality, and examined new training and recruiting methods aimed at reducing confrontation.

·   “Divorce In The Boardroom: Today’s Business Must Be Ready To Face ‘Marital’ Woes” (July 1990)—This article explored the fundamentals of procedures for businesses breaking apart with examples from recent Houston business splits at firms and partnerships large and small.

·   “Lawyers Vs. Lawyers: As Legal Malpractice Cases Grow, Suing Your Attorney Has New Appeal” (November 1990)—This feature explored the evolution of legal malpractice litigation and the increasing acceptance by some local attorneys to represent clients in suits against their own kind.

·   “That Magic Moment: When Inspiration Came To Call, These Local Entrepreneurs Were Ready” (July 1991)—For this article I interviewed several successful Houston entrepreneurs in an effort to pinpoint the exact circumstances for their discovery of the new niche or need that led to creation of their businesses.

·   “Not Just For Laughs: Business Humorists Shoot The Bull For Fun And Profit” (October 1991)—This article explored the relatively unheralded community of local humorists earning a living by serving as hosts for corporate retreats and private business meetings.   

·   “Be Careful Of What You Wish For: Most Of Us Have Dreamed Of Coming Into A Fortune. For These People Their Dreams Came True And Then Their Troubles Began.” (December 1991)—In this feature I explored the concepts of windfall psychology by examining the experiences of several Houstonians who became wealthy all of sudden in a variety of ways, from winning a bass fishing or poker tournament to collecting a large civil court settlement.

Texas Highway Patrol

·   “Game Warden” (Spring 1995)—For this article, I spent a day with a female game warden checking boats in Galveston Bay and provided an article about that branch of the law enforcement community.

·   “Hate Crimes: A Growing Number Of Texans Are Using Hatred To Justify Violence And Murder…Again” (Summer 1995)—This article explored the evolution of hate crime laws, providing officers with information about the procedures and reasons for using them.

·   “Killer Kids: America’s Youth Are Both Killing And Being Killed In Record Numbers And It’s Only Going To Get Worse” (Fall 1995)—This article chronicled the rise in juvenile crime and the outlook for improvements.

·   “Reforming Death: The Death Penalty In Texas Has Been Criticized For Taking Too Long, But New Legislation Seeks To Change That” (Winter 1995-96)—In this article I reviewed the long history of capital punishment in Texas and provided an update on legislation pending for changes.

·   “Hypnosis: Unlocking The Mind” (Summer 1996)—This article chronicled the history of the use of hypnosis in criminal investigations, including the legal controversies over its use in criminal cases.