Boileau Communications Management LLC

I Finally Made It

When I was back in journalism school I used to dream that some day I’d have a newspaper column in which I could write at large about the great outdoors. I finally made it.

Earlier this summer Pam Fisher, the editor at the Holland Sentinel, asked me if I would have any interest in writing a somewhat-regular column about fishing, boating and generally being out on the water. Pam knows I’m an avid salmon fisherman (not a great one, but a determined one nevertheless) and she was looking for some writing by local folks that could showcase one of the great benefits of our Lakeshore summers.

I was flattered, and offered to contribute a column called On The Water, which I promised would be a slice-of-life-Earnest Hemingway-meets-Garrison Keillor kind of thing. I was stunned when she said yes.

I’ve published a few of the columns since then (see the most recent by clicking here). Though I’m not giving up my day job, I have to say it has been a very healthy experience. I have to live up to deadlines. I have to come up with ideas. I have to edit myself relentlessly. I have to recognize when something isn’t working and be prepared to scrap it and start over.

In short, the same disciplines that I bring to my day job I now get to use in something that’s really fun. I haven’t had any syndication offers yet (Dave Barry isn’t sweating it), but I do hope to scratch out a few more On The Water pieces before my run ends at the end of summer. I am having fun and you never know, it may convince some prospective client that I can form complete sentences when I try really hard.