J.Ukrop submitted a new blog post: 10 Years Later: The Spirits of St. Louis Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Good shit man, I look forward to your writing every single Friday. Can’t wait to see what the future brings
Bravo Joey! Being able to articulate and illustrate, the realm of vintage hot rodding, in this day and age, is a rare talent, to do it well! Ryan obviously recognized a passionate, tenacious, fresh focus, in that first article you submitted! Congratulations on you achieving your goal, to be a traveling automotive journalist! The membership of the H.A.M.B., all benefit from your freedom to travel and report on what you have seen and experienced! Thanks from Dennis.
I've been following your writing since you started at the JJ. I really enjoy what you do and look forward to your Friday features. Thank you!
I remember thinking, "Who's THIS guy"? the first time I saw your byline. Turns out, I've looked forward to your writing every Friday since. Great work. Keep it coming. Andy
Truly creative writers plug into something beyond their own brain for what comes out of their keyboard. They become a conduit, not a creator, and are often surprised by their own work. Their greatness comes from their ability to allow what flows to flow, without interruption, and land on their computer screen. Keep it up, Joey. You're doing good.
To my favorite journalist, I'm so proud of everything you are and everything you've been! Keep dreaming big, the world is lucky to have you in it!
You’ve been a tremendous addition to this enterprise we love so much, congratulations on a milestone anniversary! Like many here, I have also enjoyed your TRJ contributions. Well done!
Hello, Great story build up and actual experience. We have all gone through part of your experiences. You were determined and have become well versed, while your stories are enjoyable to read. I believe it is the way the experiences happen and how they are told as a person who is right there. Some folks tell stories, but it is from a dry experience and they don’t describe the incidents that make it interesting to any age reader. My wife always gets a kick out of our story telling experiences as we were together from our low 20s to the present days. The one told most often is the one where learning how to write in high school was just scratching the surface. In college, one learned to be more creative and also, expressive. Some college instructors were solid in their own writing styles and wanted you to rehash their version of your stories. Others created an environment of creativity and actually did the reading and commentary of the essays. (Not done by a minimum wage college/student/graduate employee…) That is like a community of hot rod folks telling someone to build a hot rod Model A coupe with and SBC motor and then others trashing it due to their own choices, some good, while others …blah.. But, we all agreed in those late night college discussions about the world of getting good grades and using that platform to “get a good job.” Ha! That is like worrying about your “permanent record…” as in, “…you have to watch out or it will go down on your permanent record…” most often heard from high school V.P. of discipline or the pushy counselors. Jnaki My wife and I spent countless hours doing research on various topics assigned and wrote an ungodly amount of papers on what ever topic or subject that was assigned. Most were good research that led to excellent writings. But, sometimes it came back as a “B” grade for me due to the teachers style and mine not always agreeing with each other. My wife, on the other hand, had it made with her “A” grade with so little “RED” marks anywhere on the paper. We always had a good laugh at that. We were not studying or going to college to be journalists at the time. We listened to our counselors as much as we could and just wanted a college degree for the next level. English/Social Science majors becoming a CIA agent or working for our National Security Administration sounded long term and nice? Ha! The best story of being a photojournalist when we were that young was meeting a young Pat Ganahl. I had several stories and photo slides/prints ready for a presentation for publication. The other editors I had been working with all agreed they were some good ones, soon to be accepted and published. YES! (I was not on any staff, as my wife and I wanted to make a go of being free lance for any subject and assignments.) But, I had to submit the stories at the entry level. Then, I got sent to the “head” guy in charge of all things that were to be published. So, I met a famous guy that had the credentials of a top notch magazine writer/edtor/publisher, etc sitting behind his big desk. Now, this was like being sent to the principal’s office. So, after the niceties and greetings, he started reading my first and longest story with photos attached to showcase where they should be inserted, etc. After a few silent minutes and some activity behind the desk, I was given my typed story back. "Here is your story back with a few comments and recommendations." Now, I was surprised. The papers looked like a 10th grade English paper with red marks all over the whole typed sheets. Arrows to showcase where, what should go and why… circles to move items and paragraphs to other pages, etc. So, what just happened to the nicely typed story of a great looking hot rod for publication? It seemed like a punishment for just submitting the photo story. So, as I walked out of the office, Pat Ganahl walked over and told me in a chuckling way, that is how is goes at any publication office. From the top down to the worker bees. We all fall in line with what is the appropriate way to write a story for the magazine. I was grateful for the hilarious moment and listening with intent. Despite his abilities in writing and photography, he too, went through the "walk to the dungeon" for the “final” comments. But, he was on the staff and they usually had first choice as to where their stories were going to be placed. Not to be dismayed, he told me that it is all good. Retyping the story with the changes to see if it does not make more sense… It did and it got published… Although, perhaps, it was an initiation into the ranks of journalists. Someone higher up to give comments, hoping they will stick in future stories. But, who knows, these days, it probably would be completely re-written with more red than black typing. Ha!!! Good thing for laptops/computers and changeable typing... no more erasers and crumpled up papers on the floor. YRMV The lyrics of "Go Your Own Way..." seems to kept ringing in my head... to this day.
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