TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Introducing Our Blogging Team

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOE GUIDRY

jjguidry@tampatrib.com

Published: March 1, 2009

Is the Republican Party racist? Are you a cretin if you carry your dog in the back of a truck? Does the fashion trend that calls for young men to wear pants four sizes too big signal the end of the civilized world? You can explore these and plenty of other topics on Thinking Out Loud, the Tribune editorial department's blog.

You will find a lively site with personal observations that may be zany, somber or furious. Though members of the editorial board weigh in occasionally, most of the fireworks are provided by our roster of citizen bloggers. All are former Tribune community columnists who were invited to participate in our blog. They've been given no instructions other than to keep it clean, honest and short. In the two months since we've launched the site, they have proved they're up to the task.

Throughout this newspaper's long history, our editorials have represented the Tribune's institutional view. Thinking Out Loud, in contrast, presents individual voices in raw, unpredictable form. We don't edit the bloggers' posts and don't limit their opinions. Sometimes their posts give us heartburn, but more often they provide us food for thought.

You can check out the site by going to TBO.com and typing in Keyword: Thinking Out Loud.

The blogging team may evolve in the coming months. Here is how members describe themselves: Jackie Papandrew is a freelance writer and editor. Her syndicated humor column appears in publications in the United States, Canada and India. She lives in Largo with her husband and children. Visit her Web site at www.jackiepapandrew.com.

Camille Beredjick is a senior at Chamberlain High School, an avid musician and a scribbler with a quirky sense of humor. In the fall, she will attend Northwestern University to study journalism, political science and music, and she plans to pursue a career in journalism.

Jim Harnish is in his 17th year as senior pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa. He and his wife, Marsha, have two daughters and two grandchildren. He is the author of six books and numerous articles and studies.

Angela Hunt is a novelist living in Pinellas County with her husband and two 220-pound mastiffs.

Sheryl Young is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Tampa Style Magazines, the St. Petersburg Times and nationally in Better Nutrition, Today's Christian Woman and more. She has received a first place Amy Foundation Roaring Lambs national writing award and has lived in the Bay area with her family for more than 20 years.

Christie Gold teaches English and journalism at Freedom High School in Tampa where she serves as adviser for the Revolution, the school newspaper. She has been a Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year and Florida Journalism Teacher of the Year. She lives on a small farm in Wesley Chapel, where she trains as a competitive equestrian.

Natalie D. Preston is a karaoke-singing, only-child pouting, Seminole-tomahawk waving, newlywed, blushing, 50-state traveling, girlie girl who loves to shop, read, run and jump up and down on her soapbox.

Fernando Figueroa is a researcher and educator who lives in Riverview.

Al Mccray is president of FSB Capital. He is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Republican Party, Juvenile Justice Board, and director of the Community Justice Forum.

Gary Beemer is a Hillsborough businessman. His interests include humor, politics, economics, community and world affairs, finance, people, religion, music, sports, current events, the arts and education.

Nicole Yunger Halpern is an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, where she studies everything she can get her nerdy little hands on. Desired major: life. No, not necessarily biology. Life.

Kris DiGiovanni is a Huffington Post contributor, Daily Kos diarist and teacher. She recently moved from northwest Hillsborough County to another planet - a small beach community in Pinellas County. She also blogs at www.sandscript .wordpress.com.

H. David Braswell Jr. is an information systems professional. He is a native New Yorker and a lifelong New York Giants fan. He attended California State University, Northridge, and moved to Tampa in 1998.

Sean Marcus teaches creative writing, journalism and reading at Chamberlain High School. He has one son and is expecting a daughter in early March.

Joe Guidry is deputy editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT