18 Million Words in My Rearview Mirror

Over three-plus decades as an editor I've shepherded some 300 magazine issues into print. I've also edited 17 travel guides and hundreds of online articles, newsletters and posts. My best estimate is that I’ve edited somewhere north of 18 million words. AI tells me that translates to a mere 108 MB — so I’ll stick with the more impressive 18 million figure.

I’ve been fortunate to have worked with leading publishers, gifted writers and talented fellow editors, writers, designers and photo editors. The results speak for themselves. During my 17-year tenure as an editor for HistoryNet, the world’s largest publisher of history magazines, our writers and teams earned more than two dozen peer awards for excellence.

RECENT WORK

Since the 2024 collapse of HistoryNet I’ve rebuilt my freelance client list. To fill the inevitable gaps in my schedule, I’ve volunteered my publishing skills to two local nonprofits — the Harpers Ferry Highland Games (HFHG) and the Jefferson County Council on Aging (JCCOA). Proceeds from the annual Highland Games in turn support other local nonprofits, thus the need for effective communications is twofold. In my newly created role as newsletter editor I post and email (via Mailchimp) digital updates on the event, including interviews with athletes and staff, appeals for volunteers and sponsors, and themed trivia games. In 2025 HFHG’s chosen nonprofit was the Jefferson County Council on Aging, which runs our regional senior center on a limited budget. After witnessing JCCOA’s efforts firsthand, wife Jill and I — old souls ourselves — felt compelled to boost its visibility in the community by launching quarterly brochures that feature interviews with clients and staff. For both efforts I provide all photos, processed through a purpose-built AI filter that renders them as watercolors.

Jefferson County Council on Aging

Senior centers nationwide often rely on a handful of dedicated souls to provide their local elderly populace in-home care, meals, rides, financial advice and other support. The Jefferson County Council on Aging is no exception. Recognizing its need for effective community outreach, Jill and I write, provide photos for and publish brochures beautifully designed by friend and former coworker Rob Rash. In return we’ve been welcomed into the tight-knit family that keeps JCCOA running.

READ BROCHURE

Harpers Ferry Highland Games

My mother was born in Wales, and most of my family hails from Great Britain, which explains my affinity for related cultural offerings. On first volunteering with the Harpers Ferry Highland Games in 2025, I offered to write, photograph and post a recurring newsletter to keep its fan base, athletes and sponsors apprised of the annual event. The resulting Mailchimp campaign far exceeds average nonprofit email benchmarks, achieving a 44% open rate, a 9% click rate, and a 20.3% click-to-open rate.

READ NEWSLETTER

FEATURES

Below are a half dozen stellar features from Wild West and Military History, which I edited from 2007 until the 2024 close of HistoryNet. Each article, whether a cover feature or single-page department, received the same care. I shaped each narrative, verified facts, refined prose, wrote headlines and decks, captioned images, copyfitted layouts and scoured proofs with an eye toward perfection. It was my pleasure to help writers produce their best work and to enter standout articles like these in peer awards, sometimes personally footing the entry fee.

A black and white historical photograph of a wooden boat on a body of water, with a group of people dressed in period clothing. Some are sitting in the boat, and others are standing or leaning, wearing hats and Native American headdresses. In the background, there is a cityscape with historic buildings, including a clock tower and a large building with arches.

By Lorenzo Barruscotto
Wild West, Spring 2024

This was the cover story of the final issue of Wild West, which ended its distinguished 36-year publishing run with this digital-only issue. Had the article appeared in a traditional print issue, it would have been in stronger contention for peer awards. It relates how showman Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West toured Italy to widespread acclaim in 1890 and 1906, in turn sparking Italians’ enduring fascination with all things Western, including spaghetti Westerns and replica Old West firearms. Barruscotto is a native of Asti, in northwest Italy’s Piedmont region.

‘Bravissimo, Buffalo Bill!’

READ ARTICLE
A military drone flying in the sky over mountains with text overlay about the history of military satellites and drones from the heavens, published in Military History magazine, Spring 2024.

‘Eyes in the Sky &
Hellfire From the Heavens’

By Paul Xavier Rutz
Military History, Spring 2024

This was the cover story of the final issue of Military History, which ended its 40-year tenure as the leading magazine in its niche with this digital-only issue. In his timely and deftly researched feature, Rutz examines how a half century of emerging satellite and drone technology has transformed warfare. After choosing this story to lead, I assigned a complementary profile of the U.S. Air Force’s MQ-1 Predator drone.

READ ARTICLE
Page from a magazine or book with text and a black-and-white photograph of a man with a mustache and sideburns, dressed in a suit with a bow tie. The text discusses the death of Johnny Ringo, an Arizona Territory gunfighter, and mentions the discovery of his body.

‘The Mysterious Death
of Johnny Ringo’

By Doug Hocking
Wild West, Winter 2024

The October 26, 1881, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, was the flash point of the Earp brothers’ ongoing clash with an outlaw gang known as the Cowboys. In this whodunnit piece, Hocking scrutinized the fate of Cowboy cohort Johnny Ringo, who months later was found dead, gun in hand, slumped against a tree in the Chiricahua Mountains. The writer’s analysis of the circumstances earned Wild West its seventh and final Spur Award from Western Writers of America.

READ ARTICLE
Historical black-and-white photograph of Klondike miners on a snowy mountainside, with some resting and others preparing for the gold rush. Text overlay mentions the Klondike gold strike of 1896 and details of the journey. The photo is from the summer 2023 issue of Wild West magazine.

By Mike Coppock
Wild West, Summer 2023

In 2024, for the second year running, Wild West writers earned two of three Will Rogers Medallion Awards in the short nonfiction category. Coppock appropriately clinched gold for his cover story "The Klondike!" about the wild and woolly 1896–99 gold rush through southeast Alaska to Canada’s Yukon Territory. He also wrote an article about Wyatt Earp’s tenure as a deputy U.S. marshal during the gold rush, while I penned a related personality profile and a travelogue about the Inside Passage.

‘The Klondike!’

READ ARTICLE
Collage of black and white photographs and magazine covers from 'YANK The Army Weekly,' a publication from World War II, featuring soldiers, military scenes, and wartime imagery with red accents and headlines.

‘Generation Yank’

By Peter Zablocki
Military History, January 2022

Military History contributor Peter Zablocki earned the Army Historical Foundation's 2023 Distinguished Writing Award for his cover story "Generation Yank." Published in the January 2022 issue, it describes the history of and celebrated figures associated with the World War II–era U.S. Army weekly written by soldiers and about soldiers. Military History writers had been finalists, but Zablocki was the first to earn top honors.

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A vintage scene from a stage performance or reenactment depicting cowboys and a woman dressed in traditional Western costumes. One man is lying on the ground, another is seated, dressed in cowboy attire, and a woman in a Victorian-style dress stands beside them. The background is a plain outdoor setting.

‘Texas Jack
Takes an Encore’

By Matthew Kerns
Wild West, April 2022

With his article “‘Texas Jack’ Takes an Encore,” relating the rollicking short life of Buffalo Bill’s stage and arena costar Texas Jack Omohundro, contributor Matthew Kerns distinguished himself with two peer awards. For Wild West contributors the honors marked the seventh and final Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and the sixth Spur Award from Western Writers of America.

READ ARTICLE

BOOKS

The gems below are the covers of the 17 guidebooks I’ve edited for National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Wilderness Press and Cruising Guide Publications. More to come!

Cover of a National Geographic Traveler guidebook about Alaska, featuring images of a bear, glaciers, traditional totem poles, and wilderness scenery.

National Geographic, 2006
By Bob Devine

I had the privilege of being the text editor for this first edition of Devine’s popular NatGeo guide to “The Last Frontier.”

National Geographic Traveler: Alaska

Cover of National Geographic Traveler Vietnam magazine featuring images of a traditional Vietnamese boat, a woman in ao dai, and a night cityscape with a fountain, along with a map of Hanoi, Vietnam.
Cover of National Geographic Traveler Vietnam magazine featuring images of a traditional Vietnamese boat, a woman in ao dai, and a night cityscape with a fountain, along with a map of Hanoi, Vietnam.

National Geographic, 2006
By James Sullivan

I also edited this first edition of Sullivan’s guide to Vietnam, which he biked across in 1993 and where he later met his wife.

National Geographic Traveler: Vietnam

Cover of a guidebook "The Rough Guide to the Grand Canyon." The cover features a scenic photograph of the Grand Canyon's layered rock formations and cliffs, displaying shades of orange, brown, and blue.

Rough Guides, 2006
By Greg Ward

Piggybacking on my edit of Lonely Planet’s first-edition guide to the Grand Canyon in 2004, I was assigned to edit Ward’s take on the canyon for London-based Rough Guides.

The Rough Guide to the Grand Canyon

Brochure cover of Lonely Planet's Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks featuring a landscape photograph of Bryce Canyon with tall orange and red rock formations and green trees.

Lonely Planet, 2005
By Jeff Campbell, John A. Vlahides & David Lukas

Lonely Planet launched its national park series in 2003 and had me edit the first editions of this and three other guidebooks.

Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks

A scenic coastal landscape with mountains, rocky shoreline, and a partly cloudy sky, overlaid with the title of a hiking guidebook.
A scenic coastal landscape with mountains, rocky shoreline, and a partly cloudy sky, overlaid with the title of a hiking guidebook.

Wilderness Press, 2005
By Analise Elliot

I edited this first edition of hiker-naturalist Eliot’s guide, and my former Lonely Planet coworker Emily Douglas designed the book for Wilderness Press. My wife, Jill, and I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area from 2000 to 2003. What we miss most about life in California are the wonderful hikes and coastal vistas, particularly along the Big Sur coastline, scented by eucalyptus and sea spray.

Hiking & Backpacking Big Sur

A scenic view of the Grand Canyon with layers of red and purple rock formations, under a clear sky. The image is the cover of a travel guide for Lonely Planet.

Grand Canyon National Park

Lonely Planet, 2004
By Jennifer Denniston, Amy Marr & David Lukas

Before editing this first-edition guidebook, I’d visited the Grand Canyon on two cross-country road trips. The hardest aspect to convey in writing is its painterly enormity.

The cover of Lonely Planet's diving & snorkeling guide to South Africa. A diver with yellow fins, a diving suit, and a scuba tank swimming near a great white shark in the ocean.

Lonely Planet, 2004
By Tim Rock & Jean-Pierre “JP” Botha

Globetrotting underwater photographer Rock and renowned South African diver Botha tag-teamed on this first edition of Lonely Planet’s resurrected Pisces Books.

Diving & Snorkeling South Africa

Cover of a book titled 'The Diving Guide to Cozumel, Cancun & the Riviera Maya' with a background image of a scuba diver swimming over coral reefs with colorful fish and marine life.
Cover of a book titled 'The Diving Guide to Cozumel, Cancun & the Riviera Maya' with a background image of a scuba diver swimming over coral reefs with colorful fish and marine life.

Cruising Guide Publications, 2003
By David Behrens

This was the launch title of Cruising Guide’s new series on dive sites. I was the founding editor and helped design the series. Former Pisces Books author Behrens wrote this one. A guide to the Galapagos Islands followed.

The Diving Guide: Cozumel, Cancún & the Riviera Maya

Cover of a Lonely Planet book titled 'Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks,' featuring a scenic landscape of trees, rocks, and a river with a blue sky and white clouds overhead.

Lonely Planet, 2003
By Bradley Mayhew, Andrew Dean Nystrom & Amy Marr

A first edition about a place Jill and I truly love. On our silver anniversary we renewed our vows at dawn on the Snake River with the Tetons as our backdrop. Her photo of me that morning graces the Home page of this website!

Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks

A scenic view of Yosemite National Park on the cover of Lonely Planet's guidebook, featuring mountains, trees with autumn foliage, and a clear blue sky.

Lonely Planet, 2003
By Kurt Wolff, Amy Marr, David Lukas & Cheryl Koehler

This was the launch title of Lonely Planet’s national park series. It was bittersweet to edit, as it followed widespread layoffs and the dissolution of our beloved Pisces Books.

Yosemite National Park

The cover of Lonely Planet's diving & snorkeling guide to New Zealand. A diver exploring a coral reef beside a rusted, wrecked shipwreck. The diver is wearing a wetsuit and snorkeling gear, surrounded by clear blue water.
The cover of Lonely Planet's diving & snorkeling guide to New Zealand. A diver exploring a coral reef beside a rusted, wrecked shipwreck. The diver is wearing a wetsuit and snorkeling gear, surrounded by clear blue water.

Lonely Planet, 2002
By Jenny & Tony Enderby

This first edition covers the shipwrecks and megafauna that characterize New Zealand’s marine world. When Pisces Books folded, editor in chief Roslyn Bullas moved to that country

Diving & Snorkeling New Zealand

Guidebook cover titled "Belize" by Lonely Planet, featuring an underwater scene with a scuba diver exploring a coral reef and marine life around rocks and seaweed.

Lonely Planet, 2002
By Mark Webster

British commercial diver turned underwater photographer Webster covered Belize’s atolls and barrier reef for Pisces Books. He runs popular marine photography workshops.

Diving & Snorkeling Belize

Cover of a guidebook titled "Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Honduras' Bay Islands" with an underwater scene featuring two scuba divers swimming above colorful coral and fish.

Lonely Planet, 2002
By David Behrens & Cam O’Brien

Marine biologist Behrens wrote several Pisces guides, as well as the first dive guide for Cruising Guides (scroll up).

Diving & Snorkeling Honduras’ Bay Islands

Lonely Planet's diving & snorkeling guide to the Red Sea. A scuba diver explores underwater ruins covered in colorful coral and sponges, with large stone anchors in the foreground and a dark underwater cave in the background.
Lonely Planet's diving & snorkeling guide to the Red Sea. A scuba diver explores underwater ruins covered in colorful coral and sponges, with large stone anchors in the foreground and a dark underwater cave in the background.

Diving & Snorkeling Red Sea

Lonely Planet, 2002
By Jean-Bernard Carillet, Gavin Anderson & Pete Harrison

A Frenchman and two Brits collaborated on this, the largest of the nearly 30 Pisces diving and snorkeling guides at 200 pages.

Lonely Planet's diving & snorkeling guide to the Maldives. A diver exploring a vibrant coral reef surrounded by various colorful fish, and mentioning top reefs and wrecks among the Indian Ocean atolls.

Lonely Planet, 2001
By Casey & Astrid Witte Mahaney

This first and only edition is one of several written and photographed by the Mahaneys, a jet-setting husband-and-wife team. That’s Astrid above, posing amid coral for Casey.

Diving & Snorkeling Maldives

A cover of a guidebook titled "Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Florida Keys" featuring a scuba diver in front of a coral-covered archway underwater, with the subtitle "Top dive sites along the Overseas Highway."

Lonely Planet, 2001
By William Harrigan

Harrigan, a former manager of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and an avid underwater photographer, was the perfect person to produce this guide to the region.

Diving & Snorkeling Florida Keys

Lonely Planet's diving & snorkeling guide to Fiji. A colorful underwater scene with coral reefs and a diver wearing a yellow mask and wetsuit, exploring the reef.
Lonely Planet's diving & snorkeling guide to Fiji. A colorful underwater scene with coral reefs and a diver wearing a yellow mask and wetsuit, exploring the reef.

Lonely Planet, 2000
By Casey & Astrid Witte Mahaney

Though I’d been working as an editor for a decade, this first edition was also the first book I edited. The Mahaneys deftly captured the beauty of the “Soft Coral Capital of the World.”

Diving & Snorkeling Fiji

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