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Nieman Notesmoney for the arrest and convictionof a racial nightrider murderer and[ended] with the passing of the gavelto an energetic successor on a localeducation foundation serving at-riskstudents.”Of course Ayers is right about journalists’selectivity in drawing the lineagainst participation. But for most ofus, most of the time, most communityactivities were off limits. Ayers seemsto believe that is a mistake. I offer hisassertion in that regard for discussionon the Nieman Web site.Bert Lindler, NF ’84, has the mostunusual volunteer interest. When hedidn’t like the direction new ownerstook his Montana newspaper, he quitand joined the U.S. Forest Service asa technical writer. He’s still working,but five years ago he “adopted an elkherd that winters near my home. Sincethen, I’ve spent a lot of time learningabout fencing, weeds and populationmanagement through hunting.” Lindlerproves my point about being excellentquick-study generalists.One of the most poignant storieswas offered by Dean Miller, NF ’08. Hewas fired “out of the blue” in February.He needs to work, but recognizesthe job hunt will be long. Meanwhile,he has used his “newfound freedomfrom the need for official neutrality”to teach a journalism ethics seminarfor the local branch of Drinking Liberally.The biggest change, he says, “isthat I have time for something otherthan the needs of the newspaper. Lastmonth, I got to spend five school-daymornings in my 9-year-old son’s class,helping them revise, edit, proofreadand prepare for hardback publicationtheir fairy tales.”Jenny Lo, NF ’96, still has a job,but it is part time. “It’s great to beactive and not a wage slave,” shewrites from London. When she isnot posted overseas, she volunteersas a literacy aid and an English tutorfor adult Muslim men. She also is aschool advocate for inner-city migrantcommunities. Lo volunteers as wellfor the National Trust and is active in“cultural heritage and environmentalNGO activities in Malaysia.”Leslie Dreyfous, NF ’95, believesthere is something to this idea of “thecommunity energy unleashed whenreporters are sprung from their obligationto objectivity.” Dreyfous leftjournalism because she “had threechildren in four years.” She writesthat she was “at first uncomfortableand then gradually unstoppable inmy commitment to improving ourcommunity of Half Moon Bay (Calif.).Environmentalism, school board politics,downtown ‘smart growth,’ lobbyingstate legislators … chair of the parksand rec commission …. It was quitean experience to be on that side ofthings, particularly after having ‘studied’community over the course of mycareer with the AP.” In fact, Dreyfouscontinues, she “wrote a book aboutcitizenship and civic participation ….”It’s titled, “Getting a Life: America’sChallenge to Grow Up.”Peg Simpson, NF ’79, writes that sheisn’t retired, “just doing a lot of extrastuff.” That “stuff ” includes being veryactive in an effort to build a “virtualcommunity” in the DuPont Circle areaof Washington, D.C.. The effort, shewrites, is part “of the new nationalmovement of ‘aging in community.’”Previously, she’d participated mostly injournalism groups, many with the aimof advancing the position of womenand minorities.Ralph Hancox, NF ’66, retired beforethe media economy got “cranky.” He“went into pro bono work at SimonFraser University in Vancouver, B.C., atthe Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing.”One of the fruits of that labor[“Managing the Publishing Process”] isdescribed at www.abcbookworld.com/view_author.php?id=9671. He’s editeda couple of master’s theses and “donesome promotion work on a women’sfashion accessories Web site.”Graeme Beaton, NF ’79, is anAustralian Nieman who settled inthe United States after his year atHarvard. He is a tutor for the localliteracy council and gets “as much outof it as the students I tutor.” He willdo more as he “winds down” from hissecond vocation—raising thoroughbredhorses.John Strohmeyer, NF ’53, sold hisinterest in a Pennsylvania newspaperin 1984 and moved to Alaska to teach,fish and write, but not necessarily inthat order. Currently he is unpaidwriter-in-residence at the Universityof Alaska, in Anchorage. He writes,“Being a Pulitzer Prize-winner andcontroversial journalist keeps me indemand for scores of unpaid appearances”as a speaker, panelist and academicadviser. “And thank you, LouisLyons,” he adds.Peter Almond, NF ’81, is closing inon retirement from his work as a freelancedefense writer. But he is dabblingalready in volunteer work. A letter hewrote to his local UK council was, hethought, “straightforward journalistwriting.” But it was described to himby one council member as the “mostpowerful letter he’d seen in 25 years”and played a major role in getting thecouncil to adopt the policy Almondfavored. That and other small involvements,he said, opened his eyes “towhat I could do.” But for the moment,“I still have to feed my mortgage andmy family and not drive myself intothe ground, broke and frustrated ….Save the world and get paid is myideal plan .…”Mike Pride, NF ’85, retired in 2008from his position as editor of theConcord (N.H.) Monitor. He is moving“carefully” into the volunteer world,because he had so many requests tojoin community ventures, many ofwhich were not a good fit. Plus, hewanted to reserve time for his passion,writing history. Pride did say “yes” tothe N.H. Lincoln Bicentennial Commission,speaks around the state on NewHampshire history, served as a localimpresario, and occasionally works asan overnight volunteer, with his wife,at a winter homeless shelter.Rui Araujo, NF ’91, writes that theperspective on civic participation is abit different in Portugal. Although he isstill working full-time for a Portuguesetelevision station, he has been activelyengaged for years, as a volunteer fireman,helping immigrants in France bywriting and reading letters for them,and working in an organization thathelped poor city kids get to summercamp.Nick Daniloff, NF ’74, went into102 Nieman Reports | Summer 2009