Journalism summit

The Poughkeepsie Journalism Summit, circa 2012, from left: Front row, Marist Sports Information Director Mike Ferraro, Your Favorite Blogger/Track Coach (note: an old journalism acquaintance said I looked "grandfatherly" in the picture ... nice), Poughkeepsie Journal Sports Editor Danny Pietrafesa; back row, Middletown Times Herald Record columnist/writer Ken McMillan, Marist Alum J.W. Stewart.

Last week, I got together with some old friends at the Palace Diner in Poughkeepsie for a long dinner. We were at the diner for more than three hours, catching up on old times.

This amounted to a “journalism summit,’’ with old pals from my many years of full-time work at Dutchess County’s Finest Daily Newspaper, the Poughkeepsie Journal. In attendance were:

--J.W. Stewart, a Marist alum and longtime anchor on ESPN. He got his start in the business at the Poughkeepsie Journal.

--Ken McMillan, now working for the neighboring Middletown Times-Herald Record. Known by many as McJournalism or “Dirt,’’ Ken is one of the finest sports journalists I know. I mean that sincerely. Working alongside of Ken, I learned a lot about being thorough and professional in the trade. More than 30 years after he started, Ken is still doing fine work over in Middletown.

--Dan Pietrafesa, or “Danny P” as we like to call him. Another great friend and a GOOD MAN, Danny continues to work at the Poughkeepsie Journal as Sports Editor (or whatever fancy title they give to that job these days …)

--Mike Ferraro, our fantastic Sports Information Director at Marist, who got his start typing in bowling scores for me more than a decade ago. Mike was an excellent journalist in the McMillan mode (again, I mean that in all sincerity). And, in the humble opinion of this old coach, Mike is as good as it gets in the sports information world. He gets the numbers aspect, he gets the people aspect, he gets the promotional aspect, and he has morphed extremely well in the modern world of Twitter, Facebook and countless other platforms about which I know little. Mikey constantly frets about whether he does a good job. I’m here to tell you that he does not do a good job. He does a GREAT job. There is no one better. OK. Wow. That was longer than anticipated.

Anyway, my previous life in full-time journalism was fun, memorable and ever-changing. It was filled with late nights and many unhealthy meals and gallons of Dr Pepper. I made many good friends along the way. It was great to catch up with them over food at the diner, where we spent many a late night after work eating food of questionable nutritional value.

Journalism gets a bad rap in many circles. I’m here to tell you that the profession is filled with many good, honorable, hard-working and extremely intelligent folks. I was privileged to work with a lot of them, many of whom remain good friends.