"If you can't write it right the first time, edit it." -- Tom
Gillispie
Tom Gillispie:
Writer/Editor/Desktop Publisher/Photographer
CONTACT INFO
Phone numbers: 336-969-9755 (h), 336-692-1063 (c)
Web site: http://www.tgwriter.com
Email Tom Gillispie
WELCOME TO TG WRITER!
It's a pleasure and an honor to have you enter my humble abode. Please step inside, take off your coat, and grab the comfortable
chair.
I was a career newspaper writer and copy editor, working at seven newspapers over 25 years, and now I'm
a full-time freelancer. I'm a terrific editor and a good writer, desktop publisher and photographer.
If you're a writer
or editor of a publication, I can be your best friend. My strengths include tightening, focusing and improving copy. Plus
fact-checking. I once read a mystery novel in which the author said that lyes were the same as acids. Lyes and acids are actually
opposites; they cancel each other out. My wife contacted him, and he said that he knew that lyes and acids are not the same,
but he screwed up, he missed it in galleys, and his editors didn't catch it. I might miss the occasional miscue, but I'd
have caught that one. I wish I could have helped him.
As a writer, I'm concise and precise. I can say a lot
in few words, and my stories make you feel that you were there. You'll feel the heat off the car's engine or see the
driver's bright-red scarf.
Thanks again for visiting. You're welcome to drop by any time and stay as long
as you like.
TOM GILLISPIE
Rural Hall, N.C.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
- I've written two books on auto racing (Racing Families: A Tribute to Racing's
Fastest Dynasties, Beckett 2000; and I Remember Dale Earnhardt, Cumberland House 2001). Cumberland House contacted
me in August 2007 and asked me to update I Remember Dale
Earnhardt for 2008; the name has been changed to Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt, Sr. The book was released on March 1, 2008.
- I wrote comic-book scripts in the early 1990s for Vortex Comics out of Toronto.
It was a great experience, since I learned to write visually.
- In
1994, I wrote the first cover story for Beckett Racing Monthly. It was on Dale Earnhardt, someone I've since
written about extensively.
- I'm one of the few people
to have written freelance articles for Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, the Washington Post,
the Miami Herald, and The (Baltimore) Sun. Who knows? I may be the only person to have
written for that group of publications.
- When the Winston
Cup Series ended in 2003, the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal ran a special tab commemorating NASCAR's
top series. I wrote seven stories for the tab, including some of my best work ever. Some of those stories are on this web
site in the Clips section.
- In September 2006, I had one of
my biggest highlights. I wrote all six stories in the Winston-Salem Journal's special section on Wake
Forest University's 50-year history in Winston-Salem. Here's the link: http://specialsections.mgnetwork.com/index.cfm?siteid=wsj&project=wfuhist.
- The Journal has allowed me to be versatile. As
far as I know, I'm the only person to write for the Journal's Sports, News, Zones, Features and Niche Publications
departments. I've written about everything from a man who fought in the Battle of the Bulge to the best wine lists in
Winston-Salem. And I wrote a Features story on guys shaving their heads ("Smooth Operators") that's on this
web site under Clips.
- Two years ago, the Journal
did a special section on the Healthy Living Expo, and I got to talk to and write about the featured speakers, Olympic gymnastics
champions Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci. Last year, I interviewed Olympic speedskating champion Joey Cheek. This year, I'm
writing about Olympic speedskating champ Dan Jansen.
- For many
years, I was a copy editor/writer at newspapers. In fact, every time I took a copy-editing test, newspaper editors tried to
turn me into a copy editor. Why? Solid editorial skills, an ability to fix and improve copy, terrific headline-writing skills,
and a knack for page design. Besides, I can spell.
STORY FROM MY NEWSPAPER CAREER:
Banks on the front nine
By Tom Gillispie
In 1988,
I was working as a sports copy editor at the Charleston (S.C.) News & Courier. The sports editor asked me to go to a local golf course to do a story on 16 former major
leaguers who were playing golf with airline employees. He said he chose me because I wouldn't have to look up the names
of any of the players.
It was also a good perk for me.
I watched Enos "Country" Slaughter
kibitz the gigantic Willie McCovey. Slaughter said that "us left-handers ought to stick together", and I wondered
if McCovey realized that Country was, at one time, one of the biggest bigots in baseball. At that point, Slaughter was a shrunken
old man wearing a funny hat with a ball on the top.
A woman pointed to McCovey and said, "Isn't that Calvin
Peete?" I said, "No, ma'am, that's Willie McCovey. Calvin Peete's not six-five and 250 pounds."
"Sure looks like Calvin Peete," she said.
I watched Boog Powell and Joe Morgan warm up and tee off. Eight
of the players that day were Hall of Famers, and I believe Morgan was about to join them.
I talked to Al Kaline
and Brooks Robinson, but I didn't get anything good. They were polished but dull. A PR guy told me, "Don't worry,
Ernie's coming."
Seconds later, I looked up to see Ernie Banks swinging his club and smiling at me.
"I don't have time to talk, but would you like to walk nine holes with me?"
Well, sure. Yeah.
That would be fine.
So Banks teed off and we were heading down the first fairway. I asked him if his favorite song
was "It Takes Two" by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston. He said, no, he hadn't heard that one. So I walked along teaching
Banks "It Takes Two" and drawing stares from startled bystanders.
We passed a construction site, and
Banks decided he wanted a closer look. The two guys working looked up -- we were still singing, I imagine -- and one told
his friend that the black guy looked like Ernie Banks. The other guy looked up, then said, no, too tall.
So we
walked on, and Banks regaled me with stories. We were having a great time, but it was obvious that his cohorts weren't
thrilled with us, since we were slowing them down.
On No. 9, I finally met the other men in the foursome, and I
shook hands with Early Wynn. When I left, Banks and I shook hands again, and he gave me a golf ball.
I turned to
go, but I thought a moment and said, "Next time, let's play two."
Banks took a second to realize
what I meant. He gave me his famous eye-twinkling smile and said, "You got it."
