About Leon Aldridge

Forty-plus years in media related endeavors seems in some respects like a long time, but in others feels more like just getting started. In that time, I’ve been involved in media efforts including, but not necessarily limited to, editing, publishing, photography, teaching, marketing, newspaper ownership and group management.

Over the years, I’ve met many interesting people, traveled to both coasts and many places in between, even made a living now and then. However, the best part is communicating with people, making friends and collecting fascinating stories.

My hands-down favorite things are column writing and feature stories, just different forms of story telling, which brings me to this blog. Over the years, I’ve typically written columns while gainfully employed by a newspaper, but not so much during spells while engaged in other communication activities without publishing deadlines.

With the blog, my plan is to continue writing a weekly column for as long as I still have two functioning brain cells with which to work. We’ll see how well that goes.

I arrived here after gathering knowledge about the media business from East Texas State University (these days it’s Texas A&M at Commerce), from Stephen F. Austin State University where I picked up an M.A. in communication and taught communication courses, and from the University of North Texas where I logged post-graduate work in journalism. I learned how to apply the knowledge from a handful of excellent mentors and from many years of experience in Texas and Louisiana newspaper markets.

During that time, I’ve garnered professional awards for my work in the newspaper trenches. I’ve seen freedom of the press upheld firsthand while being successfully defended against libel charges. And I’ve witnessed from the press gallery of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C., journalism history being made as attorneys and justices argued points of law surrounding a “church vs. state” case I personally covered and reported on as editor and publisher of the hometown newspaper.

When not sticking words together hoping to create something informative, entertaining or educational, I’ve spent much of my life sticking old car parts together in hopes of saving and enjoying another example of the finest years of American automobiles. If it rolled off an American assembly line prior to the early 1970s, chances are I’ll like it, know about it, maybe owned one of them, or can tell you about one I’ve seen.

My goal in writing or telling a good story is to share something that was memorable to me and why, and hopefully in a manner with which the greatest number of readers can relate and maybe smile while they read it.

Let me know how I’m doing, OK?.