B. Blair Dedrick - Fall 2005

Biographies are always difficult for me to write. Should I give you “just the facts,” as is often advocated in journalism, or should I be more introspective and wander at will through my life? I assume you are not particularly interested in my earliest memories, as they have more to do with painting and dolls than reading and writing.

My first journalism experiences, however, stem from the age of 16. Let me share a secret with you that I have only ever shared once before: when I began my newspaper career, I was not a writer.

Gasps and cries of shock are flying through my audience that, at the moment, possibly consists of no one but my mother. Alas, it is true. The first time I shared this fact, in a sports commentary, my editor only shook his head at me in somewhat annoyed amusement. Let me quickly assure you the statement is no longer true. At least, I assume if it was true, I wouldn’t be here, sitting in the Scripps Howard Foundation news office in Washington.

Five years of working in newspapers will change your mind about whether you can write. Between making that statement and today, I have written for my university newspaper (The Daily Helmsman), the University of Memphis Alumni magazine and The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.

Throughout the years, my interests in journalism have not so much changed as increased. I started in sports photography and game reporting and wrote a few environmental stories as well. I moved to general, feature and metro reporting. And, last year, I was able to study and intern in Germany, giving me an interest in international news.

Here in Washington, I plan to continue these interests and, I hope, add a few more. One of my favorite quotes, usually attributed to writer Dorothy Parker, is, “The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”

In my opinion, the only way to treat curiosity is to indulge it. Hence, journalism, the only profession I could find that is a constant search for knowledge and information on all subjects.

I have another favorite quote: “The curious are always in some danger,” British novelist Jeanette Winterson said. “If you are curious, you might never come home.” And that is the real danger of the journalism quest. 

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