I guess it’s natural that I fell into the newspaper racket, I mean business. There’s enough of it to like that it makes dealing with the other things tolerable.

I enjoy writing, and at times, fancy myself a bit of the wordsmith. Sometimes this gets me into trouble when I pull out a .50-cent word or two. They tell you not to do that in newspaper school, but sometimes I just get going. I don’t know how a William F. Buckley ever survived. Had he taken my route in life they’d have beat most of those four-syllable words right out of him. He’d have probably spent rest of his days teaching English lit and writing letters to the editor about how bad our grammar is.

I also deeply enjoy photography. I discovered my “talent” for that later in life, but it’s been a wonderful learning process, full of challenges and happy discovery.

Both tap into my need to create something.

In the newspaper business, you’re usually expected to go on your initiative and “get out there” and “find the stories.”

But I’m asking for your help this time, kind reader.

I’m about to embark on a long-term project, looking for those who build, create and grow.

I’m looking for crafts-people and trades-people, and others who make or create. I’m looking for those folks who use their hands to make things.

The plan is to begin a series of photographs, both of the men and women who do this work and the tools they use to make it possible.

The photographs will be published in The Thomasville Times as I make them, along with a little background on the person and the tools they use.

See where I’m going here? It’s about the people and the tools they use. Without the tools, the work would be harder, if not impossible in some cases. But tools build nothing by themselves. It takes human hands and brains bring the tools to life.

If you would like to take part in this project, or know of someone who would, please give me a call here at the paper, or email me at: newsroom@thethomasvilletimes.com

I’m looking forward to hearing from you good folks out there. There’s no need to be camera-shy, and don’t worry, you won’t break my camera. I ordered the upgraded model just to take my photo. If I didn’t break it, you won’t either.