Meet AC Contributor Michael Thompson

I've recently been interviewing fellow AC Contributors who are either new, up-and-coming, or not as noticed as they could be. Associated Content Contributor Michael Thompson recently granted me an interview. He's been with AC since August of 2007 and has contributed quite a collection of articles. He may be one of the lesser-known clout 10 AC writers. His main topics are politics and social justice, but he also writes about education, health, holidays, parenting, and more. My favorite recent pieces of content by Michael are "Travel Close to Home and Still Travel a Great Distance" and "Memories of Sept. 11, 2002." I recommend, in addition to the above pieces anything he's written on politics or social justice. Read on to learn more about Michael Thompson and don't forget to check out his AC library afterward.

How Did You First Find Out About Associated Content?
Twas Google-researching during August 2007 and found an article by Shamontiel. The topic was the Jena Six, the story of discrimination directed toward African-American teenagers in Jena, Louisiana. Then started writing my own stuff, slowly but surely. I was (am) so stupid about computers, Shamontiel had to explain to me how to leave comments on other articles. However, I am not as stupid as I look.

Do You Freelance For a Living or Do Something Else As Well?
Am retired from The Saginaw (Michigan) News, after 32 years in local news reporting. Mainly covered local government and schools, nonprofit and neighborhood groups, the social services system, local politics, and racial relations. Thankfully, I didn't have to do the crime-and-violence stories very often. Won a few awards, but everyone who works in the regular media wins awards now and then, because we have all sorts of contests for ourselves! Funny thing is, many times I felt my best stuff didn't win, but then the next-best would win, so this is stated in order to urge my AC peers to keep this in mind. Be humble if you win, and don't be discouraged if you don't. Same with those rejection notices. Footnote: The Saginaw News now is dying, down to three days a week in print, similar to many newspapers, with virtually all the experienced reporters gone because our salaries were too high. A real shame.

Also, at this point I have an idea for all you freelancers: Advertise yourselves locally as "writers for hire" who can produce mock newspaper pages (or newsletters) for special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, family reunions, graduations and so forth. These can make wonderful gifts. I even had somebody hire me to do a fake paper for their grandfather's 100th birthday. The process is simply to interview various family members, show them draft copies, and then give them the final product with your writing, their old photos, whatever. Mix some serious stuff with some funny stuff, sort of like those "celebrity roast" dinners we see on TV. Give this idea a try! Family members often can pool their resources to pay you, so that it's not a huge expense for any one individual. Send me a note if you'd like to know more.

Tell Us a Little More About Yourself
Grew up in a middle class family, the last of four kids, but so far apart from the first three that it was sort of like being an only child. My dad, a machine worker, was 42 and my mom was 40 when the "accident" happened, so my arrival was sort of a surprise. No, I wasn't a spoiled youngest; I paid for the misdeeds of my oldest brother, whose behavior convinced Mom and Dad that they should have been more strict, and they took it out on me, but they were reasonable. Nobody has had better parents than me. Dad died suddenly in 1976 of a stroke at 63, and Mom died in her sleep in 2004 at 88, with a couple years of dementia at the end. When I married at 26, my stepson already was 14, and he has gifted us with a brood of grandkids who mostly now are teens.

My first writing, in junior high, was sports articles. My high school journalism teacher, Barbara Newman, was old school for sure. One of my football stories said that a player made a "great catch" for a touchdown, and she asked me, "Who SAID it was great?" A lesson in being objective when doing straight news.

Other than newspapering, as we call it, as a young adult I volunteered as a house-to-house community organizer in a poor neighborhood. See 1/21/08, "Martin Luther King Day: A King Event, Years Before His Holiday." This was very influential for me, to show the value of local volunteering.

Nonfiction books are for leisure time, mostly on current events or modern American history, with a sports book thrown in when I'm in the escapist mode and just want to relax. My main recent bad habit is watching Fox News and MSNBC too often, watching them joust from the political right and the political left. Me, I'm pretty much a left-winger, 95 percent of the time. That Glenn Beck guy and Sean Hannity on Fox are ridiculous, and Bill O'Reilly and Greta VanSusteren aren't much better. Keith Olbermann on MSNBC is good, although sometimes overbearing.

Does Freelance Writing Benefit Other Careers?
Personally, am hoping that freelance writing will succeed in helping my family make ends meet until my pension kicks in, late next year. For the younger people you are interviewing, Lyn, yes, freelance writing is fantastic training for any sort of work that involves communication.

What is Your Favorite Topic to Read About on AC?
I don't read as much as I should on AC. I've figured out ways to improve my computer's speed during the past six months, but the ol' machine still seems to fight me when reading through the works of other contributors and especially in the quest to leave comments. Slow, slow, slow. Plus, to tell the truth, am still old-fashioned when it comes to reading, in preferring to lay back with a book or magazine, as opposed to sitting here on a computer. But Lyn, continuing to observe all that you and others contribute for the AC community, let these here words constitute my vow to spend an hour per day checking out others on AC, except for a few days when things might be super-busy.

What is Your Favorite Topic to Write About and Why?
My favorite topics are politics and social issues, but these produce horrible page views, lol. Lately, I have been accepting a bunch of those AC assignments for $2.85, $3.50, whatever. Every dollar counts these days. But please, my AC peers, don't place too much stock in some of them, such as the ones about Halloween and Christmas.

What is the Most Meaningful Piece of Content You've Published With AC and Why?
My first was on 9/4/07: "Saginaw, Michigan Scavenger Aids Women in Poverty." Still the most meaningful, because I discovered someone here in town doing a unique sort of work for the greater good, and the most rewarding form of writing is to tell someone else's story.

Name 3 Other Favorites that You Have Published at AC
Well, Lyn, since you are so giving of yourself with these profiles, first it seems proper to mention a pair of favorites by you yourself. Your tribute to your mother on 9/6/09, "Living My Dream: A Birthday Dedication to My Mom," was priceless. Then we went to the AC site for your mom, Jaipi Sixbear, and it was so funny because she writes in so much the same style as you, or you as her, or a combination. Also, Lyn, back on 3/19/08, your writeup on then-candidate Barack Obama and his former minister ("Barack Obama Speaks Up On Race Issues") was so filled with wisdom and reason, during a time in politics when we invest so much energy in shouting at one another and making accusations.

Okay, since the above paragraph was invested in you, my own list will be reduced to a pair, rather than three:

9/25/09: Sad Irony: Health Care Workers Lack Health Care Insurance

1/12/08: Updated Low-Middle Income Tax Credits

Have You Learned Anything Important From Publishing at AC?
Well, am finally learning a little more about SEO, which I truly hate, but see the nece$$ity for SEO. Plus, writers are really nice people, by and large. Most of my co-workers at The Saginaw News were nice people, but there was an occasional jackass, which apparently is an OK word to use, now that Obama has used it in reference to Kanye West, lol lol.

Is There Anything Else You'd Like to Add?
Thank you, to you Lyn Lomasi, and to anyone who may take a minute to peruse my modest musings and offer suggestions.

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Here is another great interview of Mike that I recommend. It is actually an interview of him and his wife done by Dr Jamie Y. Marable, a fellow AC Contributor and friend.

Enjoy!
Mike and Denise: An Interracial Love Story by Dr. Jamie Y. Marable