Shandelee Lake Inn was fortunate enough to host the Mike Levine Foundation for a long weekend submersed in journalism.
Coaches included:
Ben Montgomery of the St. Petersburg Times
Neil Swidey of the Boston Globe
Barbara King Lord former writing coach for the Associated Press
Celina Ottaway of the Albany, NY, Times-Union
Paula McMahon of the South Florida Sun Sentinel
Josh Margolin of the Newark Star Ledger
Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post
Terry Egan former editor at ESPN magazine
Chris Mele of the Middletown, NY, Times Herald-Record
Brendan Scott of the New York Post.
During the outing the aforementioned coaches, who were “chosen because their work reflects the high standards and impassioned principals of Mike Levine”, shared their collective knowledge with a group of up writers. Those writers were selected by a committee based on outline for a story they wanted to finish with the help of the workshop.
Upon arriving at Shandelee Lake Inn, participants were served dinner during a casual first evening at the workshop. Workshop sessions began first thing Friday May 2nd.
On Friday evening writers took a break for the key note address by Pete Hamill. Then continued with off-site activities.
Session picked up again Saturday morning after Chef Ettore Mazzei served up a delicious breakfast consisting of an Omelete Station, Crepe Station, Bagels, Hash Browns, French Toast and more writing fuel.
Writer/coaches Barbara King Lord, Celina Ottaway, Ben Montgomery and Neil Swidey addressed the workshop in four mini-seminars on Friday and Saturday. Barbara King Lord discussed story identification, Celina Ottaway discussed sourcing, Ben Montgomery talked about narrative on deadline and Neil Swidey talked about precision in language and long-form narrative.
The weekend concluded on Sunday afternoon following lunch which consisted of Tea Sandwiches and Wraps, Salads, Cheeses, and Fresh Fruit.
After the weekend concluded Pete Hamill looked back on his participation with an email to the Foundation.
It was a wonderful evening for me, talking to the young reporters, feeling their energy and drive pulsating in the room. It all renewed my cockeyed optimism about the craft itself, no matter how we get it to readers. via. Mike Levine Workshop Blog.
To learn more about Mike Levine please visit The Times Herald-Record Mike Levine memorial page.
For more information about future retreats please visit MikeLevineWorkshop.org
To plan your own retreat at Shandelee Lake in visit our website here.
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