The article above, which published on December 3, 1986, was one of my first award-winning articles. I won a Virginia Press Association award for this piece. It was a photos and copy award, so it was multi-faceted. Good pictures, good writing. I couldn't ask for more for a first award.
It is also one of the few first-person articles I've ever published. Most news reporting is not in the first person, it's in third person, and it seldom was about me. I didn't want it to be about me. But this was about my experience taking a ride in a hot air balloon, and as such, I could only write it in first person.
The adventure came about because I'd earlier written a column about watching a small plane appear to buzz a hot air balloon and it had alarmed me. The balloonist, Natalie Haley, had contacted me to tell me the plane was much further away from the balloon than it had appeared from the ground. Then she offered me a ride.
How could I say no?
Riding in a hot air balloon is on my bucket list!! I imagine it was an amazing experience!!
ReplyDeleteHow cool is that.. both the article and the ride!! You go girl!
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