That’s me in one of my happy places, down the Jersey shore at Island Beach State Park. 

miketoth.net (of course .net. Have you ever seen a fish in a com?)  is comprised of published stories that were most rewarding for me to write, and generated a lot of positive reader feedback. (The two don’t always coincide.) Most have been published in the last ten years, and all are true…fortunately or not. I wrote a short intro to each one to provide some perspective.

These stories were published in various titles and places: the Star-Ledger newspaper, Field & Stream, The Wall Street Journal, The Penn Stater magazine, Anglers Journal, and the U.S. 1 newspaper.

I didn’t include many of the reported stories I’ve written over the years, on topics ranging from an interview with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to a beer taste test, because as interesting as they may (or may not!) be, those stories don’t fit in with these, which are mostly narratives.

About me: I’ve been an editor for outdoor-oriented media brands my entire career, after graduating Penn State with a B.A. in English. I’ve worked for Time Inc.,  Hearst,  and Bonnier, among other media companies. I’ve done a lot of freelance writing over the years as well. Even so, my primary trade has been as an editor.

Most of my jobs have been in midtown Manhattan, and I commuted by train from Princeton Junction to Penn Station New York for 28 years.

(While many people have told me that they could never endure a train commute to New York, I found the experience to be…not terrible. Earlier in my career I would get into the city by bus. That sucked big time, as the saying goes. The bus would break down often, and did so in the middle of the Lincoln Tunnel several times. It would jostle riders hard enough to knock their heads on the windows. Seat space was a joke. I wrote many of the stories here while onboard a comparatively luxurious New Jersey Transit train.)

I’ve also written two books (one of which is still in print after 25 years!), appeared on MSNBC and WOR TV and numerous radio networks, had my own newspaper column, moderated a presidential campaign forum with representatives of the Trump and Clinton campaigns, and got jailed in Georgia after being accused of trespassing—accidentally, not defiantly.

But my career has been as an editor. That means working with writers, collaborating with designers and other editors, managing staff, conceptualizing, planning, scheduling, assigning, rewriting, editing, proofreading, and figuring out the Next Big Story.

I’ve helped my brands earn 22 National Magazine Award nominations and three wins. Beating out titles like Glamour and Esquire is no easy feat for an outdoor title, but it can be done.

If you’ve read this far, thank you, that’s great—it means I’m doing my job.

Mike Toth