Janine has been crafting narratives and profiles about people and places for twenty years. She has an ear for the telling detail, the revealing anecdote. She immerses herself in the reporting, then writes the clear stories that take readers inside efforts to save the Chesapeake Bay by oyster farming, or the craft and anguish of writing massive books. She has stood in the swelter of an art glass studio, dodging sparks and thousand-degree objects of art while learning the science that makes glass both liquid and solid, and dug in the soil alongside a woman whose garden helped her survive treatment for throat cancer.
Her stories about personal finance, parenting, health, the environment and women’s issues have run in O Magazine, Distinction, More, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, TWA’s Ambassador, American Airlines’ American Way, US Air’s Attaché, Fitness, Parents, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Golf For Women, Women and Success and others.
Possum Town in Black and White
Mississippi photographer O. N. Pruitt documented the beautiful and the horrible A shot of Columbus, Mississippi, from the early twentieth century. —Photograph by O. N. Pruitt, courtesy of Southern Historical Collection,...
Chronicling the Triumphs—and Tragedies—of Life in the Deep South
A new book and traveling exhibition highlight the work of Mississippi photographer O.N. Pruitt Pruitt took roughly 88,000 photographs of life in and around Columbus, Mississippi, between 1916 and 1960....
Eire in the Eye
Norfolk photographer Glen McClure has spent two decades capturing stark, moody images from Ireland The Kilmeena causeway in County Mayo, Ireland, was narrow, and the gusting wind threatened to pick...
Reaching Through B.A.R.S. to Build Better Lives
B4's volunteers helped residents see a life beyond detention, such as visiting the UNC campus and creating plans for when they were released. Gratitude prompted Mike O’Key to share an...
Discovering Cape Charles By Accident
Mark Edward Atkinson For some people, finding Cape Charles must feel a bit like serendipity, more a discovery than a destination. The ride typically takes them up Route 13, over and through...
Operation Smile changes lives, even their own
Brigette Magee slapped the scalpel into the surgeon’s palm, just as her father had taught her to. She was 13, standing at the side of a child in the Philippines,...
WHRV’s Cathy Lewis is listening
The producer has Sen. Tim Kaine on hold and it’s making him very nervous. Kaine’s staff is texting a countdown, because the senator has a floor vote scheduled and the...
Loudoun County: An embarrassment of riches
Whether it’s beer and wine, horses and history, or just good old-fashioned fancy digs, Loudoun County has all you need for a good vacation. LEESBURG | They’ll show you the...
Visit Virginia | Beautiful Onancock beckons from Virginia’s Eastern Shore
The great blue heron lifts off and then lands a few kayak-lengths away, dodging the boats as they silently slip by. Bald eagles perch in treetops while cormorants, their bodies...
Abingdon: A town of artists, outdoor wonders and food
Visitors wander around Abingdon in spandex or their Sunday best, ready to roll a smooth 34 miles downhill on the Creeper Trail or to spend an evening mesmerized by a...
Vineyard dogs: Meet the canine guardians of the vine
The vineyard dog is often as glamorized as the winemakers themselves, but really these animals are typically blue-collar farm dogs: loyal to their tasks and their humans, the bane of...
Visit Virginia | Shockoe Bottom, Richmond
Once the site of bondage and commerce, Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom is now home to high-end eats and shopping. photograph by Eric LusherWhisk bakery and a refreshed Nina Simone mural by...
Visit Virginia | Roanoke, Star City of the South
Virginia’s largest city west of Richmond has grown into a destination for food, art and the outdoors. Photograph by Patrick HayesIt’s a short trip from downtown to the Roanoke Star,...
Brian Boggs, Master of The Chair
A lifetime of tinkering has led Brian Boggs to create a line of innovative woodworking tools, and some of the world’s finest chairs. “I’ve always been kind of intense,” Boggs...
The Quarantined Country Musician
Undaunted by masks, social distancing, and sheltering-in-place orders, North Carolina's Jonathan Byrd continues to draw large audiences to his virtual performances. “What we’re crafting is an experience,” says Jonathan Byrd,...
Why the city of Staunton is an overlooked Victorian marvel in the Blue Ridge
Staunton, VA Back when Virginia was vast, before West Virginia split off during the unpleasantness between the states, there was a bustling town at a curve on the rail line. Settlers...
Engineering success, from Beyonce to Little Richard
Download Janine's article about Patchwerk Studios in Atlanta as originally published in the Monarch Magazine from Old Dominion University (Winter 2019)
Why I Write
Photograph by Rich-Joseph Facun People ask me why I write and I ask how can you not? How do you make sense of the world, hang...
