Memories of Mentoring

As a young cub reporter on the Stockport Herald, I was very fortunate to be taken under the wing of the then editor, Wally Green. Wally was of the old school of journalists: hard-bitten, sometimes terse, but a man with printer's ink in his very veins.

Wally it was who taught me the value of never using four words when you could get away with five - "Especially if you're being paid per word, son" he used to say.

The words of Wally Green came to mind when I heard about an American chap who is trying to win a competition to be paid to 'Blog For a Year'. Imagine that - some fancy entrepreneur has offered up this fabulous prize, and all people have to do is vote for whoever they think should win it.

Young Ben Spark has turned Wally Green's wisdom on it's head. Every day, for some considerable time now, he has posted a 'Picture A Day'. If a picture paints a thousand words, then Ben has already written War & Peace. His photos are often thought provoking, as good art should be.


So Ben has had my vote every day for the last two weeks. He still has some way to go to overtake the current leader, so I know he'll appreciate any help you can offer him. Five seconds a day of your time could make Ben a very happy man for a year.

If you want to help Ben (and everyone needs a Wally Green sometime in their life) all you need to do is click here and vote. Early and often, is my best advice to you (just like with that Fuel My Blog logo you've got to click, to the right - or so Jasper tells me).