Robert W. Buckel

Robert W. (Bob) Buckel has spent most of his life in the community newspaper business, starting at his hometown paper doing photography and darkroom work and working in the press room. After earning a college degree in English, he went to graduate school with plans to teach and write. But he hit an academic wall and dropped out to take a job as a sports writer. He won an award for a feature story he wrote after going sailing with his landlord, "crossing Matagorda Bay as a cloud of Monarch butterflies fluttered a few feet above the glassy water, making their way to Mexico." He was hooked on newspaper writing, having an opportunity to explore the rich tapestry of characters in small towns where almost everybody read the newspaper. Over the next 30 years he wrote features, columns, editorials and breaking news while serving as a reporter, editor and publisher at six Texas newspapers. He left the business in 2015 and almost immediately began blogging (bobbuckel.wordpress.com) and working on his first novel, The Winning Streak, available now on Amazon. Bob and his wife, Krisan, a teacher, have three children and two foster children, all grown, and two grandsons. They live in on three acres just outside Azle, northwest of Fort Worth, Texas.