My name is Elaine Silvestrini. But you may have noticed that from the top of the page.
I am and will always be a journalist, even though the owners of my last paper had different ideas for all of us. But journalism is in my cellular makeup. It pulses through my veins. It’s how I think. It is how I am.
I love the written word. I love telling a good story. I talk to people to explore who they are and what they know. I ask questions. I read. I dig. I process all this information and push it out through my fingers against my keyboard. I help people connect with each other and with information about their world.
I am a student. I am an information translator. I am a teacher.
I miss working in a newsroom. But my interests, talents and constant curiosity have served me and my other employers well. This goes both for my jobs as an assistant criminal investigator and as a marketing senior content writer.
It’s all about learning, teaching, connecting, exploring. It’s about being serious, focused on details and knowing what questions to ask. It’s about having fun and being juiced by the pursuit.
I have focused much of my career on writing about the law. I am kind of a geek about things like civil liberties and the Supreme Court. I even used my vacation one year to go to the Senate confirmation hearing of a Supreme Court justice. I now volunteer for the American Civil Liberties Union and serve on the boards of directors for both my local chapter and state affiliate.
But my writing is not limited to the law. I have covered general news, mental health, health, consumer finances, education, politics and lots of other subjects. I am adaptable and curious. I want to help people.
As for the rest of who I am, I can tell you I was born and raised in New Jersey, where I spent more than half of my journalism career. I went to college at what is now Rowan University in Glassboro and started working before I graduated at the Gloucester County Times.
From there, I went to work at the Asbury Park Press. I lived in Ocean Grove in the house that used to be owned by Southside Johnny’s grandmother. We spent nights and weekends at the Stone Pony, much of the time in hopes of spotting Bruce Springsteen.
I had a fellowship with the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, which promotes sensitive reporting on victims of violence. As part of that fellowship, I was privileged to travel to Rwanda, where I met with genocide survivors, members of non-governmental organizations dedicated to preventing further genocide, journalists and government officials.
Part of the Dart training I received focused on the effects trauma reporting has on journalists. This training served me well on Sept. 11, 2001, when about 300 people in my newspaper’s coverage area were killed. I helped the newsroom traverse that difficult time. I also wrote about some of the victims and their families. It was gratifying that most of them felt we helped them connect with the community.
In 2003, I moved to Florida to work for The Tampa Tribune, where I stayed until it was bought by the competition and shuttered in 2016.
Within a month of that shutdown, I started working for the federal public defender as an assistant investigator. And in 2017, I moved to Orlando to take a job as a content writer for a marketing company. Here, I cover topics from prescription drugs and medical devices to retirement and annuities.
I live on a small lake with my husband, Jim, and our three cats, one of whom is a rescue from a big hoarding situation in Orlando.
So now you know a little about me. I hope to share some of my work here so you will know more.
Thanks for stopping by. Maybe we’ll meet one day and you can tell me about yourself.