B. L. Marchant

 

                                                                             

 

WRITING
Letter of Recommendation

 

George A. Ricker

email: gricker@cfl.rr.com



March 5, 2004


To whom it may concern:

I am pleased to recommend Barbara Gilmore (Marchant) for a position with your firm. I know her to be a capable and creative person with high standards, a willingness to learn, a high degree of computer literacy, and a personality that should fit well in any organization.

Ms. Gilmore (Marchant) worked for me as a newspaper reporter for about 18 months (from October 1991 through April of 1993). She was hired as a general assignment reporter/photographer to cover events in Barefoot Bay, Florida, a large manufactured housing community in South Brevard County. As the editor of the Sebastian Sun and the Barefoot Bay Sun, I was responsible for hiring Barbara and for supervising her day-to-day activities during the time she worked for us.

Those activities included: prospecting for stories and photos, covering meetings of various organizations in Barefoot Bay and reporting on their activities, developing feature stories, conducting interviews, assisting in the development and production of special sections for the newspaper and covering special assignments as and when necessary.

At the time we hired Ms. Gilmore (Marchant), the Barefoot Bay Sun was a monthly newspaper, which essentially recycled stories from the Sebastian Sun, which was a weekly. When the publisher of the Sun, Ed Nichols, and I decided to make the Barefoot Bay publication a weekly newspaper, we needed to hire a full-time reporter to provide the necessary coverage. Barbara was the first full-time reporter we hired for that publication. Her efforts were integral to its success.

As the person responsible for supplying the bulk of the copy and photos for a weekly newspaper, Barbara had to be able to work independently to develop the articles, and I had to be able to rely on her ability to get the job done and to do so in a timely fashion so that publication deadlines could be met. As a consequence, she had to be highly organized and accurate in collecting information and reporting it. There were no specialists in our small newsroom, so Barbara also had to be flexible about accepting new responsibilities and assisting other members of the staff when that was necessary. During her time at the Sun she was well-liked and respected, not only by her coworkers but also by the people who lived in the community she covered (something which is no small accomplishment for a journalist of any description).

When Barbara left our newsroom to move to Hawaii, I was sorry to see her go. Although, I am no longer associated with the Sun (I left in 1995), I can report that, as far as I know, the Barefoot Bay Sun is still in publication as a weekly. Its continued success is due, in no small measure, to the good start it received thanks to Barbara Gilmore's efforts.

I recommend her for employment with your firm without reservation. Should you need to contact me for more information, I can be reached at the email address listed.


Sincerely,


George A. Ricker

 

 

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BL Corcoran

 

 

 

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