Byline

“I found out I was undocumented when I was a freshman in high school, and by then I was like, ‘I’m undocumented, so what’s the point of trying?’ Then, I learned that when you get a ‘byline,’ your name would be in the paper, and that’s literally the only reason I became a journalist — just so my name could be on a piece of paper.”  

—Jose Antonio Vargas, author*, journalist and undocumented immigrant, in Concepción de León, “3 Writers on the Emotional Toll of Being Undocumented,” New York Times, Oct. 16, 2018. *“Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen,” 2018)

• Editorial Comment: Remember my first byline? Affirmation.

PeezPix

Eureka Slough Trestle

 

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“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard