a good team
staff & contributors 4
6
2
1
8
5
7 3 14
12
9
15
13
10 11
When Paula DiPaula is not visiting new 1 restaurants in the area, she’s working off those calories with kayaking, boating, camping and exploring trails in her Jeep. Born in 1958, she fits right in with Ocala’s Good Life magazine’s demographics, showing our readers that she’s more of a sen-ager than a senior. She’s also the proud mom of an adventurous and beautiful daughter, a high school teacher. Paula believes that keeping active, positive and having an open mind leads to longevity.
16
and photography at his website, smithandfritzy.com.
Carol DeWitt is living happily ever 6 after in On Top of the World with her husband Bruce, having relocated from Wilmington, Delaware. They have many community interests and are always out and about trying every new restaurant and learning all about Florida. Carol brings her long career experiences in many areas of marketing and media to Ocala’s Good Life.
Dean Blinkhorn is a past Florida MagaKaye Schultz has been working in the 2 zine Association Editor of the Year who 7 publishing business for over 23 years. loves publishing. When he’s not working on She recently bought a new home that she is Ocala’s Good Life or the CEP annual directory, he’s probably catching up with his favorite subscriptions. Rolling Stone, Bicycling, Classic Rock, and Reader’s Digest are on his monthly must-read list because of the great storytelling. When the weather’s nice, he may even go outside for a long bike ride.
Steve Floethe has been Ocala’s Good 3 Life’s photographer/writer since it was first launched in 2010. In addition he is a
freelance videographer, covering breaking news and feature stories in Marion County for Orlando’s TV stations. Before semi-retiring to Ocala, Steve had a long and varied career in broadcast and print journalism — from newspaper, radio, and cable news to TV as a reporter/photographer, news producer, nightly news anchor and TV news director.
looking forward to remodeling and moving into later this year. Five of her six cats will not be joining her on this move, but they are now happily patrolling for mice at Grand View Clydesdale horse farm.
Trevor Byrne was recently a victim of 8 husband shaming when his wife, Dawn, thought she would embarrass him by sharing
his recent purchase to all her friends on Facebook. Little did she know that the “tactical spork” would receive such a postive reaction, with several mutual friends confessing that they, too, own a tactical spork (or two). Ha!
Native Floridian Melody Murphy has a 9 Bachelor’s in journalism from UF and is the marketing assistant at Ocala Civic The-
atre, where she also performs. She owns 13 kinds of hot sauce.
James Blevins is a recipient of the Louis 4 Chazal Journalism Award from the ColAs a child John Jernigan would often lege of Central Florida. When he isn’t writing 10 be found drawing and coloring with freelance feature stories, James is writing leftover prisma color pencils and supplies poetry. For James, writing is life—a good life, you might say—and he’s happy to do it for as long as there’s hot coffee to drink.
5
Wayne Smith is a designer and illustrator from Ocala. He spent some time urban sketching with ink and watercolor this past summer in Tokyo and near Mount Fuji. You can catch up on his travels, illustration
8
from his father’s photography studio and art supply store. It was only a natural progression to photography. Today, John stays busy shooting for various magazines and commercial clients all over the country.
Mary Ellen Barchi is a native New 11 Yorker residing in Ocala since 1990. As a columnist, she writes from personal experi-
OCALA’S GOOD LIFE retirement redefined
ences and the good life around Ocala, peppered with her quirky sense of humor. But life happens, and Mary Ellen has entered a new chapter as she looks forward to happier adventures in the future.
Sally Tinkham and her husband, Alan, 12 have lived in Dunnellon more than 35 years after living in Connecticut and Rhode
Island. She loves her 5 cat-kids and hiking with her grandchildren on the local trails. She is researching the history and families of Gaiter, an early southwest Marion County community, for a potential book. She’s also an avid fan of Cote, the Elvis tribute artist, as seen in this photo!
Marci Sandler has been a professional 13 photographer in Ocala for decades, specializing in portraits with an artistic touch.
She also offers training courses for folks wanting to learn how to up their photography game from a real pro!
Cynthia Brown has 20 years of local 14 publishing experience and is a self-described “organizational nerd” and “spreadsheet queen.” She and her husband, Larry, have two crazy boys, a 100-pound Bulldog, and a cricket-eating Bearded Dragon. The whole family loves spending time in the water.
Rick Allen spent the final 16 years 15 of a 45-year journalism career as an award-winning feature writer while also covering the Marion County culinary landscape as dining editor for the Ocala Star-Banner. Currently he’s just mostly retired.
Amanda Clark-Rudolph ventured 16 from Vermont to Ocala with her husband to start a family and teach English. Af-
ter having her second son, Amanda left the classroom to work at home and pursue freelance writing for local and worldwide publications. She’s excited to bring her passion for interviewing and sharing other people’s stories to Ocala’s Good Life.
