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Hello there! My name is Jimmy McFarlin, and like my wife likes to say, I have the experience of an old man and the enthusiasm of a young boy. Believe me, that's a great combination!
2009 marks my 35th year as a professional writer. I began covering pop music and culture in my college newspaper and went on to spend 16 years as an entertainment journalist at The Detroit News (when it ranked as the largest evening paper in America), first as pop music reviewer, then as television critic. During my era as a music writer, I was voted "Michigan's Best Rock Critic" in the first Michigan Rock Awards. I have been the TV critic for The Metro Times, Detroit's leading weekly entertainment publication, for the past five years.
I served as a Detroit stringer for People magazine, and my freelance work also has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, The Crisis, Electronic Media and numerous other national publications, as well as HOUR Detroit magazine and virtually every periodical in the Metro Detroit area. For HOUR I recently penned their "Detroiter of the Year" cover story profiling Kid Rock ( www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detroit/July-2009/Detroiter-of-the-Year-2009/ ) and wrote a similar cover in 2007 on Dave Bing before he became mayor of Detroit. (www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detroit/July-2007/Detroiter-of-the-Year-2007-Dave-Bing/)
As editorial supervisor for the custom publishing division of Campbell-Ewald Advertising, I led a team of writers and editors to produce magazine and Web content for such clients as General Motors, Chevrolet, Pier 1 and Farmers Insurance, sharing in two Awards for Excellence along the way. I have helped to launch a half-dozen magazines and written or edited six books, including the 1,000-page MusicHound R&B: The Ultimate Album Guide and an authorized biography of rock legend Mitch Ryder. A screenplay I wrote, for the independent film The Brewster Project, won Best of Show audience awards at film festivals in New York and Los Angeles.
I'm reliable, creative, a stickler for detail and accuracy, and adaptable to a wide variety of topics. I'm ready to tackle any assignment, no matter how large or small. Let's get to work!