Ray Barrington started in newspapers at age 8 as editor of the “Third Grade Special” in his home town of Hortonville, Wis., Elementary School, and by fifth grade had graduated to a private photocopied newspaper. In high school, he discovered he could actually get paid for writing, and decided it was easier than just about anything he could think of. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh two years late - because of an automobile crash and time spent on the school newspaper -- he worked at newspapers in Appleton, Wis., Wabash, Ind., and Oshkosh, Wis., before becoming a sports copy editor at the Green Bay News-Chronicle. With the exception of a nine-month period at Appleton in the early 1990s, he stayed at the News-Chronicle from 1985 to 2005, eventually becoming sports editor, then news editor. During that time, he won state and regional awards for news and sports column writing. For more information see http://raychronicles.blogspot.com/