JOSEPH DUMAS: Journalist, Critic, & Photographer

FOCUS: TRAVEL / WINE / FOOD / IN EUROPE

+ General Feature Writing: Interviews + Profiles + Cultural Features
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JOURNALISM Archives:

http://josephdumas-journalism-archives.blogspot.com/

PHOTOGRAPHY Archives:

http://josephdumas-archives.blogspot.com/

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PROFESSIONAL LISTINGS:

+Bacon's Media Directories (Cison)

+European Travel Commission (VEMEX)

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NEWS:

VENICE / Female gondolier ends 900 years of discrimination: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/26/venice-female-gondoliers

A Vist to Italy's Aeolian Islands (off the Western Coast of Sicily):
http://www.josephdumas-aeolianislands.blogspot.com/

A Visit to France: Northern Burgundy vineyards & Paris:

http://josephdumas-burgundy.blogspot.com/

A Visit to Qatar (The Middle East):

http://josephdumas-qatar.blogspot.com/

In 2008, Dumas was honored with an invitation to join the Ordre des Compagnons du Beaujolais (NY chapter). It is a group--begun in France--comprised of enthusiasts of Beaujolais wines, particularly, the wines of the crus du Beaujolais.

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MARKET PROFILE

SINCE 2001, for the American national business magazine, "Black Enterprise" (launched 1970) ["BE"], JOSEPH DUMAS has been a frequent contributor to the Lifestyle section of the magazine. He has scouted luxury brand travel destinations for the business traveler; in addition, he has written about artisan products, such as wine, spirits, and food. Monthly, this influential market reaches 4 million readers [500,000 paid subscribers].

IN 2008, DUMAS began an association with the American national, general interest magazine, "Ebony," (launched 1942) where he will offer reports from his global travel. Monthly, the print edition reaches a paid circulation of 1.8 million; and has 11 million readers, in-toto; in addition, the on-line periodical, ebonyjet.com, enjoys an audience of 1 million readers, monthly.
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BIOGRAPHY

A FORMER STAFF WRITER at “The Times of London” in London, England, DUMAS is a New York-based print journalist and editorial consultant. He has more than 20 years of professional research, writing, editing and publication experience in a range of consumer markets, including:

People [readership: 50 million]
Modern Maturity [33m]
Playboy [10m]
Essence [7.6m]
FranceGuide 2004
Traditional Home [4.5m]
Ebony
Esquire [4m]
Black Enterprise [4m]
The American Way (American Airlines) [3m]
Sky (Delta Airlines) [3m]
The Times of London [1m]
Savoy [5k]
The Memphis Commercial-Appeal [3k]
London's Evening Standard [3k]
Mississippi magazine [2k]

Publication features include:

International Travel (Asia, Europe, & The Caribbean)
An internationally famous murder trial
A Supreme Court case with constitutional implications
Editorial Obituaries, The Times of London
Food & Wine
Interior Design
Personality Profiles
Literary Interviews
Two anthologies

INTERVIEWS

Harry Belafonte (Esquire)
Gore Vidal (Playboy + Modern Maturity)
Eudora Welty (Mississippi magazine + anthology)
Isabel Allende (Modern Maturity)
Jessica Mitford (Modern Maturity)
David Heyman, Hollywood Producer - "Harry Potter" series-(Delta's Sky magazine)
Reynolds Price (Reckon + DrumVoices Revue)
Petula Clark (London’s Evening Standard)
Myrlie Evers (People)

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ANTHOLOGIES

Book:

More Conversations with Eudora Welty

Peggy Whitman Prenshaw, Editor

(The University Press of Mississippi, 1996), pp. 281-288

Says Prenshaw, “[Dumas’ interview is] notable for the wealth and precision of detail…offer[ed] about…conversations with Welty at her home in Jackson [Miss.],” from the Introduction, p. x

Book:

How to Write Attention-Grabbing Query & Cover Letters

John Wood, Editor

(Writer’s Digest Books, 1996), pp. 70-73 and pp. 159-160

Says Wood [of one of Dumas’ 1993 magazine proposals] “…it is quite possibly the finest one I have ever read…This writer did his homework, this writer painted a picture, this writer was passionate about his subject. And this writer got a four-thousand-dollar assignment…If you want an exemplar query letter to study and pattern yours after, you can’t do much better than this one.” pp. 71-72

The editor’s [John Wood] evaluation of Dumas’ project management skills at the conclusion of the assignment:

“This is an excellent example of how to brief an editor about your project—especially if it was a particularly massive and difficult one. The writer described what he sent and what was coming, and provided important information about certain elements and obstacles that had occurred. When I read the piece, I was informed and up-to-date about all that had transpired.” p. 160

PROFESSIONAL RESEARCH

Book:

The American Way of Death, Revisited

Jessica Mitford, Author

(Knopf, 1998) posthumously published

In 1995, Jessica Mitford (1917-1996) hired Dumas as test subject to visit New York City-area funeral homes, undercover, for depth reporting. This reportage was previewed (posthumously) in Vanity Fair (March 1997).

Book:

Ghosts of Mississippi [nominee, The National Book Award]

Maryanne Vollers, Author

(Little, Brown 1995)

Vollers hired Dumas as a field researcher in Mississippi, 1991-1994.

Also, Dumas reported on Byron de la Beckwith’s 1994 re-trial for Medgar Evers’ 1963 murder (People, Feb.21, `94)

CONSULTANCIES

Speaker

Natchez Literary Festival (2006)

Natchez, Mississippi

-Dumas was invited to speak about wine's traditonal place at the Southern table; in addition, he conducted a workshop on magazine journalism for the Ellen Douglas Writer's Workshop. {see link in ARCHIVES-above, right}

Writer
CD: "Up Front & Personal"
Tahmun Records
New York, NY

http://www.ronblakemusic.com/

Musician Ron Blake asked Dumas to compose the liner notes for the compact disc.

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SKILLS

Journalism
News Writing
Feature Writing
Technical Writing
Press Releases
Music Liner Notes
Copywriting
Copyediting
Proofreading
Project Management
Public Speaking

LANGUAGES

English (native speaker)

French (2^nd language)

Spoken
Written

Italian (3^rd language)

Spoken

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PLEASE ACCEPT MY GRATITUDE for taking the time to visit my site. My travel activities are an essential part of my life, which has been enriched by these adventures.

IN MY TRAVELS, a number of truths surface: peoples' needs for love, food and shelter are universal. And people organize their lives within the framework of whether they believe their world is safe, or not.

ABOVE (see ARCHIVES [for Journalism & Photography], you can view the range of my publications; and you will find my biography and publishing consultancies. And below this, you will discover links to recommended travel information, services, entertainment and specialized information.

IF YOU SCROLL TOWARDS THE BOTTOM, it will be possible to view galleries of travel photographs including visits to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe (all rights reserved).

Countries and territories visited:

Austria
Chile
China (Hong Kong and the island of Macau)
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
France (including, islands of St. Barthelemy, aka, St. Barths., and St. Maarten, French West Indies)
Germany
Greece (includ., islands of Santorini, Corfu, Agristoli and Rhodes)
Hungary
Israel
Italy (includ., islands of Sicily and Pantelleria; plus, the Aeolian Islands: Filicudi, Lipari, Panarea, Salina and Stromboli)
Japan
Mexico (The Yucatan Peninsula)
Netherlands (island of Curacao)
Norway
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Russia
Scotland
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Wales

SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, or wish to see any writing samples, please contact me.

Regards,
Joseph Dumas

contact:

joseph.dumas@gmail.com

Joseph Dumas
P.O. Box 2632
New York, NY 10185-2632 USA
[+001] 212-939-9338
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"YOGIC SECRETS OF THE DARK GODDESS," by Shambhavi Chopra (Wisdom Tree Press, 2007)

Yogic Secrets of the Dark Goddess unfolds the mystic beauty of Kali, the most powerful but misunderstood of the great goddesses of India. The book is a living experience of the Goddess, both at a personal level and throughout the world of Nature. It unfolds a vast panorama of insight, devotion, mantra and meditation that propels the reader into a new vision of reality beyond life and death. Probably the most comprehensive and innovative examination of Ma Kali in recent decades, the book reveals all dimensions of life and consciousness in Kali’s transformative dance.

27 / Italy (Maremma region [sub-region of Tuscany])

-Dumas with Italy's world-famous eco-fisherman who is known, simply, as Paolo (Fanciulli). We have returned from a day at sea. Paolo took me and others to sea and demonstrated the proper ways to fish with nets and which species to keep and which to return to the sea. Afterwards, we had a meal of fresh seafood and pasta aboard the trawler while cruising through coves and grottos along the coastline. His operational base is Talamone, the ancient Etruscan port on Italy's western coast. It is inside the Parco dell' Uccellina (Park of the Birds), a World Wildlife Fund nature reserve which safeguards varieties of protected flora and fauna.

28 / Italy (Maremma region [sub-region of Tuscany])

Paolo has sorted out rare snails from his fishing nets and will return them to their habitat. Paolo is famous for sinking concrete blocks which he calls "fish condos." They serve as underwater refuges for marine life; and each contains a hook attached to its "roof" to destroy the nets of illegal fishers. His "fish condos" have been sunk up and down the Tyrrenhian Sea on Italy's western coast; and up and down the eastern coastline on the Adriatic Sea. Single-handely, his efforts are credited with restoring populations of a range of marine life. / @JDumas

91 / Chile - New York City

-Friends from Loma Larga Winery, in Chile's Casablanca Valley, visiting Dumas in NYC. L-R, Atty. and wine-maker Patricio Quiroga-Diaz;psychologist and translator, Dr. Alexandra Plettenberg-Serban, of NYC; writer Joseph Dumas; and psychologist and wine-maker, Dr. Rosita Santelices-Errazuriz, of Chile (Feb. 2006). In 2004, Patricio and Rosita were in their private plane headed towards the Santiago, Chile, airport when, suddenly, they were enveloped in clouds and moving at a speed of nearly 200km. per hour. Without visibility, the plane set down, minutes later, unscathed, on a mountainous ledge. The fuel line, upon landing, ruptured and within a minute, the plane was engulfed in flames. Chile's civil aviation authorities say it is the first time their archives have recorded anyone walking away from such a mishap. "Miraculous," is how the couple describe the life-changing event. Soon, they will publish a memoir of how their lives were spared.

105 / Cunard Ocean Liner: "QE2"

-The ocean liner, "Queen Elizabeth 2", as seen from the "Atlantic Room" of her successor, the "Queen Mary 2." Five days after departing New York City, and traveling at a top speed of 30 knots [34.5 mph] we had crossed the North Atlantic Ocean and arrived, alas, in the English Channel. It was a pleasure, and a revelation, to arrive in Europe without jet-lag. Nightly, we crossed a time-zone and clocks were set ahead one hour. Each evening, upon returning to the cabin following dinner, the stewardess, I discovered, had thoughtfully left a reminder card on my pillow. We did have three days of rough seas. The first night, the ocean lifted the ship a little and promptly dropped us! The ship is big, but the ocean is bigger. Never did I feel unsafe. One had to adjust to the constant rocking of the ship, but she handled herself gracefully. /@JDumas [2004]