President Ronald Reagan, President George Bush, John Sununu, Bill Reilly, Jack Kemp and
C. Boyden Gray all relied on his way of crafting words and ideas into columns, and The Detroit
News, The Washington Times and the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press all counted on him to
rebuild and revitalize their editorial pages.
Since the late 1970s, Detroit News columnist Tony Snow has either been editing editorial pieces
or writing them himself, often serving as a ghostwriter for high-ranking public officials.
Currently a commentator on National Public Radio and a regular contributor to such television shows as
"The McLaughlin Group," "The McNeil-Lehrer NewsHour," "Face the Nation" and "Crossfire," Snow landed his first
newspaper job as an editorial writer for the Greensboro (N.C.) Record in 1979.
He worked at the Record for two years before moving to Norfolk, Va., where he served as an
editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot. Thirteen months later, in December 1982, he was
named the editorial page editor of the Daily Press in Newport News, Va., the youngest editorial
page editor in the country at the time.
In this position, he presided over a complete overhaul of the department, doubling the staff size in less than
15 months, hiring the paper's first editorial cartoonist in 50 years, creating an award-winning redesign
for the editorial and op-ed pages, and leading the paper to its first ever statewide awards in editorial writing.
His subsequent moves to The Detroit News, as deputy editorial page editor, in March 1984 and
The Washington Times, as editorial page editor, in June of 1987 followed the same pattern of
rebuilding and rejuvenation.
In early 1991, Snow was recruited by John Sununu to serve as deputy assistant to the president
for communications and as director of speech writing. While in thie position, Snow worked on
President Bush's addresses at Pearl Harbor, which were described at the time as the best
speeches of the president's career.
A year later, at the president's request, Snow created a new position of deputy assistant to the
president for media affairs. There, he penned op-ed pieces for many high-ranking government
officials, including Presidents Reagan and Bush, John Sununu and Jack Kemp. His work has
appeared in such major dailies as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The
Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.
Since February of 1993, Snow has written a column for The Detroit News, which is distributed
nationally twice a week by Creators Syndicate. His work as both a writer and an editor has received
recognition from such organizations as the Virginia Press Association, the Michigan Associated Press,
the Detroit Club, The Society of Professional Journalists and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Snow earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy from Davidson College in 1977 and
performed graduate work in philosophy and economics at the University of Chicago in
1978-79. He married the former Jill Ellen Walker in 1987, and they live with their daughter,
Kendall, their two dogs and two cats in Fairfax County, Va. His hobbies include music, basketball,
running, and tennis.
|
| |