William M. Dowd (Mr. Dowd to his friends) is a freelance writer who lives in Upstate New York. He spent more than four decades — 30 of them in New York’s capital city of Albany — as a newspaper writer, columnist and senior editor in New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
His current specializations are commentary (here), plus food, drink and destinations. You can get an overview of his numerous online sites by beginning at Dowd’s Guides.
Dowd is a past president of the New York State Society of Newspaper Editors, the New York State Associated Press, the Albany County (NY) Historical Association and other groups. His writing has been honored over the years by numerous journalism organizations in the fields of column, editorial and sports writing.
When he announced his retirement from daily journalism at the end of 2006, here’s what several of his colleagues at the Albany (NY) Times Union, where he was the associate editor, had to say:
•”Bill Dowd, who helped to shape Albany’s newspapers for nearly 30 years with an eclectic array of talents, retires today. Best known to Times Union readers as the newspaper’s restaurant critic, Dowd held the title of Associate Editor. He seamlessly juggled his administrative duties while cranking out more than 130 bylines in 2006 alone.”
• ”He blogged. He penned travel pieces. He took pictures. He covered the Rensselaer County scene in a weekly column. He illuminated the world of wine, beer and spirits in his weekly ‘Dowd on Drinks’ column. And, of course, he scrutinized scores of area restaurants.”
• ”Bill is a master journalist. He can do everything,” said Editor Rex Smith. “He can write. He can report. He can shoot photographs — and he can talk a good game, which is important for journalists.”
• “He recognized early on that newspapers really needed to go to the concerns of the readers, even if they weren’t traditional hard-news topics,” said Joann Crupi, editor of the opinion pages.
Other nice things people have had to say:
• “William M. Dowd … now there’s a guy who can write you under the table. All told, (he’s) like a one man e-zine — and a great pleasure in a world where 95% of all Web content is unreadable.” (The Albany Eye)
• “He has a connoisseur’s edge but an everyman’s touch of humility. And he’s always a great read.” (Hudson River Valley Wineries blog)
• “The man is practically a legend in Albany food circles.” (IdiotsOnSports.com)
• “Probably the best thing about Bill is he can do just about anything well. He was blogging before anyone knew what blogging was.” (Mike Spain, who succeeded Dowd as Associate Editor of the Times Union.)
In case you’re curious about where Dowd’s work has appeared, here’s the current list:
Among magazines that have published his work:
• (United States) • Santé • Life@Home • Capital Region (NY) Living • Great Lakes Boating Magazine • Editor & Publisher • Newspaper Research Journal
• (United Kingdom) • Whisky
• (Mexico) • Tequila Aficionado
Among newspapers publishing his work:
• (United States) • Miami Herald • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • Houston Chronicle • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • Seattle Post-Intelligencer • Albany (NY) Times Union • New Orleans Times-Picayune • Santa Cruz (CA) Sentinel • (Phoenix) Arizona Republic • Tampa Tribune • Palm Beach Post • Saint Paul Pioneer Press • Philadelphia Inquirer • Philadelphia Daily News • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Fort Worth Star-Telegram • San Antonio Express-News • Alameda (CA) Times-Star • York (PA) Dispatch • Chattanooga (TN) Times Free Press • Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel • Portland Oregonian • Contra Costa (CA) Times • Binghamton (NY) Press & Sun-Bulletin • Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette • Charlotte Observer • Boulder (CO) Daily Camera • Monterey County (CA) Herald • Detroit Free Press • Wichita Eagle • Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader • Falls Church (VA) News-Press • Anniston (AL) Star • Oakland (CA) Tribune • Rocky Mountain News (Denver) • Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record • Raleigh (NC) News & Observer • Chico (CA) Enterprise-Record • Myrtle Beach (SC) Sun News • Spokane (WA) Spokesman-Review • Belleville (IL) News-Democrat • Springfield (MA) Republican • Springfield (IL) Journal-Register • Ohio.com • Kentucky.com • Bradenton (FL) Herald • Laredo Morning Times • (Wilkes-Barre, PA) timesleader.com • Sarasota Herald-Tribune • San Diego Union-Tribune • Salt Lake (UT) Tribune • Providence Journal
• (Canada) • Montreal Gazette • Toronto Star • Edmonton (Alb.) Journal
• (Mexico) • El Universal • The News.com (Mexico City)
• (South Africa) • East London Dispatch
• (India) • Financial Express
• (Indonesia) • Jakarta Post
• (Italy) • Libero
And, among Web sites using his work:
• (United States) • Examiner.com • CRLmag.com • Philly.com • AZcentral.com • TimesUnion.com • (Sarasota) HeraldTribune.com • ChefAndCooking.com • Albany2Go.com • JSonline.com • SantaCruzLive.com • StLtoday.com • Miami.com • MiamiHerald.com • Charlotte.com • EmeraldCoast.com • iBerkshires.com • DetNews.com • BWSnewsletter.com • FineWaters.com • NameTraq.com • Philly.com • MercuryNews.com • Broward.com • Surfwax.com • KnowledgePlex.com • TasteForTravel.org • TwinCities.com • MaltRiver.com • PressConnects.com • Nola.com • InsideBayArea.com • Kansas.com • Kentucky.com • InsideDenver.com • InsideBoulder.com • Middletown (NY) RecordOnline.com • HighBeam.com • MaineFrame.org • SlashFood.com • Helium.com • AboutScotch.com • ChicoER.com • News&Observer.com • Myshortpencil.com • Myrtlebeachonline.com • Feedster.com • GreatLakesBoating.com • Bloglines.com • Topix.net • AssociatedContent.com • SpokesmanReview.com • Computernotebooksinfo.com • ZoomInfo.com • Laredo Morning Times (lmtonline.com) • Teonix.net • Recipes101.net • WarrenZevon.com • CleburneNews.com (AL) • Belleville.com (IL) • Bonvo.net • MASSlive.com • ThatsRacin.com/MyrtleBeachOnline • AllThatTravel.com • BuzzTracker.com • Feedster.com • ClickProShop.org • Ask.com • Bonvo.net • (Springfield, IL) sj-r.com • ThirstyTraveler.tv • Cartographers Without Borders • SignOnSanDiego.com • GotPoetry.com • Digital-Inspector.com • SuperGallery.com • UniQuest.net • Austin360.com • (Houston) Chron.com
• (Mexico) • Mexico City News • ElUniversal.com • PuertoVallarta.com • RomingerLegal.com • TequilaAficionado.com • LosCabosGuide.com • BanderasNews.com • TheNews.com.mx
• (Argentina) • AWToday.com
• (Caribbean) • ElTumbaoCubana
• (United Kingdom) • Whitelabs.eu • WhiskyMag.com • Yzoo.com.uk • Grape Passions • UK Ask.com
• (Canada) • Canada.com • Montreal Gazette • theStar.com
• (Australia) • OpenSalon.net
• (New Zealand) • Society.nzpcs.co.nz • Beer-resources.com
• (Italy) • Abibo.it • digilander.libero.it
• (Turkey) TurkishDigest.com
• (Germany) • Abseits.de
• (South Africa) • Dispatch.co.za • Connoisseur’s Club.co.za
• (Russia) • okThaiFood.com
• (Mauritius) • Mauritius.blogsworldnews.com
• (India) • FinancialExpress.com
• (Indonesia) • old.thejakartapost.com
• (Hungary) • slathamdric.extra.hu • wertyc.extra.hu • toroi.extra.hu
• (Poland) suhfuni.prv.pl
