CNN's John DeDakis on the Highlights of His Political Journalism Career, the Dim Lights of Grief, and the Power of Writing, Advocacy and More

One of the most interesting people I know gets candid about some of the most interesting facets of his own life. Some have been great; others have hurt like hell; all have shaped his life in ways he couldn't have predicted. 

Journalist, novelist and writing coach John DeDakis is a former senior copy editor on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" and is the author of four novels in the Lark Chadwick mystery/suspense/thriller series. During his award-winning 45-year career in journalism, DeDakis was a White House correspondent and interviewed such luminaries as Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. For full post, click heading or the following link:

While DeDakis' experience far exceeds my own, he and I connected at the 2017 Hampton Roads Writers conference in September on multiple levels: 

First, I loved his keynote speech on fear, then as fellow writers and journalists who delight in the "learn something new everyday" factor of the job, and  then as siblings to suicide victims and as parents who've lost children. The more I learned about him, the more I wanted to share his wisdom and insights with my listeners.

DeDakis' most recent novel, Bullet in the Chamber, is the winner of three book awards this year: Reviewers Choice, Foreward INDIES and Feathered Quill. The novel deals, in part, with the death of his youngest son, Stephen, in 2011 due to an accidental heroin overdose.

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