Mark Marchand blog - Dispatches From Upstate NY

Book cover by artist Deanna Gallaro.

My new book: An homage to flying airplanes

Post published:March 20, 2025

From 1995 to 2013 I flew airplanes, a lot. Aviation was my side hustle as I pursued a busy career in public relations at Verizon. Between my basic private pilot training through epic flights across North America I recorded close to 900 hours of flying. My decision to take flying lessons was the realization of a dream I’d had since my youth, especially growing up on Air Force bases where I saw airplanes every day. This included the massive, majestic B52 bombers. Each time I took a lesson, learned how to fly…

Mark Twain portrait, by J. Carrroll Beckwith (1890)

Learning more about Mark Twain, the ‘voice’ we need in the 21st century

Post published:January 18, 2025

He was a man of many tastes, opinions, and contradictions. He hated the invention called the telephone, despite a life devoted to the written and spoken word. Later in life he proudly wore an unusual, loud white suit he called the “dontcareadam” ensemble. One of America’s most gifted literary figures, he was never shy about expressing his strong opinion in a vigorous, articulate way. We need people like him more than ever today. Born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835 and known as author, humorist, speaker, essayist Mark Twain for most of…

Joining Bob Dylan in his famous movement to "go electric."

Following Bob Dylan to go electric: Our one year of driving an EV

Post published:February 18, 2024

Bob Dylan famously went electric, so we decided to try it too. So off we went last year to shirk off the yoke of an internal combustion, fossil-fuel-burning, pollution-emitting car. We joined the legions of drivers who chose a new electric vehicle, or EV. It wasn’t a huge leap for our family, since I was among the first New Yorkers to buy a hybrid Toyota Prius in 2000. We drove it for years, reveling in over 50 mpg and answering questions from curious strangers who waited in parking lots to talk with…

The panel at the Times-Union of Albany HQ Nov. 15, 2023 (l-R: Kenneth C. Crowe II, Casey Seiler, Jon Schleuss, Judy Patrick, Margaret Sullivan, Mark Vinciguerra, and NY Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner.)

Why we need local journalism more than ever

Post published:November 21, 2023

When Virginia became the 10th and final necessary state to ratify the Bill of Rights on Dec. 15, 1791, those founding fathers probably didn’t realize that 232 years later part of the first of those 10 constitutional amendments would still be so important … yet struggling to thrive. Throughout our nation’s history, freedom of the press has been a firm guidepost for our country and how the news media can and should be used to hold governments and others accountable to American citizens. And while this fundamental right has survived many threats…

Street flooding north of New York City, Sept. 29, 2023. (Credit: New York Times)

Posing the ‘why’ behind the streak of bad weather

Post published:September 29, 2023

Should broadcast news organizations and their weather teams help us better understand the role of human-caused climate change in ongoing weather disasters? The deadly Maui wildfire, widespread New York City flooding, crop-wilting heatwaves, our breathing air fouled by Canadian wildfires, and so many other weather calamities are coming at us in head-spinning waves. Maybe it’s time to elevate the topic to the same painstaking investigation and reporting that take place after other disasters. All it would take is journalists and forecasters asking experts “why” this global bad weather avalanche accelerates. The…