National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Board of Directors

Mike Leonard

At-large Member of Board

Mike Leonard covered cops, courts, popular music and public education for The Herald-Times in Bloomington, Ind. before becoming the paper's general interest columnist in 1985. Leonard also joined the NSNC that same year and remains inspired by the events at his first conference in Columbus, Ohio.

Like his more famous Bloomington neighbor, John Mellencamp, Leonard was born in a small town in Indiana. He graduated with honors from Ball State University in Muncie with majors in English and Journalism in 1977. He has never met the school's most famous alumnus, David Letterman.

Leonard's first job out of college was assistant editor of the Carroll County Comet in rural Flora, Ind.. He then signed on with the Herald-Telephone (now Herald-Times) in Bloomington. He still harbors a nostalgic affection for odd newspaper names.
Leonard has written for a diverse range of publications including Rolling Stone, Indianapolis Monthly and Casino Executive magazine.

He has won his share of writing awards and asks, "Who hasn't?" He does feel honored to have been included in Sam Riley's compendium, The Best of the Rest: Non-Syndicated Newspaper Columnists Select Their Best Work, by Greenwood Press.

A few semesters teaching in the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism at Indiana University proved mostly gratifying. The 2000 Japan Fellowship from the International Center For Journalists/Keizai Koho Center was a real treat.

Not to be confused with a Today Show humorist with the same name, Leonard lives in the bucolic college town of Bloomington with Mardi, his wife.

^{Aug. 23, 2006}