Seattle Weekly is very pleased — and I am incredibly relieved — to announce the addition of two new editorial employees, Staff Writer Kelton Sears and Food + Drink Editor Nicole Sprinkle.
Just a week-and-a-half into his new gig, Sears has already logged a number of bylines online and in print, angering P.L.U.R. disciples, teaching us all a few things about Cascadia, and shedding some light on weird-ass music that no one else here is qualified to write about.
Sears hails from Maple Valley, Wash., proud home of the second busiest Safeway on the West Coast. Unhappy with the 24-hour grocer’s lackluster cultural offerings, young Sears left to study journalism at Seattle University on a Sub Pop Scholarship. There he managed to climb the ranks at the campus newspaper, The Spectator, becoming the Editor-in-Chief his senior year. While holding the reins of that paper, Sears also contributed to The Stranger and Capitol Hill Seattle blog, where he once covered a “unicorn riot” on Broadway that ended with an intervention by Phoenix Jones. Sears also plays bass and sings in the band Kithkin.
Tasked with covering nightlife for the paper, Sears will be stalking Seattle in the evening hours, scribbling about music and arts, as well as contributing to our news coverage. Look out for his first cover story in next Wednesday’s edition.
Sprinkle is just settling into the Food and Drink Editor office, but has already planted her flag, casting aspersions on 50 Shades of Gray and kale over on the Voracious blog.
A seasoned writer and editor who has worked on staff at Travel Holiday and Parenting magazines, Sprinkle has written extensively about travel, food, health and parenting for national consumer magazines and newspapers like The New York Times, Family Circle, Time Out New York and Brides. She was a frequent contributor to the New York Times’ “Motherlode” blog and is currently blogging for “Parentry” at the Huffington Post.
Sprinkle’s love and knowledge of food took her to Random House, Inc. where she served as Senior Copywriter and Marketing Manager for Clarkson Potter Cookbooks, working on books by heavyweights including Ina Garten, Bobby Flay, Martha Stewart, Alice Waters, David Chang and the Lee Bros, among others. She also possesses a certificate in food writing from The French Culinary Institute in New York City.
Having moved to Seattle two-and-a-half years ago to help launch Amazon Publishing, Sprinkle has longed to return to a staff position at an editorial pub. We feel very fortunate that she has found that place here, at Seattle Weekly. (And you all should feel very fortunate that I am no longer editing the Food and Drink section.)
With the addition of these two talented journalists, Seattle Weekly’s editorial operations are now fully staffed and prepared to enter the second phase of the paper’s reinvention. Onward!
