About Tracie Cone
I am a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and a lifelong journalist currently on leave from the Associated Press, where I am on a national agriculture reporting team that bases me in Fresno, California. I have worked at the Miami Herald (when our staff won the Public Service Pulitzer for Hurricane Andrew coverage) and San Jose Mercury News, where I won many awards as a writer and columnist for West, the Sunday magazine.
In 1999 I bought a threadbare newspaper in Hollister, California, and turned it into the state’s most award-winning weekly. In 2002 I was named California Newspaper Executive of the Year by the California Press Association.
After retiring briefly to make wine and make one close run for local public office, I’d spend hours on my tractor wishing I could cover the Central Valley for AP. My “magic tractor” came through in June of 2008.
I live with my loving partner, Michelle Peterson, my disabled Australian shepherd Abi, Gretta, our pound puppy who senses something is wrong and won’t leave my side, and my mom’s lab, Jetta.
As I receive my treatment I am on medical leave, using the time to learn to write about myself for the first time.
I believe in my heart I will one day write my happy ending.
Love, Tracie