These essays on BestQuest are reflections on topics I have been interested in for many years, but here revisited and reassessed. You should distinguish between the facts I report, newly researched from the latest sources most of the time, and the opinions I give. These are usually personal, sometimes eccentric, and contain original conclusions in some cases. I might not be justified in the conclusions I come to. I may exaggerate or generalise. I may be right. The topic I write about may be connected in surprising ways to something you’re interested in. I’m interested in your views and comments.

Writing these pieces on BestQuest is a nostalgic experience because so often I revisit a topic I thought I knew well only to find I knew nothing, and held opinions I can no longer agree with. I get a picture of the me I was then, a snapshot of my past. Sometimes it seems another person entirely. And even over the five years of writing here, I am humbled at how clumsily I can write, when I once prided myself I could write well. A blog is more spontaneous than writing for publication in print usually is. So what you read here is what I feel now, and may change tomorrow. Somehow, I still feel it’s having an opinion is more important, never mind what it might be. These subjects, I feel, are worth discussing.

My background is in journalism. I’ve practised it at various times in my life, yet never derived the satisfaction from it I get writing the essays I’m publishing here. It’s a writing profession, yet its criteria are by no means literary, not sometimes even grammatical! And I think the criteria of reporting is now not as important either; rather, journalism strives to lead and influence opinion. Some time ago I wrote a book, The Far-Famed Blue Mountains of Harry Phillips, which revived the reputation of a famous but forgotten photographer: I enjoyed that process immensely. My careers include a recent professional position as program co-ordinator and publicist for a community college, which increased its community of learners by almost 250% in my period of service. Other professions include those of journalist, magazine editor and desktop publisher/print designer, as well as teaching in some of these areas.

Phillip
2009-2015