The Levelland News-Press is proud to announce Lynda Work, news editor, will be joining the staff this week.
A native of the Hockley and Cochran area, Work arrives from The Castro County News in Dimmitt after 10 years of being a news and sportswriter and managing editor at that publication.
“I am really excited at becoming a member of the team at the Levelland newspaper,” said Work. “When Brett Wesner, owner of the paper, offered the position to me, I was quick to say yes and have the opportunity to serve the publication and get to meet the Hockley County residents and write their stories – and everyone has a story to be told.”
In addition, Work has long history as a journalist, starting at 14 years old when she worked at the Morton Tribune as a freelance writer in high school, and had her first front page top story at 15.
“From as far back as I can remember, I wanted to write and be a journalist. During Vietnam, I really admired the war correspondents, but that isn’t something your family encourages you to do! But when I was young, I made a list of what I wanted to accomplish – one was to own a horse farm, and the other was to be a writer. I always knew what I wanted to do and set out to accomplish it.”
Before venturing back into newspaper journalism, Work was published in five national and regional horse journals, including Western Horseman and Southern Horseman, as well as military base newsletters. Work later worked as a writer/ photographer at the Paris News, a daily newspaper, as a community and feature writer, managing editor at the Hereford Brand, and was a sports and news writer at the Levelland News-Press before accepting the position at the Hereford Brand when it was owned by Roberts Publishing.
When asked what some of her favorite interviews and story coverage has been in her career, she says having the chance to meet and write a story on Sully Sullenberger (airline captain who landed in the Hudson River), and the real Adrian Cronauer (Good Morning, Vietnam), a series on sex trafficking where she interviewed people from coast to coast and places in between, and the floods that went on for days near and around Paris, Texas.
“Other fun stories included being invited to join a SWAT team in Paris for a realistic active shooter drill and a Black Panther rally where people were being arrested,” said W o r k , “These days, I love covering all kinds of news, but particularly love watching young people navigate their way through activities, challenges and successes. They are our future. I encourage the residents of the area to contact me with information when something interesting is happening or send me photos of their event.”
Work has a varied education, attending Lubbock Christian College (now LCU), Amarillo College in the ADN nursing program, University of North Texas, certificated paralegal, and South Plains College, additional paralegal courses for CEU and journalism. She also attended real estate school in Houston.
Her other activities through the years included earning a pilot’s license and dabbling in aerobatics and owning an equestrian center and breeding, showing and training APHA horses at the world show level.
Work’s family includes a daughter in Temple, daughter in Annapolis, Maryland, and a son in Killeen, with one granddaughter and grandsons.