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'Big fish' loving life in 'little pond'
By Rachel Dahmer Jeff Washburn confesses to having an addiction, but it's not a typical addiction. "I neither smoke, nor drink, but I have an addiction. And my addiction is journalism," Washburn said. As the author of three books and the Purdue men's basketball beat writer for the Lafayette Journal & Courier, he spends much of his time feeding this addiction. Washburn, B.A., 1977, began his journalism career in junior high, and before even graduating college, was hired full time as a sports writer at the J&C. He has been at the newspaper 34 years. "I absolutely love what I'm doing; it gets in your blood," Washburn said. "We publish a mini or daily history every day, to me that's what journalism is."
From the beginning of August until the end of the NCAA basketball tournament in April, Washburn is on 20 to 30 airplanes and works most Friday and Saturday nights. He frequently starts working around noon and ends working in the early morning hours. In his most recent free time, he finished his latest book, "The Truth and Nothing But the Truth," a biography of longtime Purdue men's basketball coach Gene Keady. Keady selected Washburn to be the co-author of the project. "Being able to be the person selected to write Gene Keady's biography was a great thrill, because that shows that in the 13 years that I have covered him, he acquired a respect for me and trust for me," said Washburn. "He didn't always agree with what I wrote, but he respects me and he wanted me to write his biography." Washburn says he has never regretted remaining a "big fish in a little pond," and turning down offers to jump to larger newspapers. "I know I have the ability to write for a big paper. That in itself is good enough for me." He also doesn't regret choosing Purdue over a larger college journalism program. "I don't regret it for a minute. I'm proud to be a Purdue graduate." |
