{"id":2,"date":"2022-12-27T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T17:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/about\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T10:15:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T15:15:50","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"Retro Metro Column\/About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Author\"\/Brick<\/strong> at its best is a Retro Metro Column. <\/em>The rest of the time, Brick<\/strong> is a wordy blog. Brick<\/strong> in recent years includes a recipe repository.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retro Metro refers to the tradition of print papers having one or more commentators prominent on a local news page \u2014 not the editorial page \u2014 several times a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brick<\/strong> is independent, not affiliated with any commercial publication or other entity. Alas, the author is, some 40 hours a week<\/a>. Ben S. Pollock assumes readers of Brick<\/strong> can tell the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the About<\/em> the Author page. That’s Ben S. Pollock in black-and-white, an old column standing-hed mug shot, fairly early in his 38-or-so-year journalism career. In mid-2016 he joined\u00a0the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions<\/a>\u00a0as its\u00a0web manager. In late 2017, Mr. Pollock joined the university\u2019s labor union, was elected to the Local 965 board in the next year. From 2019-2022 he served as secretary and communication director of\u00a0UA-Fayetteville Education Association\/Local 965<\/a>. Mr. Pollock was elected the local\u2019s 2022-24 vice president and communication director and re-elected for the 2024-26 term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Pollock was 2012-16 director of media for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists<\/a>, having been its 2010-12 president. He currently is treasurer of the NSNC Education Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014-15 he was the inaugural assistant director of the University of Arkansas Center for Ethics in Journalism<\/a>. In 2002-03 he was a UA graduate teaching assistant in journalism<\/a>. Previously, he graduated kindergarten. For more on Mr. Pollock post pre school, visit his Mirthology, a Loose Leaflet<\/a><\/strong>, which comprises his way-back archives and related material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"Acme<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Note: This image of a brick wall used often in the website is provided courtesy of Acme Brick Co.<\/a> This is not a random choice. Growing up in Fort Smith, Arkansas, acreage that included a clay quarry was on two sides of my childhood home<\/a> (situated on a cul de sac). It belonged to Acme Brick, and its kiln works was nearby. As a child, my friends and I explored that land; it included a horse pasture as well. Kiln production ended in 2018<\/a>, and I’m not sure about the quarry, but a retail brick store remains a block away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brick at its best is a Retro Metro Column. The rest of the time, Brick is a wordy blog. Brick in recent years includes a recipe repository. Retro Metro refers to the tradition of print papers having one or more commentators prominent on a local news page \u2014 not the editorial page \u2014 several times […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/about\/copyright\/","url_meta":{"origin":2,"position":0},"title":"Copyright, Yes This Is, These Are","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"December 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Unless otherwise indicated, all material in \"Brick: Muse on News by Ben S. Pollock,\" is Copyright 2003 Ben S. Pollock Copyright 2004 Ben S. Pollock Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock Copyright 2006 Ben S. Pollock Copyright 2007 Ben S. Pollock Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock Copyright 2009 Ben S. Pollock\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5540,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/about\/contact\/","url_meta":{"origin":2,"position":1},"title":"Contact","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"November 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Please communicate with Ben Pollock via this contact form.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":171,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/about\/ifaqs\/","url_meta":{"origin":2,"position":2},"title":"iFAQs","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"August 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"iFAQs -- inFrequently Asked Questions What is Brick and why do you call it that? Two questions on one line? Very well. Brick is Ben Pollock's blog, both collectively and singularly. Not bricks, brick wall, brick pile or load of bricks. It's more one sheep two sheep. Though tempted to\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/about\/ifaqs\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"0512 brick logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Solebrick-logo-2-150x150.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6693,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/","url_meta":{"origin":2,"position":3},"title":"Brick: Muse on News by\u2026","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"October 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Brick: Muse on News by Ben S. Pollock See all columns Food Columns Candidly, the recipes are posted for my convenience, from which to refer via iPad in the kitchen. All are vegetarian, nearly all vegan, aka plant-based whole-food PBWF and, especially the recent ones, low to no oil. I\u2019m\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Acme Brick Company sample","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/WindsorParkVelour-Acme-Brick-2000x500-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/WindsorParkVelour-Acme-Brick-2000x500-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/WindsorParkVelour-Acme-Brick-2000x500-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/WindsorParkVelour-Acme-Brick-2000x500-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/WindsorParkVelour-Acme-Brick-2000x500-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/WindsorParkVelour-Acme-Brick-2000x500-1.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":170,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/about\/brick-course\/use-of-brick\/","url_meta":{"origin":2,"position":4},"title":"Use of Brick","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"August 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Never, never use a brick like this, unless your name is Ignatz Mouse and all of you come from George Herriman's pen. If you have suggestions for Bricks, contact me here:","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6789,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/posts\/","url_meta":{"origin":2,"position":5},"title":"Posts","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"November 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8148,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/8148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}