Martins Creek
Lorraine Martin Bennett has put her thoughts and experiences into words, helping create a fulfilling personal and professional life for herself.
Bennett is a writer with an impressive resume that began in 1962 at age 19. After writing for Murphy High School’s newspaper as feature editor and graduating, she was awarded the Journalism Medal.
“I knew I was on the right track,” she said. “I also knew I wanted to be a writer.”
After college and with a degree in journalism, she received three job offers. She took a position with the Atlanta Journal, the afternoon daily newspaper.
“I was a kid, I thought the world was at my fingertips,” she said.
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Bennett has worked for other publications as well, including the Cherokee Scout. She still writes part time for the Clay County Progress in neighboring Hayesville.
“I worked for eight years with the L.A. Times in the Orange County and Riverside-San Bernadino bureau. It was a great experience,” she said.
One opportunity led to another, and Bennett found herself on television via an invite. She worked with KABC in Los Angeles as an assignment editor for 10 months before the loss of two family members prompted a return back home to Atlanta.
Longstanding employment of more than 20 years with CNN helped her move upward in her career. She started as a writer, then moved into a copy editor position.
From there, she progressed to producer before becoming an editorial manager with a staff of more than 50 people at one time. Bennett watched the network grow over time.
“I was really proud to be there until it was sold to Time Warner, and then it destroyed the network,” she said. “It’s just not the same.”
Bennett recalled a story of a fire she was covering in south California. Flames blew up on three sides of her. Upon returning back to the office, her employer let her know, in no uncertain terms, that she could have covered the story without getting close to the flames.
The biggest accomplishment in her writing career was helping keep a clinic open in Death Valley, Calif., by writing a story on it for the Times. The federally funded clinic was about to close but, as a result of Bennett’s story, it remained open for an additional year.
She is writing her fourth novel. The first two are Cat on a Black Moon and Darla, while the third is Twenty Seconds to Midnight. All can be found on the Amazon or Barnes & Noble websites as well as local libraries.
Bennett said her best ideas come first thing in the morning. She doesn’t use outlines, but rather allows the characters to speak to her for the progression of her thoughts and ideas.
In the next 10 years, “I hope I’m still alive,” she said with a smile. “Well, I’m involved in a lot of writing groups, I also write poetry.”
Her hobbies include singing in her Methodist church choir as well as a community choirs. She also plays the piano, but has no regrets about choosing a writing career.
“I’ve had a very wonderful life, a very blessed life,” Bennett said. “I grew up in a family that loved me and I had a scholarship to North Carolina that just fell in my lap. I had a chance to work for the Los Angeles Times, it was wonderful.”
Her advice to others wanting to write is to “write everyday. Writing is a craft and you have to hone it and feed it daily.”
Bennett is entertained by a tuxedo cat she calls Socks because of his white paws. Her favorite color is green, and she likes roses.
She was married for 54 years to her soulmate, Tom, who was also a journalist prior to passing several years ago. Tom Bennett was an editor with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, then wrote a column called The Far Blue Mountains for several years in the Scout.