Mike Morsch is a 40-year veteran of the newspaper business, retiring in 2013 to take a job in county government. And that . . . was a mistake. He’s a writer, and he should have stuck to hanging out with other writers because politicians are an untrustworthy lot. Go figure. Being a member of the media who covered politics for 40 years should have been his first clue. He’s now back in the newspaper business as executive editor/digital news director of Packet Media Group in Princeton, N.J. 

Mike’s weekly column, “Outta Leftfield,” which he wrote for 10 years as executive editor of Montgomery Media in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, earned several awards as best column from the Suburban Newspapers of America, the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association and the Philadelphia Press Association. In addition, he has earned 16 Keystone Awards from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association for news, feature and sports writing. If there was an award for losing his hair, he would have won that one, too. 

He is a 1982 graduate of the University of Iowa, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism and was a two-year letterman on the Hawkeyes’ baseball team. Mike thought he was going to be a professional baseball player, but Division I college pitchers had a different idea. Fortunately, he was paying attention – most of the time anyway – in class and was able to graduate almost on time, much to the relief of his parents. 

Mike is married to Judy, “The Blonde Accountant,” and the couple reside in North Wales, Pennsylvania. His older daughter Kiley, an accountant and Drexel University graduate, and son-in-law Mat Shetler, an Air Force veteran, live in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; and his younger daughter, Lexi Morsch, followed in his footsteps and has completed three years at the University of Iowa where she is majoring in film, theater, creative writing, ignoring Skype requests from her dad, not answering her text messages right away, not playing baseball and being a long way from home. Mike also has two stepchildren, Kaitie Hughes, an incoming sophomore at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; and Kevin Hughes, an incoming freshman at Temple University in Philadelphia. 

When he’s not writing, Mike is spinning vinyl on his record player or reading. He likes TastyKake chocolate pies (you really should try one) and beef jerky and you are welcome to send him either of those two main food groups. Contact him at msquared35@yahoo.com for instructions on where to ship the treats or, oh ya . . . to offer your feedback on The Vinyl Dialogues and The Vinyl Dialogues Volume II: Dropping the Needle.