I am Michael Barrick, a native of Clarksburg, West Virginia. I am the owner/publisher of the Appalachian Chronicle. I live in Lenoir, North Carolina. We have been operating since 2012.

Here is a summary of my writing experience:

Managing Director of Education and Communication, Wall Watchers, Matthews, N.C.
Special Projects/Responsibilities
• Executive leadership position
• Interpersonal relationship development
• Website design and editing – thegoodsteward.com and ministrywatch.com
• Developed “Shining Lights,” “Donor Alerts” and similar products designed to educate donors
• Traveled extensively throughout the United States to investigate nonprofits and to collaborate with journalists to expose wrongdoing
• Edited/authored hard-copy pamphlets and brochures, white papers, and essays

Analysis/Research
• Foundational and operational documents of nonprofits
• Analytical conclusions and recommendations based upon established criteria

Writing
• Investigative reports – nonprofit handling of funds, leadership, etc.
• Articles on the environment, stewardship of time and talents, financial matters, news and current events

• Owner / Publisher of the Appalachian Chronicle, 2012-Present
• Investigative Reporter, the Lenoir (N.C.) News-Topic, 1995 – 1998
• Reporter and editor, the Hickory Daily Record, Hickory, N.C., 1992 – 1994
• Free Lance writer and columnist, The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette, The Roanoke Times, The Charlotte Observer, the Raleigh News & Observer, Appalachian Voices, Now & Then magazine, Mountain Aire magazine, Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Morgantown Post (W.Va.), the Morganton News-Herald (N.C.), The Hickory Daily Record (N.C.), the Lenoir News-Topic (N.C.), the Observer-News-Enterprise (N.C.), The Summit (Flagstaff, Ariz.), and others. Also, on-air essayist for three radio stations in North Carolina, including WNCW, an NPR affiliate in Spindale, N.C. and for West Virginia Public Radio’s program, “Inside Appalachia.”
• Web/print editor, the Christian Emergency Network, Anthem, Ariz.

Books
The Hillbilly Highway (1997), a tribute to the people of Appalachia through a collection of oral histories

Seven Days in Haiti (2007), a collection of daily dispatches written while covering Christian missionaries in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Exceptional Care a Century Strong: A Mission of Mercy and Healing – The history of Frye Regional Medical Center (2010), a full-color coffee-table history of Catawba County, N.C. and the doctors that established the hospital.

Fractured Sanctuary: A Chronicle of Grassroots Activists Fighting Pipelines of Destruction in Appalachia (2023)

I have also worked in numerous fields, often overlapping. I have worked as a reporter as well as in emergency management, politics, education, healthcare and ministry and have been active in our community and throughout the region.

Through the Appalachian Chronicle I focus on investigative reporting and also cover current events, mountain folkways, energy & the environment, music, art and newsmakers in Appalachia and beyond. We publish periodically.