Interview: Nancy Eshelman

Date of Interview: January 9, 2018
Place of Interview: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Interviewer: Ford Risley

Biographical Summary
Nancy Eshelman was born in Edgewater, New Jersey. Her family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when she was 6. After getting married and starting a family, she attended Millersville University where she worked at the student newspaper and was a freelance writer for the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal. After graduating in 1977, she became a staff writer for the women’s section of the Sunday News in Lancaster. She later covered news for the Sunday News. In 1985, she joined the Patriot-News in Harrisburg as a staff writer in the Lebanon bureau. She also covered municipal government in the main office. In 1989, she began writing a weekly column. She retired from the Patriot-News in 2008, but has continued writing her popular column for the newspaper and its online site, pennlive.com.

Interview Highlights
Eshelman speaks about her family; about attending college and writing for the student newspaper while being married and raising her children; about her first job for the women’s section of the Sunday News; about the opportunities for women at the time; about joining the Patriot-News as a staff writer; about writing a weekly column for more than 25 years; about the purpose of a local columnist; and about how the newspaper business has changed for women.

Complete Interview Nancy Eshelman