Meet the Media: Cary Estes, Birmingham-Based Freelance Writer
Welcome to Peritus PR’s “Meet the Media” series, a Q&A where we chat all things journalism, reporting, media landscape, and PR...while having a little fun, too. This MTM feature is all about Cary Estes, freelance writer for publications including Business Alabama, Lindy’s Sports and UAB communications. Cary has previously written for the Birmingham Post-Herald, Alabama Tourism Department, Sports Illustrated and more.
Q: Let’s start from the beginning. Where are you from and what made you decide to live in Birmingham? What do you love about Birmingham?
A: I’m from Birmingham and have lived most of my life here. I moved to Montgomery briefly and went to college in Auburn, but I’ve been living in Birmingham full-time since 1992. I love to travel and see other places, but I like being here because of the size of Birmingham and it’s my hometown. I wouldn’t want to live in a real small town or a big city like Chicago or Atlanta. To me, Birmingham is the perfect size where I feel like I can still easily get around and am not overwhelmed by a thousand different things.
Q: How did you get started as a writer?
A: I’ve just always enjoyed writing. I distinctly remember living in Montgomery in seventh grade playing little league baseball with my friends. After one of my buddy’s games, I wrote a short sports story about his game. I was just a kid writing a sports story and I didn’t know why it appealed to me so much, but it did. Once I went to college and spoke to an advisor about working for the student newspaper and mentioned loving sports and they assigned me to being a sportswriter. I majored in journalism, wrote as a sportswriter for the school paper, graduated and worked for the Montgomery Advertiser for two years and then moved to Birmingham and worked for the Post Herald until 2005 and I’ve been a freelance writer ever since. As time went on, I realized that I wasn’t going to leave Birmingham, so I wanted to use as much of my writing as possible to talk about the good things taking place in the city and the state.
Q: With your history of sports writing, do you have a sports story you’re proud to have written?
A: I covered UAB in the 1990’s for the Post Herald and the football program was still pretty small back then. I got to know this young player, Curtis Jeter, who described himself as intimidating because of his 5-10, 290-pound build and having so many tattoos at a time when not a lot of people had them. I came to find out that this player was a gentle-souled artist and had designed all his own tattoos. This turned into me writing a feature story on him focusing on how he comes across as tough and intimidating but how he is passionate about his art and is a kind person. That story ran in the Post Herald and the next day I get a call from his mother. She told me how thankful she was for that story because no one had seen that side of her son before. I don’t know how many people read that story, but it means more to me than any story I’ve written in my career.
Q: Where is your favorite place to eat in Birmingham? Go-to item on their menu?
A: That would have to be Carlisle’s BBQ. They’ve been around since 1945 and have only been through a handful of owners in that span, all while remaining a sole location. It’s the only place that I always have a go-to order. I’ll get the chopped pork plate, outside cut, with baked beans and french fries.
Q: If you were to participate in a Peritus Book Club, what book would you suggest?
A: Over the years, I’ve become much more of a magazine reader, but the last book I read that really stuck with me was The Life of Pi. It’s one of those books that I just couldn’t put down. It was very well written. My favorite magazine though would be The New Yorker because it provides so much quality content.
Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned throughout your career?
A: Whenever you interview someone set out a recorder and just sit down and have a conversation. You can take minimal notes, but if you can have a genuine conversation then you’ll get conversational quotes. If you’re too focused on your next question, then you might miss an obvious follow-up question. It’s good to do a little bit of research on your interview subject but be sure to leave some unknown and you’ll find yourself asking genuine questions to get to know them.
Q: What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
A: Write. Write. Write. Write as much as you can. I’m a firm believer that when you write in any sort of format, whether that’s text, emails, or posts, write as if you were writing. Don’t use a lot of the “4 U” shorthand quips. If you’re wanting to write for big publications, they aren’t expecting you to write like Prince. You need to constantly be writing the way you’re going to write professionally. A 25-year-old may totally disagree with that advice, but I see that as the best way to get better as a writer.
Our PUBLISHED by PERITUS takeaway is this:
Cary is a skilled writer who has a true passion for sharing the good news about Birmingham and our state. His writing tells the story of what makes his hometown special and we can’t wait to see what he writes next.