A Baltimore Sun editor once referred to Laurie D. Willis as a pinch hitter because of her ability to write about any subject and “hit a home run.”

When Laurie writes she brings words to life. When she edits, she makes copy more engaging by eliminating unnecessary words, correcting grammar and using just the right expression or phrase. Laurie has extensive writing and editing experience and is known for her meticulous craftsmanship.

Laurie is a former correspondent for The Boston Globe and has been a staff writer for The Baltimore Sun, The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, among others. Laurie has edited several books, including “A Forever Kind of Love” and “Raising Him Alone,” and also edits newsletters and writes speeches.

Laurie has won several awards, including Best Reporting on a Single Subject (2001) from The Association of Black Media Workers, and The Good Work Award (1998) from The News & Observer. In 1998 while working for The News & Observer, Laurie was awarded an Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Fellowship in Kansas City, Missouri.

In the spring of 2001, Laurie won a journalism fellowship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, to study the African American experience in post-Civil Rights America. Later that year, Laurie was humbled when Baltimore Sun editors nominated her story about Christopher G. Evans, one of the first firefighters to enter The Pentagon after American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into it, for a National Headliner Award.

Laurie earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1986.