About
Welcome to The Island, Alameda’s online news source. This site is written and edited by Michele (Marcucci) Ellson. Ellson’s journalism career stretches back 18 years, with her most recent nonline gig as a staff reporter for the Bay Area News Group based in Oakland. Her work has appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, the Oakland Tribune and the Contra Costa Times. She is the winner of several journalism awards, including a Sigma Delta Chi award for investigative reporting, Associated Press and James Madison Freedom of Information. She was also the publisher of her own monthly ‘zine, sacred cow. Ellson has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Buffalo State College. She is also a member of the Online News Association. If you’ve got tips, pix or questions, e-mail her at michele@theislandofalameda.com.
Columnist Eve Pearlman moved to the Island in 2000, and thinks that her longevity should give her some credibility – although she understands that to native Alamedans, who reckon in Alameda Years, a decade amounts to only a few months. She believes that the laptop is mightier than the sword and so earns her living as a writer (as opposed to duelist). Her work has appeared in The Children’s Advocate, the Alameda Journal, WebMD, Seventeen, as well as in a host of other local and national publications. She holds an MS from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and a BA from Cornell University. She likes both sledgehammers and rainbows. You can contact Eve at eve@theislandofalameda.com.
Real estate columnist Sharon Alva became a real estate agent after first working as a writer, multimedia producer, documentary filmmaker, and nonprofit professional doing both resource development and communications. Sharon’s professional passion for helping folks find their true home is second only to her other professional passion which is researching things to within an inch of their life and then telling everyone about them. The Island is an excellent outlet for both, so she has come to call…and stay. Sharon’s real estate work is informed by her role as parent and her love of the East Bay. Her past experience in all aspects of communication makes her a force in marketing homes using both traditional and new media. Sharon’s nonprofit background has lead her to act as an advocate for her clients. Sharon has her BA in History and Journalism from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and has done MA work at Stanford in Documentary Film. You can reach Sharon at sharon@alvaproperties.com.
Ani Dimusheva is a lifelong questioner, and a rebel at heart. She came to this country from Bulgaria at a not-so-young yet malleable age, which makes her neither fish nor fowl. She has a minor degree in graphic design, and a BA in linguistics from UC Berkeley — a natural progression from images to words. She valiantly makes her living as a freelance editor and writer. Her writing has appeared in the Alameda Sun and Alameda Journal. She is excited to be a contributor to The Island. Ani has lived in Alameda for nearly 20 years and continues to be fascinated, upset, surprised and impressed by the people on this ever-changing island. When not making her opinion known to anybody who would listen, she likes to swim, read, and generate (and lose) piles of sticky notes with ideas for award-winning stories she is sure to write one day. You can reach Ani at anidimusheva@yahoo.com.
Stacy Lawrence is from a small town in Ohio – which may explain her fascination with all things Alameda. For more than a decade, she has worked as a business writer and editor in the Bay Area writing for publications including The Industry Standard, Business 2.0, Wired, Red Herring, Nature Biotechnology and MIT’s Technology Review. She is currently a senior writer at BioCentury, a publication about the business of biotech. After undergrad at NYU and the sociology PhD program at UC Berkeley, she became a permanent California transplant. You can reach her at stacy.lawrence@sbcglobal.net.
Michael Singman-Aste is an award-winning photographer, curator, and blogging junkie. He started writing as a freelance reporter for the Daily Californian newspaper in the ’80s, while a Women’s Studies major at UC Berkeley. Originally from LA, he has been a proud Alamedan for nearly two decades. Michael enjoys gallery hopping, reading big important books, and second-guessing “The Bachelor.” You can read more of his reviews at http://www.PostdiluvianPhoto.com/blog.
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