Please allow me to introduce myself; I'm not a man of wealth or taste. And I haven't been around for very long; but I have been to many different places.

My name is Jonathon Dawe and I started as the Sentinel reporter last week. I am from southeast Missouri - or, as many from my home refer to it, swamp-east Missouri.

I have been working in journalism for about 10 years altogether, and I have had the pleasure of working at both small and (somewhat) larger newspapers. I have received awards from the Missouri Press Association as well as The Associated Press.

I tell you all of this because I'm so excited to be here and I'm so excited to work with this community, and I want you to get to know me.

I'm a firm believer in the necessity of the Fourth Estate, a functioning free press. And I'm equally passionate about community news. I believe that community news is the heartbeat of America; and though it may be a minuscule view of the larger national picture, our discussions all start at the local level.

I have lived in large cities and I have lived in small communities (some even smaller than Wrangell); but one constant in my life is my love for people. I like to meet and get to know people.

And that's what I'm looking forward to here on this island. I want to get to know you. I want to hear your stories. I want to learn about your experiences. I want to know what makes you tick.

Before now, the farthest north I have lived was southeast Minnesota and the farthest south was Chattanooga, Tennessee. But no matter where I lived, I found that people are people, and you can't judge a book by its cover.

In addition to writing, I am also very much into photography (digital and film) and I am also a musician who plays all styles of music, primarily on the guitar but also on bass guitar and some piano as well.

I like to draw and paint, and I like to write recreationally. I love the great outdoors, and I really enjoy cooking - as evidenced by my large size.

So far, I have greatly enjoyed what I have seen in this picturesque town, and I am looking forward to getting to know everyone better. I was so eager to get here that I willingly drove almost 2,000 miles over the course of three days (with very little sleep) and - thankfully - no speeding tickets.

Oh, and bonus cool points for you if you got the clumsily appropriated Rolling Stones' lyric at the beginning of this column.