By Brooke Buchanan
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, it is never too late for reinvention. You can always write your own happy ending.”
Callie Lyons, a senior at West Virginia University (WVU) Parkersburg, has followed this motto throughout adulthood. Many people think life needs to be planned out and certain things need to be achieved by a specific age, but Lyons has learned this isn’t the case. She was 30 when she wrote her first news story, 35 when she tried radio broadcasting for the first time and 45 when she applied to college. Today, she knows life doesn’t have a timeline.
Navigating a New Career
Lyons’ writing career began when her marriage was ending and she needed a source of income. She felt she had a talent for writing and wanted to try her hand at journalism. In order to do this, Lyons’ attended a local career fair where she introduced herself to the local newspaper editor and asked for an opportunity to write.
“The editor gave me one story, a feature about fathers’ involvement with their children’s school activities. This story ran on the front page of The Marietta Times,” she says. “I continued being a freelance reporter before being hired by The Marietta Times later in the year to fill the position of government reporter.”
It was during this time that Lyons was assigned the task of bringing attention to the perfluorooctanoic acid—also knowns as PFOA or C8—epidemic to the Mid-Ohio Valley. Many of the valley’s residents, including Lyons’ two daughters, were drinking, bathing and swimming in water that few knew was contaminated with the unfamiliar chemical. This turned out to be an assignment that would allow her to live out her dream of writing a book.
Exploring Different Mediums
It was while Lyons was working as the news director in 2005 for a local, family owned radio station WMOA/WJAW that she wrote that book. Her coworkers at the station proved to be an invaluable support network for this endeavor.
“Johnny Wharff, my boss at the time and a legendary radio man, encouraged me to follow my dreams of being published,” says Lyons. “He even hired an intern to help deliver the news while I focused on writing my book.”
One morning in 2007, Lyons was preparing to deliver the morning news on the air when she received a publishing contract for the book, titled “Stain-Resistant, Nonstick, Waterproof and Lethal: The Hidden Dangers of C8.”
“It was a champagne moment that occurred very early in the morning over coffee,” she says. “Johnny shared that moment with me. I was moved to tears—excited and in disbelief. He still encourages me today.”
While working at WMOA, Lyons had the opportunity to become the editor of a local weekly newspaper committed to covering news that more traditional media would not. In addition to becoming a published author, Lyons also helped found two newspapers. Over the course of her career, her writing has appeared in The Athens News, The Athens Messenger, Gallipolis Daily Tribune, Point Pleasant Register, The Daily Sentinel and Meigs Independent Press. As a result of her work, she has received several invitations to speak at colleges and universities across the country. She has also been featured in the documentary Parched: Toxic Waters by National Geographic, on which she also served as a production assistant for the first time.
“It was one of the most interesting experiences I’ve ever had,” says Lyons. “The camera crew came and took the toxic tour of the contaminated areas in the Mid-Ohio Valley. While it was one of many documentaries I’ve filmed in the past 12 years, this one took us back to the Tennant Farm where the family lost 280 cattle to C8 or PFOA contamination.”
Living the Dream
Lyons’ most recent project has taken her back to her roots in Dodge City, KS. As a teen, she spent her summers working at Boot Hill Museum where she soaked up tales of the Wild West. Realizing that these stories often center on cowboys and gunslingers, she decided to represent the women of that era by writing her own West novella. Titled “The Short, Fantastic Life of a Saloon Girl,” it tells the story of Dora Hand, an American dance hall singer who met an untimely demise.
The second book in Lyons’ series, “The Notorious Misadventures of a Showgirl,” is expected to be released later this year. Lyons’ novels are available on Amazon for purchase as a paperback or an e-book.
About the Author
Brooke Buchanan is a junior at West Virginia University (WVU) at Parkersburg, where she is majoring in strategic communications. She is the editor in chief of The Chronicle and the president of the 2019 Student Organization of the Year, the Media and Communications Club. Outside of her studies, Buchanan is a marketing intern in the WVU Parkersburg marketing department and a universal banker at Peoples Bank. After graduating in May 2021, she hopes to pursue a career is social media management where she can showcase her graphic design skills.
