Email: martin.henderson@patch.com
Phone: 949-354-1734 Birthday: Feb. 5 Bio: Raised in a rural farming community in Northern California, Martin Henderson won a sportswriting contest at the local newspaper during his senior year at Lindhurst High. A few months later he was covering games and getting paid $25, which he used for insurance and gas money while attending Sacramento State. At one point during his junior year, after it was apparent that Major League Baseball had no use for a junk-balling right-handed pitcher, he transitioned from writing weekly at the local paper to working daily at the weekly paper. Both the Marysville Appeal-Democrat and Yuba City Valley-Herald were positive experiences, and after a brief stop in radio as a part-time on-air personality, Martin moved to San Diego where he anchored sports coverage for three weekly papers in the Poway-Rancho Bernardo area. He also made a stop at the Oceanside Blade Tribune, hired as a page designer, and finally achieved his goal -- working at the Los Angeles Times -- for the San Diego County Edition in 1990, just six years after graduating college with a degree in communications studies. Because his very early childhood was spent at the dragstrip where his father raced a motorcycle on weekends, Martin wasn't intimidated like other stick-and-ball reporters when the opportunity to cover the Grand Prix of Del Mar presented itself. That began a long association with auto racing and eventually mentoring from Shav Glick, a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Spending a career primarily as a sportswriter has allowed him some very cool perks: Meeting most of his childhood heroes (Roman Gabriel, Nolan Ryan)  getting the occasional media ride in a race car (176 mph in the backseat of a two-seater Indy car driven by Jimmy Vasser in Long Beach) and filling up a lot of scrapbooks for grandparents.  He has covered professional baseball, football, hockey and soccer. He has worked a World Series and a Super Bowl.  Now, as media transitions, Martin does too, his days in newsprint replaced by bandwidth, coaches replaced by councilmen, and the pitch replaced by a Patch. His Patch, your Patch. Call Martin at 949-354-1734, or write him at martin.henderson@patch.com. At Patch, we promise always to report the facts objectively and adhere to the principles of good journalism. In the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable.   Beliefs: Apart from salvation, if you were to describe the Bible's contents in two words, it would be this: "Be honorable." As long as you do that, you're doing right by people. In the context of my position in the media, it translates to being fair. If I'm fair, no one should have any complaints. Politics: I like team sports, but when it comes to politics, I'm a free agent. It's not necessary that I align with one party or another, but instead vote with the common sense I expect our candidates to have. There's no way one party can represent all that I stand for or care about, especially in a nation in which it seems only two parties really matter. In local government, does it really matter if you're a Republican or a Democrat? I don't think so. What matters is you have a good head on your shoulders and you have the interests of the community at stake, and not your own. If you're going to be in politics, just be honorable. Religion: I'm a Christian, although you probably wouldn't know it by my language while I'm driving. I need to do better not only there, but everywhere.  Local Hot-Button issues: Something that I'll be eager to follow is the development of Chiquita Ridge and the sports park. RSM has a chance -- and the space -- to do something that really matters and do it right. And just once, I'd like to see someone put in a pressbox the way it's supposed to be done.