In February of 1997, Walter Schifter was dying of cancer. During the final three weeks of his life, RuthAnn Hogue visited him frequently and reported his thoughts and fears in a series of articles for the [i]Daily News-Sun[/i], a newspaper serving the Sun Cities in Arizona. Walter's pain and misery put him on the verge of suicide, but compassionate hospice care reawakens his zest for life as he teaches us how to care for the dying and shows us the dignity and worth of every individual. Ms. Hogue's encounters with Walter touched her so, that she experienced a spiritual awakening and a re-commitment to the relationships in her own life. Join them on their journey to the edge of life in this remarkable and inspiring story.
RuthAnn Hogue is the first-place recipient for nonfiction books, memoir, in Arizona Press Women's 2006 Communications Contest. Goodbye, Walter advanced to earn second-place in national competition with the National Federation of Press Women. She accepted the award in Denver in September 2006.
Hogue's day job is writing Web copy for Apollo Group, Inc. She also teaches JMC 425 Online Media part time for Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
She is devoted to her family, which she says always comes first.
Hogue has also captured numerous awards for her work as a journalist including many first-place prizes. Notably, the Arizona Newspapers Association in 1997 honored the Daily News-Sun with a first-place award in its class for Journalistic Achievement for "The Journey Home: Diary of a terminal cancer patient." Hogue was so touched by the experiences she shared with Walter and Lillian Schifter while reporting the series that she felt compelled to convert it into a book.
The result, Good-bye Walter: The Inspiring Story of a Terminal Cancer Patient, has been published by Mapletree Publishing Company, an imprint of Wind River Publishing.
Hogue, born in 1962, is the mother of five children. A goal she set in 1990 to become published led to a story in a national church magazine. She used the $40 she received to pay for a summer newswriting course, which set her firmly on the pathway to becoming a professional writer and editor. She enrolled in college in 1993 and graduated in August 1997 from Arizona State University with a bachelor's degree in print journalism and a minor in political science. She received several prestigious scholarships while attending ASU's Walter Cronkite School.
In addition, she wrote for local newspapers, the college newspaper and reported the evening news live for the campus radio station while attending school. Hogue landed her first full-time reporting position in December 1996 with the Daily News-Sun, and by November 1997, had been promoted to an editing position. Before that, she had already done much award-winning work as a part-time news assistant for The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette while attending journalism classes.
In spring 2000 as Neighbors editor for the Arizona Daily Star, she implemented a plan she developed to produce and publish daily micro-local news specific to nine geographic areas. She later went on to accept a city editorship at the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review newspapers where she doubled as a writing coach. She has been news editor of the West Valley View and managing editor of the Gilbert, Chandler and Queen Creek editions of Independent Newspapers in the greater Phoenix area.
In addition, Hogue has taught journalism and writing courses for the University of Arizona and occasionally teaches workshops on time management. She has also taught high school journalism and English and contributed columns to The Arizona Republic's Southwest Community section.
