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Lane DeGregory - Enterprise Reporter, Hope and Humanity
Lane DeGregory

Enterprise Reporter, Hope and Humanity

As an enterprise writer, I seek stories about people in the shadows. Some put a face on news events and current issues. Others shine a light on people’s private struggles and triumphs. Many are narratives, focusing on helpers and hope. I grew up in Washington, D.C. during the Watergate era and decided I wanted to be a journalist when I was six years old. I have worked at newspapers across the East Coast and have written for the Times for more than 20 years. In 2009, I won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for a story about a feral child. I teach around the world and host WriteLane, a podcast about non-fiction storytelling. In 2023, the University of Chicago Press published an annotated anthology of my Times stories: “The Girl in the Window” and Other True Tales. I’m married to my college crush, a drummer, and we raised our two sons in the tiny waterfront town of Gulfport. When I’m not talking to strangers, I enjoy camping at music festivals, going to the beach at sunset and playing with our two energetic puppies. I’d love to hear your story, or someone’s you think I should share.

  1. For a Florida Marine who killed his wife, a life sentence or leniency?
    Sept. 15• Crime
    Stephen Kruspe is escorted out of the courtroom in the Palm Beach County Courthouse after his sentencing in August. After killing his wife in 2017, he had waited in jail for more than six years to find out his fate. [Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post]
  2. ‘We have bad news.’ A Shore Acres woman recalls Idalia’s fiery aftermath
    Sept. 11• Hurricane
    Oxalis Garcia, her husband, Holvin Rosario, and their 15-year-old son, Marcus, lost their home in Shore Acres to Hurricane Idalia.
  3. Tampa Bay residents stock up, worry and wait for what Idalia will do
    Aug. 29• Hurricane
    Susan Bailey, 65, of Odessa, walks to her vehicle after buying supplies and groceries at the Walmart Tuesday in New Port Richey. Bailey said she was prepped for Hurricane Idalia but because more friends are coming to stay she needed to make another trip.
  5. As storm nears, Tampa Bay beach towns empty while residents prepare
    Aug. 29• Hurricane
    At Paradise Grille on St. Pete Beach, cook Dominic Marone, 21, had an especially slow day before the storm.
  6. A semester inside the siege: New College professor is trapped in the takeover
    Aug. 16• Narratives
    Amy Reid, a professor of French language and the director of the gender studies program, has worked at New College of Florida her whole career — nearly half her life.
  7. St. Pete Pride grand marshal invites a special plus-one: Dad
    June 27• Narratives
    Alex Quinto spots a friend of his with a sign bearing his drag name along the St. Pete Pride parade route on June 24, 2023 in St. Petersburg. Alex was nominated to be one of the three grand marshals for his work with LGBTQ+ youth.
  8. High school English teacher makes a stand over book bans, erasure of LGBTQ+ students
    June 15• Narratives
    Heather Felton, a high school English teacher, stops to breathe outside of the Manatee County municipal building in Bradenton. She had come with her family to tell the school board how hard her job had become over the last year, dealing with banned books and legislation that restricted LGBTQ+ rights.
  9. For a Florida teen catching up on missed moments, a night in the spotlight
    May 26• Narratives
    Isabella "Bella" Perez, 15, remains still as she has a pink tiara placed on her head before taking the stage as one of seven teen models from the PACE Center for Girls during the 14th annual Value Me 2023 Luncheon and Fashion Show.
  10. Tampa Bay mom and daughters lived in a car. Now, donated decor makes for a new start
    May 24• Narratives
    Xiaja Canty, right, hugs Ashley Cornetet, founder of The Pineapple Projects, before she opens the door of her newly furnished apartment.
  11. After being grounded by Hurricane Ian, an aging sailor struggles to get back to sea
    April 25• Narratives
    John "Capt. Jay" Burki arrives at his sailboat, the Barnacle, at J & R Marine Service on April 10. He's restoring the vessel in Placida, and longs to get back to sea. Hurricane Ian destroyed Burki's last live-aboard boat, and he spent five months living in a tent beneath a Fort Myers bridge. "Fight for the things you love and live your life with no regrets," he texted friends beneath a photo of the sunset. "And as always SMILE."
  12. For tourists on south Pinellas beaches, despite red tide, it’s better than home
    March 11• Environment
    The beach off Indian Rocks Beach is flush with visitors despite the presence of red tide on Friday, Mar 10, 2023, off Pinellas County.
  13. Clearwater man, 86, arrested in hit and run that killed bicyclist
    March 11• Crime
    An 86-year-old man was arrested in a fatal hit and run case.
  14. Beneath a Fort Myers bridge, a captain longs to return to sea
    March 8• Narratives
    John "Capt. Jay" Burki has a smoke at his camp underneath the Matanzas Pass Bridge on a mid-February day in Fort Myers Beach. After Hurricane Ian smashed his boat, he woke tangled in trees, scratched and battered. A Coast Guard helicopter flew him to a shelter. “Which I walked right out of,” he says. “I can’t live with all those people.”
  15. In a tiny Florida park, a ‘wind phone’ connects callers to lost loved ones
    Feb. 21• Investigations & Narratives
    Laura McCullough gasps as she walks into the wind phone booth. Her husband, Kevin McCullough, left, stands nearby at Folly Farm Nature Preserve in Safety Harbor. She had come to call her son for his birthday.
  16. Change comes swiftly to New College as DeSantis appointees replace president
    Feb. 1• The Education Gradebook
    New College students attend a protest of the appointment of new board of trustees members by Gov. Ron DeSantis at the school's Harry Sudakoff Conference Center on Tuesday.
  17. In Gulfport, Ukrainian girls find sunshine — and refuge from war
    Dec. 21, 2022• Narratives
    Sisters Yulia Hamota, 12, and Alina Hamota, 10, chat while playing on a Gulfport playground in July. The sisters arrived in Florida with their mother to live with their aunt and uncle, fleeing the Russian invasion in their native Ukraine.
  18. From her courthouse perch, she watches the world go by
    Dec. 2, 2022• Narratives
    Carlena Ward shares a moment with a coworker from a desk at the Pat Collier Frank Courthouse in Tampa on Monday, October 24, 2022.
  19. Facing leukemia, a St. Petersburg dad hoped for a stranger’s help
    Nov. 23, 2022• Narratives
    Emily Croslin watches as her father, Bob Croslin, cuts into a pumpkin for carving in Emily's kitchen in October.
  20. Clearwater teen drew through despair: ‘I wanted to be seen’
    Oct. 25, 2022• Narratives
    While Julia Becerra’s mom was in Mexico, trying to get a green card to come home to her family in Clearwater, the 14-year-old had to take care of her younger siblings. Julia felt like she was letting everyone down, and fell into depression. "The figure in the middle symbolizes the mother trying to satisfy her children," said Julia, who painted through her pain. “But no matter how much they receive, they're still thirsty." She calls this painting "Projection."
  21. These Fort Myers triplet newborns were among Hurricane Ian’s youngest evacuees
    Oct. 9, 2022• Hurricane
    David and Katherine Blessing, from Fort Myers, care for Dylan, one of their 27 day old triplets in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022 in St. Petersburg. Dylan is the biggest of the siblings currently weighing 4 lbs 2 oz, at birth he was 2 lbs 14 oz. Katherine and David, both 34, have three newborn boys all currently being cared for in the NICU at the hospital. The triplets were transporter by medical helicopter Johns Hopkins All Children's LifeLine 1 critical care transport team when Hurricane Ian cause for their Fort Myers hospital to be evacuated. The Blessings are temporarily living at the Ronald McDonald House located on the main campus at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital.
  22. On the Tamiami Trail, surveying Hurricane Ian’s wrath of old Florida
    Oct. 4, 2022• Hurricane
    The Shell Factory and Nature Park damaged sign pictured on Sept. 30, 2022, in North Fort Myers. Hurricane Ian cost the complex thousands in damages by knocking out power, damaging the roof, carpet, nature park, and ruining restaurant and animal food.
  23. Delays, detours and panic: I-75 closure leaves motorists scrambling to get home
    Oct. 1, 2022• Hurricane
    Traffic is seen stopped along the northbound lanes of I-75 near Sumter Boulevard Friday. Flooding has shutdown both the north and south lanes until Saturday afternoon.
  24. Gulfport preps for Hurricane Ian with bar parties and boats
    Sept. 27, 2022• Hurricane
    People grab food and drinks at O’Maddy’s waterfront bar in an otherwise quiet downtown as Hurricane Ian makes its way to the west Florida coast,Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022 in Gulfport.