Lori Peckham says that one of her favorite days of the year is when Hugh and Brenda come to her feature writing class for a “publishing party.” As we deliver the OUTLOOK issue showcasing Union student writers, Lori gets a warm feeling watching the glow on her students’ faces as they flip through the magazine and find their piece. She remembers her own publishing break when she was 12—one of her poems won a local contest by the Palo Alto Times newspaper and appeared in print. Then one of her poems got bought by Guide magazine, earning her a whopping $5 check.
She couldn’t stop writing and continued pursuing that passion as a double major in English and Communication at Pacific Union College. During her time there, Deborah Anfenson-Vance, the associate editor of Insight, visited campus to put together an issue of the magazine. She invited Lori to write the guest editorial, and soon Lori was writing on assignment for Insight as well as writing a column for the college newspaper.
After graduation, Lori earned her master’s degree in writing from La Sierra University, where she had a teaching assistantship and taught English courses, noting how much she loved teaching. When she graduated from that program, she accepted an invitation to be assistant editor of Insight. She headed across the country to Maryland to begin a career in publishing at the Review and Herald Publishing Association, helping to produce a weekly magazine for Seventh-day Adventist teenagers.
When editor Chris Blake came to Union to teach, Lori became editor of the magazine, the first female to hold that position. She served at that for 10 years before becoming editor of Women of Spirit. She has also been the compiler and editor of 20 “Guide’s Greatest” book collections, earning her some recognition from middle grade fans.
Experiences and awards
Besides magazines and books, Lori has worked on curriculum, Web materials, marketing campaigns, news pieces, scripts, and stylebooks. Clients have included ADRA, AdventSource, Guide, Insight, Little Saints Press, NAD Women’s Ministries, GC Ministerial Association, Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries, the Mid-American Union, the Columbia Union, Pathfinder Today, Pacific Press, Remnant Publications, Your Story Hour, and Christianity Today. She has won several awards, including a reporting award and an editing award from the Evangelical Press Association and an honorable mention from the Society of Adventist Communicators.
Lori has enjoyed numerous speaking engagements, having conducted writing workshops at almost every Adventist university and been the featured speaker at women’s retreats, youth conferences, and graduations. She especially enjoyed traveling to Australia to present six talks on women of the Bible in the women’s tent at “Big Camp” camp meeting as well as presenting workshops on “Five Big Questions for God” at the Central California Conference camp meeting.
Stories as ministry
Lori is currently the communication program director and an associate professor of communication at Union Adventist University, where her greatest joy is to watch students open a magazine such as OUTLOOK and see their work published. She has strived to show students that every person has stories and perspectives that can touch and enrich lives and that writing can be a powerful ministry.
Previous recipients: Jodi Dossenko, Elder Ron Carlson, Savannah Carlson, Rajmund Dabrowski, and Jacqueline Biloff
