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One Thousand Miles and Memories

By on March 6, 2013
Markos Papadatos (left) at 106.7 Lite FM studio with Bob Bronson and Christine Nagy, PHOTO: LAURA DeSANTIS-OLSSON

Markos Papadatos (left) at 106.7 Lite FM studio
with Bob Bronson and Christine Nagy, PHOTO: LAURA DeSANTIS-OLSSON

New York Jets’ quarterback, Tim Tebow, once said, “Success comes in a lot of ways, but it doesn’t come with money and it doesn’t come with fame.  It comes from having a meaning in your life, doing what you love and being passionate about what you do.   That’s having a life of success. When you have the ability to do what you love, love what you do and have the ability to impact people.  That’s having a life of success.  That’s what having a life of meaning is.” A person who is worthy of this inspirational quote is Markos Papadatos.

In September of 2012, I had the great pleasure to chat with a prolific writer, journalist, editor, educator, as well as my fellow colleague, Markos, who celebrated a career milestone with the publication of his one-thousandth career article. “When I initially started writing, I had only hoped to someday get to one thousand articles by the time I am fifty years old. I am glad that this achievement happened well before that age,” he said. “Each time I am in the grocery store shopping, or when I am driving in the car with the radio on, or when I am home watching television, or when I am in the gym working out, I always hear songs from musicians or bands that I have had the pleasure of speaking to over the years and I cannot help but smile.”

Markos is one of New York’s best-loved and most sought-after entertainment journalists who has written for Suite101 Online Magazine, Long Island Country Music Examiner, as well as Broken Records Magazine for which he served as Managing Editor and Staff Writer.  His work has been published in seven states and he has won two editor’s choice awards from Suite101 for his interviews with Matt Giraud from American Idol and Nancy Wilson from the classic rock band Heart. Markos’ journalistic passion, though, seeps into other writing avenues as well.  He has also been a robust contributor of diverse articles for Farmingdale and Bayside Patch (from AOL’s Patch), Yahoo’s Associated Content, Queens College’s Knight News, as well as many Greek-American outlets including Hellenic News of America,  the Greek-American Herald, The Hellenic Times, The Greek Star, NEO Magazine and the Hellenic Journal, among others.

His contributions to the Knight News have garnered many Pacemaker nominations which are the Academy Award equivalent for collegiate journalism. His awards for his work at the Knight News, the official college newspaper of Queen’s College, City University of New York, are many, with several first place honors, including: “Best College Newspaper” for 2007-2008 from the American Scholastic Press Association Award (the first-ever for City University of New York), as well as “First Place with Special Merit” from the American Scholastic Press Association Awards in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Markos acknowledged that he has authored the most articles for Queens College in its seventy-five year history with 160 articles.

The President of Queens College, James Muyskens, most recently shared his appreciation of Markos’ writing ability by stating, “I want to congratulate Markos Papadatos for his remarkable achievement of publishing one thousand articles.  I know that Markos had some people along the way that didn’t see his true talent.  We did recognize his talent at Queens College and, as a result, we benefited significantly from his journalistic skills and professionalism. I am confident that his milestone is just a stepping stone in what promises to be an illustrious journalistic career.”

As Markos points out, “I am also proud that over the years I have had the good fortune to interview some amazing interviewers, reporters and radio personalities such as Fox news anchor Ernie Anastos, radio vet Shannon McCombs from Nashville, Tennessee, Annie Reuter, the associate music producer of CBS Radio, as well as Bob Bronson and Christine Nagy from New York’s 106.7 Lite FM, among others. I feel that they have interviewed so many big names and have had so many memorable experiences with them and it is great to see things through their perspective.”

“Congratulations Markos,” exclaimed veteran Fox 5 news anchor Ernie Anastos. “You are a shining star and a tribute to the profession. Here’s to another 1,000 interviews.”

Christine Nagy added, “Markos is one of the most prepared, studied and passionate interviewers that I have ever met.  Markos’ kind, warm manner puts any person he’s interviewing at ease and then his base of knowledge makes the whole process fun and easy.  Markos loves music and is interested in every genre and personality.  He is open enough to welcome other people’s opinions and professional enough to never impose his own upon an interview. His reviews of concerts are always spot on and fair.  I would welcome the chance to work with Markos again and I am honored that my work stood out to him enough that he did a feature on me.”

Although he has a long list of favorites among his one thousand features and the “favorites” are too numerous to list, a few interviews, though, stand out, such as Martina McBride, Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart, Dame Vera Lynn, Merle Haggard, Rascal Flatts, Julie Roberts, Dale Ann Bradley, Susanna Hoffs and Vicki Peterson from The Bangles, Gilles Marini, Jeff Timmons from 98 Degrees. “Gilles Marini and Jeff Timmons are two of the nicest people one can ever meet in the entertainment industry. They are true gentlemen as well as humble and outgoing individuals. They are very serious about their work and they are exceptional at what they do. They are loving husbands and fathers. I am also in awe of their charity work and how they work for such noteworthy causes. They are utterly fantastic and my hat goes off to them,” Markos remarked.

Markos is appreciative of the support and guidance afforded him during the last seven and one-half years of his journalism career. In closing, Markos thanked many for this support, including:  his college professors Doreen Schmitt (from the Anthropology and Linguistic Departments of Queens College) and David Leventhal (from the BALA Department of Queens College).

It is quite obvious from the glowing commentary recognized in this article that a “Markos fan club” is already in the works. Markos has solidified a name for himself within the competitive arena of journalism, and his future endeavors are most certainly bright. Markos is willing and ready for the telling with the next one thousand miles and memories.

In connection with his journalism vocation, Markos is also a licensed primary school teacher.

About Cindy Vasko