Patrick Holmes For 40 years, Patrick Holmes has worked as a writer, newspaper editor and publisher and for the past seven years has served as editor and publisher of The Free Press, the daily newspaper in Kinston, North Carolina. As editor of three daily newspapers since 1987, he has led his staffs to over 150 awards for writing, photography and design. Pat has personally earned a dozen awards for news and editorial writing and for photography. Patrick believes he has found his niche in community-sized dailies, because the editor’s role there allows him to combine his love for newspapering with his passion for teaching. (The bachelor’s degree in English he earned from Campbell University took Pat into the classroom as a high school teacher for a time before he returned to the newsroom.) He is proud of his record of having never missed a publication date over decades of daily deadlines, but he is most proud of the many young reporters whom he has mentored and helped start on careers that have taken them to some of the nation’s best-known news organizations. He has supported his craft as a director of the North Carolina Press Association, as president of North Carolina Associated Dailies and of the Associated Press News Council. As a community volunteer, he has served as president and campaign chair for the local United Way, as president of the Boys and Girls Club Board and as a director of the county Red Cross chapter and regional Boy Scout Council. For fun, Patrick enjoys reading, photography, writing fiction, working out and spending time at the beach. He begins each morning with meditation. He’s a fan of college sports (UNC) and professional baseball (Kinston Indians, Yankees). He and Jeannie have been married for 14 years and share their home with the incomparable Nugget, who is pictured on this page. Life with Jeannie, he says, has left him well-fed, well-loved and well on the way to being a better person. Patrick has a tendency to snore, according to his spouse. They'll lodge next door to the tolerant Kim and Tad. Giggle!
Jeannie Holmes "House Mother" Jeannie Holmes is on the faculty of Arendell Parrott Academy, eastern North Carolina’s premiere private school. She has worked in education for 11 years, in Alamance, Greene and Lenoir counties. She was named Assistant of the Year at two different schools in Greene County and in 2006 received the Pride of Greene award as the school system’s top employee. She is a student of the culinary and domestic arts. A gourmet cook, she enjoys planning dinner parties and occasionally uses her skills to cater private affairs. Jeannie could well be the blue ribbon queen of county fairs in North Carolina, having earned awards for entries as diverse as soap made from bear fat to pig-pen pickles. Her creativity runs the gamut from interior decorating to extravagant Halloween displays. As an organic gardener, she delights in growing unusual vegetables and especially enjoys sharing her knowledge with children. She created a children’s garden for students in Greene County and each summer volunteers at the children’s garden in Kinston, where she lives. Her colleagues at school voted her “Person Most Likely to be Confused with Martha Stewart.” She is the proud mother of Nugget, a four-year-old Golden Retriever, who Jeannie contends is the world's prettiest and smartest dog. She also concedes that Nugget sets the household agenda. She is married to Patrick Holmes, with whom she shares a love of baseball, travel, North Carolina beaches and traditional pottery. Their collection of pottery features some of the best-known kilns in North Carolina and Jeannie has been known to throw a pot herself from time to time. Luckily, her husband ducks.