Fred Balzac

I have extensive experience as a writer, editor, and community/nonprofit organizer as well as a community volunteer. As a medical writer-editor, I worked closely with some of the country's top neurologists on a redefinition of TIA (transient ischemic attack) published in articles in the New England Journal of Medicine and the journal Neurology that's been adopted in clinical trials and practice guidelines. As a community organizer residing in the Adirondacks, I led the effort to protect the stunningly beautiful Jay (NY) rapids and swimming hole and preserve the historic Jay Covered Bridge—a grassroots group effort that resulted in a million-dollar Federal, state, and county plan to renovate the covered bridge and enhance the recreational river-corridor area on either side of it. My writing and community service work has won or shared awards in journalism (e.g., Best Arts Coverage in NYS, Circulation Division 2, from the NY Press Association), essay writing (the statewide "Critical Choices" competition commemorating New York's Bicentennial, with a piece advocating for voting rights for the homeless), playwriting (ADK Center for Writing/North Country Public Radio One-Act Play competition), and the Community Action Award from the Adirondack Council. I am currently a candidate for Supervisor of the Town of North Elba, running on the Green Party line.