Please join us in welcoming our newest contributor here at New York History, Peter Slocum.  Slocum is a former journalist and public health advocate who now serves the North Star Underground Railroad Museum in Ausable Chasm as a volunteer docent, writer and programs chair. Prior to retiring full-time in the Adirondacks in 2011, Slocum worked in and around state government for more than 35 years.

As a journalist, he covered politics and government for the Washington Park Spirit, Troy Record, Associated Press and the NY Daily News. He then supervised the public affairs office of the NYS Department of Health for 12 years, dealing with such issues as AIDS, Love Canal, tobacco control, environmental health, expanding insurance coverage and emergency planning.

After a spell on the State Senate staff, he worked in public health advocacy with non-profits, Family Planning Advocates and the American Cancer Society. He worked on issues ranging from reproductive rights and universal health coverage to higher cigarette taxes and smoke-free laws.

A co-author of the book From Rocky to Pataki: Character and Caricature in New York State Politics, Slocum is also a Adirondack 46er. He and his wife live in Keene, Essex County.