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Debra Lo Guercio is a native of Northern California and a graduate of La Sierra High School in Carmichael. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California at Davis. She worked in the social services field for 10 years before switching to journalism in 1992. She has lived in the small town of Winters, California since 1981, where she has been the managing editor and columnist at the local weekly newspaper, the Winters Express, for 13 years. She is also a weekly columnist for the daily Davis Enterprise and Fairfield Daily Republic, as well as a biweekly columnist for the Placerville Mountain Democrat. All four are part of McNaughton Newspapers.

As editor and columnist for the Winters Express, Debra has two first place awards and three second place awards for writing columns from the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Under her editorship, the Winters Express won the CNPA’s General Excellence award in 2001, as well as second place awards for its editorial page and lifestyle coverage.

At the national level, Debra has three first place, a second place and two third place awards for columns from the National Newspaper Association, as well as a third place award for environmental reporting. The Winters Express also won a second place award in 1998 from the NNA for General Excellence, with Debra serving as editor. Debra also writes a biweekly column for the national syndicate, the Front Porch, which chose her as their featured columnist after conducting a national column writing contest in 2002, which Debra won.

In addition to her “Because I Say So” column, Debra also writes a local travel column, “Inns & Outs”, which is published in the Davis Enterprise, Fairfield Daily Republic and Winters Express, as well as a brief entertainment/critique column, “A Quick Critique”, which appears in the Winters Express. Samples of all three columns can be found on her website, www.eDebra.com.

Debra has served both as a CNPA Better Newspaper Contest judge and an essay judge for the Yolo County Academic Decathlon for 12 years. In addition to her writing and editing activities, she is interested in screenwriting and playwriting. She is the parent of two grown children, who have been the topic of many columns over the years, and is a former Little League and junior cheerleading coach, coaching the latter to a state championship. Her hobbies include belly dancing and learning to play the bagpipes.

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