Charlie Fleishman is looking forward to writing about Cowboys, Rangers and Redhawks.

The seven-year Port Townsend resident is the new contributing sportswriter for the Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader.

The native of Poughkeepsie, New York, lived in California and Oregon for 30 years. He is retired from the natural foods business – he was cofounder of Wildtime Foods – and also from the family retail furniture business. His years in Eugene, Oregon, led him to become a member of the Oregon Track Club. He worked as a staff member on track meets and road races, and was involved in regional and national events. Personally, he did "mid-pack running" in road races.

Fleishman is the online facilitator for Track and Field News, a national publication that collects and updates information and statistics for competition ranging from the high school and college levels to professional world records.

"I'm a sports guy," Fleishman said. "For sports junkies, track and field is great because there are lots of statistics."

He lives in Port Townsend with his wife, Maria, who is an artist and writer. He volunteers with KPTZ-FM 91.9 radio, where he records and edits two shows: "Nature Now" and "In Conversation."

For the Leader, Fleishman is helping to collect and prepare results from Port Townsend, Quilcene and Chimacum high school sporting events.

"I like to report accurately and fairly, and I look forward to getting to know coaches," he said.

Contact Fleishman at cf@nwfam.com.