Gary Clites was born in Cumberland, Maryland and was raised in what is now Carpendale, West Virginia. He graduated from Frankfort High School in Short Gap, West Virginia where he met his future wife, Robin Kimble.
Gary went to West Virginia University, where he majored in news-editorial journalism. He graduated in 1982, into the worst recessions prior to the one going on now. He worked in television and radio for a number of years while the business was in a major contraction. Between jobs, he began substitute teaching at a local high school and was surprised to find he loved it. In the late 80's, he returned to school to earn a certificate in secondary education from Frostburg State University.
In 1988, he and Robin moved to Calvert County, Maryland, to teach. Over the years, Gary worked with other teachers and the Calvert County Schools to develop a model journalism and communications program for the county. In 1995, he earned his masters in journalism from the top five Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. Around that time, he was hired as technology columnist for the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund's Adviser Update, the publication for journalism teachers and advisers, a post he has held to this day. In 1995, he joined the Board of Directors of the Maryland Scholastic Press Association. A little over a year later, he was elected president of the organization, which later became the Maryland-DC Scholastic Press Association, a post he would hold for 12 years.
Over that period, Gary became a nationally known writer and speaker on journalism education, speaking at dozens of conferences and conventions and publishing articles in a number of magazines and newsletters. He consulted on three national textbooks and won four national recognitions as a journalism educator including winning second place in the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund's National Journalism Teacher of the Year program and a Gold Key from the Columbia Scholastic Press Adviser's Association at Columbia University.
As a writer, though dedicated to journalism, Gary never lost his interest in fiction. Over a number of years, he worked on the manuscript of Seneca Wood, his first novel which will be published by Casperian Books in the Spring of 2009.
Gary lives in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland with his wife Robin and daughters Rachel and Mallory.
