Erica R. Hendry, Patch Staff

Email: erica.hendry@patch.com Phone: 571-269-1617 Hometown: Hopkinton, Mass. Birthday: December 2

Erica R. Hendry graduated from Ithaca College with degrees in journalism and music.

While in college, she worked in a number of capacities at the Ithacan, the college's award-winning student newspaper, including as Editor in Chief, and helped the paper begin its transition from a weekly print to an online daily product.  She was also president of the Society of Professional Journalists, played field hockey, and spent a lot of time with her tuba.

She worked for the Ithaca Journal, a 22,000-circulation daily in Ithaca, NY, during and after college. She's also written and produced videos for the Boston Globe, USA Today and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Before coming to Patch, she was writing, blogging and producing videos for Smithsonian Magazine in Washington, D.C.

As a musician, Erica is drawn to stories about music issues and artists, but she's reported on a wide range of issues,  including education and higher education, health and science, environmental issues, local business, sports and features. For stories, she's lived off the grid on Sapelo Island , been forced into a barn with breeding horses during a rain storm, and sat next to sight-impaired teenagers as they test-drove cars for the blind.

She loves dark roast coffee, cooking and her big Italian family (and thinks all of these things are probably related), has a fierce loyalty to Boston sports, and is forever trying to find time to train for a marathon. She has a fish named Brady, who she's kept alive for almost four years and through about a dozen perilous multi-state moves, but she really wants to adopt a dog.

Your Beliefs At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for you to inject your beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that your beliefs are on the record will cause you to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know. Politics

The short answer is that I'm currently a registered independent, because I tend to take politics issue by issue rather than by candidate. Part of the long answer is that I think citizens would be more closely and actively represented in a multi-party, not bi-party, system.

I voted for Barack Obama. I support gay and women's rights. Ask me if you want to know what I think about anything else.

Religion I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church.

My family is diverse – my grandparents were immigrants, and three out of my four aunts aren't American – so I've been exposed to a number of different religions and cultures that way. I find all types of religion fascinating, and think relationships with God are personal and individual, not political.