MARYSVILLE — Chris Trujillo’s childhood passion for sports not only led him into a career in writing as an adult, but has also contributed to his curiosity about the world around him.
Trujillo first moved to Washington at the age of 10, but before then, he grew up in Denver, Colo.
“Those Broncos games in the Mile High Stadium were a ritual,” said Trujillo, who graduated from the University of Washington in 1998 with a major in communication and an emphasis in journalism. “From the age of 7, I played all the sports, but it wasn’t until an English class when one of my teachers said that I should try to write about sports, because he said I’d be pretty good at that. Of course, when he handed back my paper, it was covered in red ink,” he laughed.
Before Trujillo had even graduated from UW, he already had a job offer from a daily newspaper in Junction City, Kan., to be their sports writer. He and his wife drove there in 1999, but her desire to resume her career with Primera in Washington led to them moving back to Washington in 2000. In the meantime, the high profile of Kansas football gave Trujillo a brief moment of fame of his own.
“I was covering one game, standing at the end zone, when Oklahoma intercepted the ball and started coming toward me,” Trujillo said. “Right after that, I got a call on my cell phone from a buddy who told me, ‘I just saw you on ESPN,’” he laughed.
After stringing full-time for a weekly newspaper in Woodinville from 2000 to 2002, Trujillo “got restless” and decided to see what he could find out of state again. This time, his wife was given a sabbatical from Primera as they moved to Valdosta, Ga., whose climate they both enjoyed.
“It was beautiful all the time,” Trujillo said. “I was one of four people working on a daily newspaper. We all did the pagination, writing and editing.”
When Trujillo’s wife’s aunt began battling with cancer, they returned to Washington since both he and his wife were close to her aunt. Trujillo’s second return to Washington saw him working for the Daily Herald as a clerk and copy editor from 2004 to 2009, after which he became a stringer for the Herald so that he could pursue two new jobs. The first was at a public relations firm in Seattle, and the second was inspired by a holiday trip to Hawaii.
“My wife and I discovered SCUBA there, and we loved it,” Trujillo said. “So I went to work for a SCUBA shop in Seattle.”
From now on, reporting for The Marysville Globe and The Arlington Times is Trujillo’s only job.
“It started out being about sports, but along the way, I fell in love with the news,” Trujillo said. “I love putting together a story and providing information for others, because I’m always looking for information myself.”
Trujillo enjoys learning about writing, which he described as a continuous process of self-improvement, but even more than that, he’s appreciated learning about people.
“I’ve met so many nice people over the years,” Trujillo said. “I’ve heard about so many things that I didn’t even know before. Learning things about people’s lives is cool.”
Trujillo will be covering sports and news for The Arlington Times and The Marysville Globe and can be reached at 360-659-1300 or email at ctrujillo@arlingtontimes.com.
