Longtime columnist Mike Tasos joins Appen Media

With a keen eye for the absurd, columnist Mike Tasos comes aboard Appen Media with more than a decade of experience getting personal with readers.

“I remember telling my grandmother I wanted to be a columnist,” Tasos said. “And she started crying because she thought I meant ‘communist.’”

Before breaking into the pharmaceutical industry in 1981, Tasos was a sports writer in California. While there, Tasos went the extra mile and went through the hiring process for the CIA. At his ripe age, Tasos has a lot of stories to tell.

“There’s just a lot to me,” Tasos said. “I sure hope to hell I don't bore anybody.”

He jumped back into writing at Forsyth County News in 2010, but on a more personal note.

This January his perch moves to Appen Media, where he will opine from appenmedia.com and the Herald and Crier newspapers. 

“Mike has proved himself as an opinion writer and community staple,” Appen Media Director of Content and Development Carl Appen said in a statement. “We’re lucky to have him and his column join our newsroom.”

As a general column writer, Tasos said the world is his easel. He might paint a picture of his time spent at a professional bull riding show or about his friends and family, but all in his distinct conversational style.

Inspired by columnists like Lewis Grizzard and Jim Murray, Tasos said he wants readers to enjoy their time with him and hopes to continue eliciting laughter, and maybe some tears if readers feel so moved, at Appen Media.