About me

I’m a magazine writer in Boston, enterprise editor at the New Bedford Light, and a journalism lecturer at Boston University.
I’ve written for POLITICO Magazine, the Washington Post, and Smithsonian. I’m a former staffer for Experience Magazine, Boston magazine and Cleveland Magazine. I’ve also written for The Boston Globe Magazine, TheAtlantic.com, Columbia Journalism Review, and Agence France-Presse.
My interests and obsessions include politics, crime and policing, cities and transit, science and technology, arts & culture, books, robots, penguins, the Korean DMZ, France, American history, and Eliot Ness.
I’ve written about a micronation, a microvillage, surfing Lake Erie, and going places you’re not supposed to go.
Great article on Politico regarding millennials influencing mass transit decisions/strategies in Boston!
Erick, I liked your article on the US Army in Russia after WW 1. I first learned about the “Detroit Brigade” as they were called by the Detroit Free Press, when, as a U Mich grad student, I was taking time off from writing my dissertation by roaming the stacks. I happened to come upon a book about the army in Russia. I don’t think many people know about it.
Thank you for the article from the First World War and the mention of the Czech Legion from that time. My grandfather was a train driver in the Czech legions in an armored train that traveled through Siberia to Vladivostok, where he boarded a French ship. During the ride, they fought with the Red Army, torn tracks and Russian girls.
Hi Mr. Trickey, thank you for a thorough article in Politico in 2017 on How a Sewer will Save St. Louis . Found it today while looking up other information…would you consider doing a follow up to this article to chart the progress on the project? I would be happy to help you out with lodging and an on-the ground tour of recently flooded areas – the second flood in two years for our street. Don’t know if Politico would be interested…
I don’t know where else to leave this so I’ll try here. But you know how, at times, someone of great stature within cinema would refer to another actor’s performance and say something along the lines of “that- that is what acting really is” or something with similar gravity. The implications being that you are lost in the performance and “unaware” or forgetting that you are watching ‘acting’.
Well, within the last hour I read a piece by Erick Trickey from 2013- I have been unaware of him before this, though it is possible I’ve read his work on Politico and not paid attention to author bylines- sorry- and I’d like to say- that is what good writing is. That one article I read made me scroll back up to see Trickey’s name. THAT is writing. Well done. Thank you.