Fred worked for 40 years as a journalist in the Pacific Northwest. Almost half of that time was spent at the Port Townsend Leader, first as a reporter in the 1990s, and, after a few years away, he returned to become the General Manager. After leaving The Leader in 2015, he became the executive director of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, and he also was a board member with the Washington Coalition for Open Government. He retired in 2024. He and his wife Mary, a retired teacher, have lived in Port Townsend since 2003 and enjoy frequent visits with their four grandchildren and their son and daughter in law.