15 years as a staff reporter with:
4,400+ published major-market newspaper articles
39 state and national reporting awards
Magazine Articles
The Burning Bush
This recounting of one of most bizarre Sunday Masses in the history of Catholicism was a finalist for a James Thurber Humor Fellowship. It ultimately finished second, but found a much larger audience in Mad Magazine.
Smoky grapes and ghostly roads
As the national media encamped in Santa Rosa during the 2017 wildfires that ravaged that town, nearby Napa and its $6 billion wine industry was poised on the verge of something apocalyptic -- again. BONUS: Hear the NPR audio report
The New Meat Rules
Niman Ranch has bucked all the trends of the meat industry in carving a niche in the finest restaurants in America. Here's the untold story of the company's maverick namesake.
Bad to the bone in Berkeley
Cal All-America defensive end Andre Carter missed neither a game nor a practice in college. So why are NFL teams still weighing his merits?
Love's Brazen Poll
A heartbroken journalist finds newfound respect for matrimony’s wily ambassador, love, and the way it swaggers with brazen conviction into a game fraught with loaded dice.
The Superintendent of No
When the State of California took over the troubled Oakland Public Schools, the man charged with cleaning up the mess came to be known as "The Superintendent of No."
Journalism Testimonials
Don Coulter, Executive Sports Editor, Oakland Tribune/ANG Newspapers (1996-2000)
"I hired Brian Higgins in 1997 to cover University of California football when I served as executive sports editor at ANG Newspapers in the Bay Area. He settled into the new beat quickly and seamlessly in taking over for a veteran reporter who had been assigned new duties.
Brian was a breath of fresh air. In a profession that can feature cynical – if not jaded – reporters, Brian was enthusiastic, as well as receptive to feedback and new approaches. His stories were accurate, balanced and delivered with the speed needed to meet often outrageous deadlines.
Perhaps Brian’s greatest gift as a reporter is something you can’t teach in journalism school: Being a compassionate and understanding listener. Getting sources to truly reveal themselves is a difficult trick for many a reporter. One of the reasons Brian excelled at feature writing is that he had a knack for getting people to open up – on the record. He earned their trust.
Brian proved versatile beyond his coverage of Cal football. He often was scheduled to augment our coverage of major league baseball and other sports – sometimes on short notice – and filled in admirably. I highly recommend Brian for his skills and talents as a reporter."
LinkedIn Recommendation
Don Coulter has been the deputy managing editor/sports of the Portland (ME) Press since 2007
Tony Stastny, Sports Editor, Savannah Morning News & Evening Press (1981-2015)
"Just a few months after I hired Brian Higgins, he broke the biggest sports story in the 135-year history of our newspaper, generating a lot of national attention for the newspaper. He was the first sportswriter in more than a half-century to earn Georgia Story of the Year Awards from the Associated Press two years in a row. In baseball, we refer to the rarest of players as being 5-tool players. Brian was one of the rare 5-tool journalists very early in his career: big ideas; advanced powers of observation; an elite interviewer who was masterful at eliciting insightful quotes; a phenomenal writer; and fearless in uncovering the truth."
Scott Monserud, Sports Editor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram (1993-2001)
"I was so smart that i hired Brian twice -- once as an undergrad in Illinois and a dozen years later as our NFL writer in Dallas. He's a passionate guy who rubs off on everyone around him, be it colleagues, his interview subjects or the guys down in the press room. Plus, two years after I'd given up, Brian taught my daughter to ride a bike in one afternoon."
Scott Monserud has been the Assistant Managing Editor/Sports of the Denver Post since 2002. Hhired Brian Higgins to his sports staff of the Southern Illinoisan and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.