John Nagy, The Pilot Journalist Profile

Articles

Column: Dad, the African Dictator and A Story You Won’t See Online

2 weeks ago | thepilot.com | John Nagy

It’s hard to see photos of your father sucking up to a dictator and one of history’s great kleptocrats. But when you’re a government public affairs officer and part of your job is to give tours to visiting dignitaries, you cinch up your tie and put on your best “right this way, Your Excellency” smile, right? In cleaning out the garage recently, I came across a few old boxes of Dad’s stuff that somehow had stayed behind with me.
Column: The Steal of a Lifetime, or My Weekend in Las Vegas

3 weeks ago | thepilot.com | John Nagy

Having fun is no fun these days, and it sure isn’t cheap. Our monthly entertainment spend is normally appropriated for TV streaming services. But last month my tie-dyed-in-the-wool Deadhead wife brought up the idea, for her birthday, of traveling to Las Vegas to catch one of the few remaining residency dates for Dead & Company, the latest — but probably not last — iteration of The Grateful Dead.
We’re Going More In-Depth to Tell Unique Community Stories

1 month ago | thepilot.com | John Nagy

When your news staff here at The Pilot began talking at the end of last year about goals for 2025, more in-depth reporting was on everyone’s list. The results of that have been borne out over the last several months. You have no doubt noticed that Sunday editions of The Pilot frequently have been anchored by one prominent story on the front page. Those stories have continued inside to one or two full pages and include additional photography and design.
Column: I Never Heard Knocking, But The Old Man Got in Anyway

1 month ago | thepilot.com | John Nagy

My wife and I were fortunate enough last month to catch the performance of former Prairie Home Companion creator Garrison Keillor at Sandhills Community College. From the stage of the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center, Keillor spent much of his 90-minute act reflecting about the relative freedom of getting old. It’s a subject the writer, humorist and keen observer of life turns to frequently these days as he approaches 83.
Column: We’re a Great Place to Live, But Success Comes at a Cost

2 months ago | thepilot.com | John Nagy

If you think you’re seeing more traffic these days or finding it harder to avoid a crowd, demographers have a warning: Get used to it. According to new data, those who study population trends project North Carolina will become the seventh most populous state within the next 10 years, if not sooner. We’re already ninth largest, and Georgia and Ohio are within a makeable reach. kAm|@@C6 r@F?EJ A=2JD 2 3:8 A2CE :?
Column: A Sound Decision? Our Spring Soundtrack Is Changing Its Tune

2 months ago | thepilot.com | John Nagy

Aah, spring — a season when a young man’s fancy turns to love and an old man’s turns to opening the windows. I’ve always been a big fan of fresh air in the house. Mom would crank open the windows at the first cracks of a warm early spring day to “air out the house.” Since she was the only woman in a house with four boys and a husband, I suspect there was a lot to air out. kAm%96C6’D 2 E9:? =:?6 @7 E:>6 — 2?5 3J E96 E:>6 E9:D 4@=F>? CF?D H6 H:== 92G6 4C@DD65 :E — 36EH66?
Column: Losing Sleep Over How Some Are Using the Events of Jan. 6

2 months ago | thepilot.com | John Nagy

Fever dreams and sleepless nights have a lot in common. There’s the tossing and turning, the nonsensical images that flash before your mind’s eye, the hallucinatory fog that makes perfect sense of nonsense. Either way, all you want to do is get to dawn’s reality. kAmx DA6?E 2 =@E @7 E:>6 2H2<6 :? E96 A2DE >@?E9 H96? x D9@F=5 92G6 366? D=66A:?8] p?J@?6 H9@ 92D <?@H?
Appreciating a Time to Heal And a Time to Get Back at It

Mar 8, 2025 | thepilot.com | John Nagy

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Column: The Boy in Parentheses, or The Return of Johnny Twosticks

Jan 25, 2025 | thepilot.com | John Nagy

A little over two years ago in this space, I shared my experience in receiving a hip transplant. It went over so well — both the column and the surgery — that I’ve decided to reprise the whole affair. Father Time and his black-sheep brother, Osteoarthritis, have a way of having their way with the human body, turning many of us into partial cyborgs at some point in our lives.
Column: Don’t Panic, But I Know Why We’re All in Freak-Out Mode

Jan 18, 2025 | thepilot.com | John Nagy

I was about at the midway point of the Pinehurst Tajma-Teeter, between the pasta sauce and spaghetti, when I came to a cold stop and realized why I was finding the shelves so diminished. To some extent, that’s the state of retail and the labor market these days; stores can’t hire enough people to put out the freight, leaving some places looking like a Moscow market. But that wasn’t what was inflicting this particular problem. kAmu@C DE2CE6CD[ E9:D H2D 2 %9FCD52J[ @C E96 E@C?25:4 A96?@>6?@?