Journalism, Law, Music, and Dance: A Visit with Bonnie Atwood

By Terry Haycock

Photos: Above: Bonnie with her publication and in 1966 as a chorus member of the Ice Capades.

Meet Bonnie Atwood, editor of Virginia Capitol Connections Quarterly Magazine, a “one-stop source for non-partisan statewide political news.” Bonnie’s service to VCCQM goes back to 1998 when staff shared one office computer and procured daily paper copies of legislative bills, lugging them to their desks for perusal. She notes that there were about 100 bills per day. At that time, staff had pagers, not cell phones, and had to find a phone to respond to calls!

Since there is currently a Democratic majority in the General Assembly, a phenomenon not seen in 25 years, Bonnie notes that there are a lot of new rules and more controversies about them than we normally see. These days, with the coronavirus safeguard rules of social distancing disrupting lives, business, and government across the U.S., along with the assembly scheduled to reconvene soon to vote on these bills, major questions are being raised about how to meet since current law says legislators have to meet together face-to-face in order to vote. Truly a dilemma for the government. How will it manage? Since journalists who report on government machinations often rely on nonverbal gestures as well as verbiage to discern truth, the current rules pose additional new challenges.

Bonnie’s journey to VCCQM began when she was hired as a reporter on a daily newspaper after graduating from George Mason University in Fairfax. She hated it the first two weeks, but eventually got used to the stress of 7 a.m. deadlines and loved it. Bonnie says, “Every day was different and interesting.”

She did take a break to marry and have children; she freelanced at home, later earning a law degree from the University of Richmond. When she met a state lobbyist who valued her background in writing and law, he hired her. Bonnie’s thought was, “Wow, this is for me!” Here, she could use her skills to help groups of people in ways that differed from traditional law practice. She loves her job. Often asked to advise others on earning a degree in maturity, she opines that “ … you have to want it really, really bad. Something has to keep you going … ”

Hard to believe that she has any, but in spare time, Bonnie tap dances — not the political kind, the Gene Kelly kind! During the present social distancing culture, the dance group meets each Thursday via an online virtual class to keep up their skills. Bonnie has performed in three dance recitals. As a youth, she loved figure skating and was a chorus member in the 1966–67 Ice Capades tribute Nat King Cole. But Bonnie says she no longer skates. She also loves music and is an avid reader, most recently “The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame” by Rick Hall, legendary record producer, and “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook” by Mark Bray. She is nothing if not eclectic.

When the current situation is resolved, you will want to meet Bonnie at a VPC meeting. In the meantime, check out her work on the VCCQM website at vccqm.org. Bonnie’s wish for all of us is to stay safe.