All of us have a story to tell and, as I say in our mission statement, almost all are worthy of telling.

People become a journalist for a variety of reasons. Some want to uncover wrongdoing and stop it. Others want to inform the public about issues in their community or state. Still others are drawn to the profession for the notoriety a byline can bring them. I became a journalist because I wanted to share people's stories and to give a voice to those who don't have one. I am not the only one who went into journalism for this reason.

My journey began when, as student body president of Southern Christian College in Winchester, I helped start a student newspaper called "The Communicator." The paper was by no means a pillar of the journalism world but did write about the students attending there. And, in spring of 1974 when a controversial student was expelled, the paper gave that student and others who spoke and acted on his behalf a voice.

I liked how giving a voice to people who otherwise would never have one made me feel. Having grown up a little "different" from others, I knew how it felt to be overlooked or considered to be an outsider.

I learned a lot while working on "The Communicator," including how not to be surprised when one day you look around and find you are practically the only one left. I started "The Communicator" with maybe a dozen people. Toward the end, there was Cecil Garrett, the college dean, and me. I have often wondered why Garrett stayed, and I continue to be thankful he did. Garrett taught me how to take pictures, how to develop film, and how to make prints. These are skills I have used to make a living - one way or another -most of my life. To further emphasize Garrett's importance, I should tell you that he was the one who printed the paper. "The Communicator" would not have existed without this fine man's dedication. I would like to share that Garrett did these things after his work day had ended. He came back to the school to help me when I am sure he would have much rather have been home with his family.

Nell Westbrook taught American History and Government classes and served as an advisor to practically half of the student body, myself included. It was Westbrook who recommended that I try majoring in journalism when I transferred to Eastern Kentucky University that fall. I did, and that started me on my career in journalism.

Those who were part of the Department of Mass Communications at Eastern picked up where Garrett and Westbrook left off. Carol Wright, Glenn Klein, Carol Polsgrove, Jim Harris, and others taught me the importance of journalism and journalistic ethics. These are standards I practice every day.

I arrived at the Lexington Herald-Leader in November 1974 with long hair and in bell bottom jeans and - in terms of being a journalist - as green as a long runner bean. I had accepted a freelance assignment during my first semester at Eastern and I went to the newsroom to turn in my article and a couple of photos. Dottie Bean, Margaret Maxwell, and Lu Tayloe took me under their wings and expanded my lessons. I joined the Herald-Leader in 1976 as a full-time employee as part of the Herald's state desk. John Carroll joined the Herald as its editor and restructured the newsroom. I was moved to the newly created universal copy desk (under the leadership of Henry Wright and the late Walter Dorsett) and specialized in laying out the editorial portion of the paper. The Herald and Leader merged on January 3, 1983, and from that day forward put out a single daily edition known as the Herald-Leader. In 1986, I was named design desk editor and supervised a team of designers. I remained in that position until February 1996 when I became the paper's Internet news editor for what is known today as Kentucky.com.

As the Herald-Leader's internet news editor, I truly cherished that opportunity to, once again, write and report. On Monday, February 3, 1997, my staff of two and I published "The Day the Music Died," a special online report on the plane crash that killed rock 'n' roll legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and the pilot, Roger Peterson.

The project's main story ran in that day's Herald-Leader print edition and teased to the online package. It was the first time such a thing had happened at the paper. Our report was well received by the public. The higher-ups at the paper weren't as excited until the weekly web traffic report came in and showed a sharp increase in viewership, including viewers from around the world. Our report drew far more traffic that week than any other news stories. A year later, the Washington Post cited our report as being the most authoritative online account of the crash. Bosses always like such things.

"The Day the Music Died" project fueled my desire to do more special reports. My team and I began researching a musical group based in Orlando that included two Lexington people. My supervisor shut the project down when I briefed him on it. "Nobody will care," he said. "Not enough interest to justify the time." Having attended one of the group's concerts and talked to concert goers as part of my research, I felt otherwise. I shook my head about a month later, when reading national website traffic reports, I noticed that the two most-visited websites the previous week had been one featuring the group I had wanted to write about - The Backstreet Boys. I couldn't help but thinking ours might have been one of those most-visited sites. Sorry, Brian Littrell, sorry Kevin Richardson, I tried.

My online work at the Herald-Leader gave me new skills - ones that would allow me to act on my desire to report and to tell the stories of people who would likely never be featured on a newspaper's website and to publish those stories. While I had never been told I couldn't operate a "competing" website while serving as the paper's Internet news editor, I knew such a thing would be a conflict of interest. Once again, I deferred my mission. That, however, would soon change.

The paper sent me to a training seminar in Northern Virginia in 1998. I spent the day before and the day after visiting Washington, D.C. Never shy, I talked with people I happened to meet. A couple told me stories about their lives, stories that fascinated me.

I came home and thought about the people I had met. I thought about the stories they had told me. I knew that in a city of a million people (on a weekday) there had to be a lot of interesting stories. I thought that if I found these stories interesting that possibly, others would too.

The desire to write these stories became too intense for me to ignore. I interviewed people and doing research. I interviewed people in Washington via phone calls and during occasional visits there. My reporting satisfied the hunger I had. I knew my project would take a long time to complete and would come with some personal risks, but I decided that helping others would be worth it.

Eventually, it became clear to me that to properly finish my research that I needed to live in Washington for two or three months. I left the Herald-Leader in July 1999 to pursue that mission. It took far longer to work my project than I thought it would, but eventually I had enough material and left Washington. By the way, the stories I wrote were well received.

I returned to Kentucky in 2001 and worked at the Louisville Courier-Journal for two years. I moved back to Lexington in 2005. I am presently an information officer for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, a position I have held for the past 10 years.

I have written five crime novels. My first, "The Long, Cool Woman in the Black Dress," is available on Amazon.com. The second, "That Summer in the City" will be available later this year, and the others will roll out in 2016. All are based in Washington, D.C. and have strong connections to Lexington, especially my main character, Ryan Crosby. The books contain characters and story lines based on people I met while working my project.

In my fifth novel, Ryan Crosby comes home to Lexington to visit his sick father. The novel, whose working title is "My Old Kentucky Home," offers a series of short stories about Kentuckians. The elder Crosby tells his son that Lexington has a lot of interesting people too and how it is a shame Ryan didn't stay in Lexington and write about them.

A friend of mine, Rita Gatton, has made a routine of sharing posts on Facebook from a website called Humans of New York. The posts show people and give us a glimpse into their lives by sharing something about each of them.

I have adapted that concept and my skills as a photojournalist into WeAreLexington.com.

Those who have previewed the site have liked it. Some have offered to help me with the content, and I hope they do. This is where you can help. If you know of someone worthy of being featured as either a photo profile or a longer text-driven one, please let me know. Maybe that person is you. If so, don't be shy, make your pitch.

If you have taken an interesting photograph here in Fayette County and want to share it, send it to us. For a variety of reasons, we probably won't be able to use everything sent to us or recommended, but I promise you that your material will be seriously considered.

Remember to send IDs and your contact information.

Help me tell the story of Lexington. It truly is a fascinating one.

-- Malcolm Stallons