Thursday April 7th, 2005: Page updated at 12:00 AM

Meet the editorial writers

The staff for the editorial pages of The Seattle Times is separate from other editors and writers at the newspaper. Their work is guided by The Seattle Times Editorial Board.

	Jim Vesely, Editorial Page Editor jvesely@seattletimes.com; 206-464-2323 As editorial page editor, Jim is final arbiter responsible for the material that appears on The Times' editorial pages. He also writes a weekly column on regional issues. Jim has worked at newspapers in the Midwest and Alaska. He lives on Mercer Island.
	Lee Moriwaki, Associate Editorial Page Editor/Op-Ed lmoriwaki@seattletimes.com; 206-464-2320 Lee solicits and edits local guest commentaries for the daily op-ed page. He is also the lead editor of the commentaries that run on the Sunday Opinion section front. Lee joined The Seattle Times in 1975 as a race relations reporter. He later covered the Legislature, local government, higher education, religion and special projects. Lee is a former editor of the South King County and Snohomish County news bureaus.
	Joni Balter, Editorial Writer jbalter@seattletimes.com; 206-464-2240 Joni, a veteran Seattle Times reporter, has been an editorial writer since 1995. She is the political writer for the page, covering local, state and national politics. She lives near Seward Park with her husband, an author and journalist, and two school-age children. A good weekend always includes a run along Lake Washington with close friends.
	Eric Devericks, Editorial Cartoonist edevericks@seattletimes.com; 206-464-2773 Eric's addition to the Seattle Times editorial staff signals the beginning of his professional career. He joins the staff from Oregon State University, where his editorial cartoons for the student newspaper earned him three national journalism awards, including the John Locher Memorial Award and finalist for the Charles M. Schulz Award. Eric lives in Bothell with his beautiful wife and daughter.
	Lance W. Dickie, Editorial Writer ldickie@seattletimes.com; 206-464-2324 Lance writes on environmental and natural resources issues, and other regional and international topics. He joined the editorial page in 1988 from Oregon. Lance has been a Congressional Fellow and Jefferson Fellow. He and his wife live in Kenmore. They have two grown daughters.
	Bruce Ramsey, Editorial Writer bramsey@seattletimes.com; 206-464-2057 Bruce joined the editorial staff in March 2000 after a career as a business reporter and columnist. He writes about East Asia, international trade, economics, property rights and constitutional law. A Seattle native, he grew up in Edmonds. He lives on Phinney Ridge with his wife, an immigrant from Hong Kong, and their school-age son.
	Kate Riley, Editorial Writer kriley@seattletimes.com; 206-464-2260 Kate joined the editorial page staff in May 2002 to cover regional issues. She returned to the Seattle area after spending 17 years working at Eastern Washington newspapers, where she was a reporter, editorial writer and editorial page editor. She is married to a journalist, and they have one son.
	Lynne Varner, Editorial Writer lvarner@seattletimes.com; 206-464-3217 Prior to joining the editorial staff, Lynne was a reporter who wrote about education, county government and state politics. On the editorial page, Lynne writes about K-12 education, family and health care issues and science. Lynne recently returned to the Editorial Page after a nine-month fellowship at Stanford University. She and her husband live in the city of Sammamish and have a young son.
	Ryan Blethen, Assistant Editorial Page Editor rblethen@seattletimes.com; 206-464-2210 Ryan writes about issues in Kitsap, South King, and Pierce counties. He has worked as an editor and reporter in Maine and Eastern Washington. He lives in Kitsap County with his wife and daughter.