A native of Oregon, Rick Attig was the editorial board's lead writer on state government, politics, environment, and energy issues. He joined the editorial board in 1998 after 13 years at the Bulletin in Bend, Oregon. He graduated from the University of Oregon with bachelor's degrees in journalism and political science.

Attig won more than 45 state, regional, and national newspaper awards, including the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing with his friend and colleague Doug Bates. His wife, Courtenay Thompson, was also a writer, and the couple had two sons.

Listen to Attig talk about his background.