![](\"http:\/\/bac.ysu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sharon-Rae-North-300x239.jpg\")
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Photo of Sharon Rae North<\/p>\n
Sharon Rae North, \u201887
\nShe\u2019s got a prestigious media relations position with the city of Richmond, Va., and her award-winning journalism career included an exciting stint as news writer and fill-in anchor for CNN in Atlanta.
\nBut for Sharon Rae North, that\u2019s just a way to pay the bills. It\u2019s jazz that gets her heart racing.
\n\u201cMy job is what I do, and I can switch careers anytime I get ready,\u201d she says. \u201cBut a singer is what I am, and I can\u2019t change that. I don\u2019t sing because I love to sing, I sing because I just can\u2019t not sing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sharon Rae North
\nNorth is a recording artist who released her second commercial CD titled \u201cGee Baby\u201d in November, and she\u2019s opened on stages nationwide for jazz greats such as Patti LaBelle, Joe Sample and Sonny Liston Smith. When the cast and crew for Steven Spielberg\u2019s movie \u201cLincoln\u201d planned a party to celebrate completing the film, they brought North and her jazz trio in to entertain.
\nFascinated with music since childhood, North said her singing career started to take off while she was working in Atlanta, and she\u2019s built a strong following in the Richmond metro area since moving there five years ago. She fulfilled a lifelong dream last spring \u2013 a gig as lead vocalist for the Central Virginia Jazz Orchestra. She also performs with the Jason Jenkins Jazz Quartet and a corporate band called Horizon.
\nHer first CD was produced by her boyfriend, Vic Smiley, an accomplished guitarist and producer in his own right; \u201cGee Baby was produced by Richmond-based 32 Bar Records.
\nNorth grew up in Youngstown, graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School and earned a BA in speech communications from YSU in 1987, working full-time as a clerk for the Youngstown Police Department through most of her college years. After that, she completed a master\u2019s degree in mass media communications at the University of Akron, then worked in a succession of broadcasting jobs, including WYTV in Youngstown and TV stations in North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, New York and Atlanta.
\nAs a CNN news writer and occasional anchor, North wrote for most of its affiliated networks, and when the Iraq War began her workload went from hectic to overwhelming. \u201cI was working around the clock. I remember going out to the parking deck, sleeping for a few hours, then going back in to work another shift,\u201d she said. \u201cThe money was great, but after a while I got burned out and decided there was more to life than those newsrooms.\u201d
\nShe landed her position as public information manager for Richmond\u2019s Department of Public Works in 2008, where she is responsible for internal and external publications and media relations. \u201cIt\u2019s quite a change for me, as a former reporter,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen the media comes a-callin\u2019, I\u2019m on the other side.\u201d
\nNorth has one other accomplishment that even takes precedence over her musical career \u2013 a children\u2019s book she wrote in memory of her father in 2003. Entitled My Brand New Leg, the book was underwritten by Ohio Willow Wood, a prosthetics manufacturer, and endorsed by the Amputee Coalition of America.
\nHer father died from complications of diabetes, and the book was based on a conversation he had with a little girl shortly after losing his legs. \u201cIt\u2019s about acceptance. It teaches kids that it\u2019s OK to ask about differences,\u201d she said. \u201cOf all the things I\u2019ve done in my life, the book is the thing I\u2019m most proud of.\u201d The book and her CDs are available on North\u2019s website, http:\/\/www.sharonraenorth.com.
\n(Previously published in YSU Magazine, Winter 2013)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Photo of Sharon Rae North Sharon Rae North, \u201887 She\u2019s got a prestigious media relations position with the city of Richmond, Va., and her award-winning journalism career included an exciting stint as news writer and fill-in anchor for CNN in Atlanta. But for Sharon Rae North, that\u2019s just a way to pay the bills. It\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":46,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-288","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n