Meet Zack McMillin, journalist for Memphis' major daily newspaper. Here, he answers my questions about his strangest stories, local news writing and Memphis' best-kept secrets: Name: Zack McMillin Occupation: Journalist at the Commercial Appeal Hometown: Memphis -- grew up in Frayser. Neighborhood: We call it east East Memphis. Close enough to Memphis's just-opened Wolf River Nature Trail that I often ride my bikes there from the house. My favorite thing about local news is: the remarkable people you meet and with whom you become closely acquainted. Very few "jobs" require you to make such close connections to such a wide array of people, and Memphis's variety of unforgettable characters never ceases to amaze me. When people from out of town ask me about Memphis, I tell them: They usually say, "Oh, you're from Tennessee." I correct them and say, "Actually, I'm from Memphis." It's a place where people who want to make a difference really can make an impact. My favorite Memphis secret is: Not many folks around here realize that one of the country's top historians, Columbia University professor Kenneth Jackson, grew up in Memphis and graduated from then-Memphis State University. Many consider his book, "Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States," among the most important works of history in the last half-century. I'm working on: We're preparing for the imminent ruling on the path schools consolidation will take, and of course the Memphis city elections are just around the corner. The strangest story I've covered in Memphis was: Some of the hard news stories are downers, so I'll go with the Tic Price scandal. I was covering Tiger basketball when he resigned as coach after it emerged he was having an affair with an undergraduate. Of course, that turn of events led to John Calipari coming to Memphis.  I'll never forget getting the scoop that Cal was interested in the job. He called me on my clunky cell phone, and I pulled into the shopping center at Crump and Danny Thomas and scribbled notes while parked underneath that old "THINK GOD" sign If it was my last day in Memphis, I would: I like the idea of taking my wife and kids on a tour of all the neighborhoods I've lived -- Frayser, Raleigh, Overton Park, Central Gardens, East Memphis. If I had to describe myself in one sentence, I would do it thusly: On my Facebook page, I just have two words, "Juggling. Everything. I love Memphis because: I've been given some great opportunities and had the privilege of meeting so many wonderful people. And made some good memories along the way, too.