Where I’ve Been          What I’ve Seen          About Ginger

Jason Pafundi was born on June 26, 1979, in Dunedin, Florida, to parents Barbara and Ted, who moved from New York City to the Sunshine State in 1978 to raise a family.

While at Sutherland Elementary School in Palm Harbor, Pafundi was accepted to the gifted program, where the origins of his love for the written word can be traced.

After leaving Sutherland, Pafundi went to Tarpon Springs High School, where he played basketball and was a member of the yearbook staff.  It was during the winter of 1990 during his sixth grade year that Pafundi published the first issue of The Pafundi News, a family newsletter.

Upon entering Tarpon Springs High School, Pafundi combined his love of writing with his other passion—sports.  During his freshman and sophomore years, he was a sports writer for the school newspaper and a contributor to the yearbook staff.  For his junior year, he was the newspaper’s news editor and its sports editor during his senior season, a season in which he also played varsity basketball.

Being on the yearbook and newspaper staffs throughout high school and attending journalism conferences in Columbia, South Carolina, and at Columbia University in New York City, cemented that Pafundi wanted a career in the field.

Pafundi graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Florida in 2001.  While in Gainesville, Pafundi was the Independent Florida Alligator beat writer for the Gators volleyball and softball teams for one season.

After graduating and moving back to Palm Harbor, Pafundi began a three-year-run as a freelance sports writer for the St. Petersburg Times, covering high school sports (including baseball, basketball, football, softball and soccer).  He also wrote a youth sports column that appeared bi-weekly in the Neighborhood Times section.

While freelance writing, Pafundi began teaching, first reading and 10th grade language arts, then middle school language arts and social studies.  He coached junior varsity basketball at his alma mater, Tarpon High, for two seasons and compiled a record of 23-15.

Pafundi moved on from the Times and covered the Tampa Bay Rays as a credentialed media member for two baseball websites, www.baseballdailydigest.com and draysbay.com.   He interviews players and coaches, from Rays manager Joe Maddon to New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez. He continued to pursue a full-time career in teaching in 2008 while continuing to cover the Rays.  He was a long-term substitute teaching 12th grade English for the final three months of the 2009-2010 school year at Palm Harbor University High School, where his mother teaches AP American History.

In the summer of 2010, Pafundi was hired as a full-time teacher at Palm Harbor University, and he spent countless hours and hundreds of dollars transforming his “portable” from a plain, everyday classroom to a top-notch senior English class.  Sadly, he didn’t have much of an opportunity to take advantage of all his hard work.

After only four days of school, the St. Petersburg Times wrote a defamatory article on Pafundi and his hiring that appeared on the front page on August 31, 2010, the same front page usually reserved for news stories like the terrorist attacks of September 11, the election of Barack Obama, or the death of Osama Bin Laden.

That afternoon, Pafundi was informed by the human resources office of the Pinellas County School Board, that his contract offer was being rescinded, meaning he was out of a job.  It was at that moment that he made the decision that he was done with teaching and wanted to pursue his dream of being a journalist.  He and his parents decided that the only place for this to happen was New York City.

Over the next few months, Pafundi made numerous trips to the Big Apple, getting himself acclimated to a place he’d soon call home, looking for jobs, and making connections.  The low-key, suburban lifestyle in Palm Harbor was rather different than the hustle and bustle of the big city.

On Thursday, February 24, 2011, Pafundi said goodbye to Palm Harbor for the last time.  He moved into an apartment in Queens and the rest, as they say, is history.  The guy who has been to two World Series, two Super Bowls, a Stanley Cup Final and a US Open in golf finally realized his dream—to live in New York City.

Since arriving, he has continued to write and has taken an interest in celebrity photography.  He has met and photographed numerous stars, including Will Smith, Matt Damon, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner and Russell Brand.

His beloved Miniature Schnauzer, Ginger, is by his side as he looks to make his mark in the best city in the world.  Admittedly, he has made mistakes throughout his life, but as he embarks on his “new” life in New York City, one thing is certain:  not leaving Florida for the Big Apple would’ve been the biggest mistake of his life.