Who is F Paul Valone?

After earning a B.A. in Psychobiology from Hamilton College, I pursued a career in aviation and have flown commercially for over 37 years. After becoming politically active in the early 1990s, I founded and direct two non-profit organization, and have served as president of a third.

Areas of Expertise

Aviation: As a 37-year air carrier pilot and flight instructor with eleven additional ratings, I write about threats to aviation safety and security and lampoon the many absurdities of air travel.
Politics: As a political activist whose twenty-seven years of experience includes four enacted laws and several elected legislators (including one congressman), I speak with authority on legislation, politics and elections
Guns: My capacity as a gun rights advocate gives me expertise on gun control issues. As a firearms instructor who has been certified by the National Rifle Association and the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission, I know firearms and laws governing self defense.

Writing Credits

Newspaper columns

My credits include fifty-plus newspaper columns, spanning ten years, published in The Charlotte Observer, the Raleigh News and Observer, the Durham Herald-Sun, the Greensboro News & Record, the Asheville Tribune and others.

As a winner of the "Observer Community Columnist" competition in 1997 and 2000, I've written monthly columns for The Charlotte Observer, representing a perspective I describe as "somewhere between paleoconservative and Libertarian". I built a dedicated readership, some of whom said they bought the paper primarily for my column.

Magazine articles

VENT Magazine published my 5,000 word article on aviation careers entitled, "Off to a Flying Start".

Carolina Journal published my 1,500 word article entitled, "What you know about guns is wrong".

Interviews, speeches and media

I host a weekly radio show, "Guns Politics and Freedom" on Wilmington, North Carolina's WFBT (WIlmington's Big Talker) which airs on Saturday at 1PM and is reprised on Sunday at 5PM. The show also streams live on the WFBT website.

I've been interviewed and quoted by dozens of newspapers, and radio and television stations including CNN, BBC, National Public Radio, Sputnik News, the Christian Science Monitor and the Associated Press.

Lengthy, debate-style interviews include NBC-17 in Raleigh ("At Issue"), Carolina Public Radio ("The State of Things", and the two largest talk radio stations in the state: WBT in Charlotte, WPTF in Raleigh (hosts Tom Joyner and Kevin Miller), as well as many others.

Numerous speaking engagements for universities and non-profit or political organizations including the John Locke Foundation, Campbell University, and the Libertarian party state convention.

I often address committees of the North Carolina House and Senate on pending legislation.