The Post-Intelligencer has added a new member to its news staff.
Shelby Frye of Paris joined the staff on June 3, and her duties include covering local crime and education stories. She will also be working on church nuggets, obituaries, birth announcements, features and more.
Frye was born in McKenzie to Joseph Frye of Jackson and the late Jill Hayes Frye (a former Henry County administrator of elections), and grew up in Paris.
She attended Henry County High School, where she was an active member of the speech and debate team and was treasurer of the HCHS chapter of the National Thespian Society.
Frye also was active in 4-H at school and competed in public speaking, fair crafts, the Woolies Review and more.
She attended the University of Tennessee at Martin for one year, then transferred to Murray State University to finish her bachelor’s degree in journalism and theater. She graduated in May. While at Murray State, Frye acted in several theater productions, including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “La Mantis Religiosa” and “Stupid Bird,” a modernization of Anton Chekhov’s classic drama “The Seagull.”
Also while studying at MSU, Frye worked as a student news reporter for Murray State’s National Public Radio affiliate station, WKMS.
Frye also established a news start-up alongside other journalism students called the MKYGuide while at Murray. They reported on local businesses and university events. This project was supervised by Leigh Landini Wright, a former Paris resident.
Frye said she has been interested in writing all her life. When she was about 9 years old, she published a weekly family newspaper, Nam’s Nest News, to be passed out at her grandmother’s Sunday dinner.
In her spare time, Frye said she keeps writing.
“I’ve written a couple of screenplays, and that’s a fun way to keep my creative juices flowing,” she said. “I also write ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ campaigns to play with my friends or my brothers here and there.”
She also said she enjoys hiking at Land Between the Lakes as well as watching movies with her cat, Samwell.
Frye said she is excited to be working for The P-I and to be back in the area.
“I’m very happy to be writing news in my own hometown,” Frye said, “especially since it will enable me to spend more time with my family.”
Frye’s father and stepmother live in the area with her three brothers, Hayes, Aidan and Orion.
P-I Editor and Publisher Michael Williams said, “We’re also very happy to bring Shelby back home to cover local news stories, and are planning to keep her here for a very long time.
“She excelled in both speech/debate and theater at HCHS, then in both journalism and theater at college,” he said. “We’re ecstatic that she’s bringing her talents to The P-I.”