Debbie Tuma, Neighbor

As a native of Montauk, Long Island, I grew up in a long-time fishing family who started the charter boat industry here in the 1930's. My father ran his charter fishing boat for 60 years out of our dock, Tuma's Dock, started by my great uncle and grandfather. Growing up, I enjoyed fishing, sailing, swimming, camping, and walking the beaches of Eastern Long Island. I started writing in high school, where I won an award from Newsday for a series on "Teenage Marriage" for my high school paper. I attended Russell Sage College in Troy, NY where I majored in English and Fine Art. I worked as a reporter for newspapers from Florida to Vermont, before coming back to Manhattan to work in national advertising sales for several magazines. In 1988 I left NYC and came back to Montauk to start my own weekly paper, which I ran with two partners for a few years. Then I worked as a reporter for several weekly newspapers, including the East Hampton Independent (1993-2002) and started covering Eastern Long Island first for Newsday since 1989, and then for the NY Daily News, since 1991, where I still work today. Along the way I started my broadcast career at Hamptons Television (WVVH-TV) in 1995, where I interviewed celebrities at parties and events for "Innerview in the Hamptons," a weekly show, until 2002. I also worked as an announcer, writer and account executive at WLNG Radio Station in Sag Harbor, to present.