ABOUT US
Publisher & Editor: Gray Cathrall
Founded in October 1998, the genesis of the Piedmont Post was a love of journalism by its founder Gray Cathrall. Moving away from a career as an insurance broker in San Francisco and Oakland, he created the sports section for The Piedmonter in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With two children participating in school sports in Piedmont, he noticed the absence of local school and sports coverage, and began reporting on various school sports. He was also Sports Editor of the San Leandro Times until founding the Piedmont Post.
As an active parent, he was the first male member of what for many years was known as the Piedmont High School Mothers Club, now known as the Piedmont Parents Club. He was an early leader of the Piedmont Soccer Club, wrote its bylaws and helped expand it to all grade levels from Under-8 through Under 19. It became accessible for all Piedmont youth, with a combination of competitive and recreational level teams. He became president of the Piedmont Boosters Club and helped write its bylaws. By living in the community and observing issues of importance to residents, it was clear that the mission of the Post would be simple: provide weekly content with articles and photos that would inform and entertain Piedmont residents. The paper remains committed to that vision more than 25 years later.
City Editor: Jay Russell
Jay Russell, a 5th generation Piedmonter, began writing for the Piedmont Post in February 2020. His family has been in Piedmont since the city's inception. After attending Beach and Piedmont Middle School, Jay graduated from Piedmont High in 2005 and earned a BA in Philosophy from UCLA. He spent five months in India on a study abroad program through UCLA.
Jay became serious about writing when he received a typewriter in 2015 and started producing a typewritten, in-print only, slapstick, satirical zine, which has created 48 editions.
He also writes for The Foolish Times, a monthly humor newspaper in Monterey. Jay enjoys camping, reading Sci-Fi novels and continuously hunting down vinyl records and typewriters. jayrussell35@gmail.com
Reporter: Matt Simons
Matt Simons is a reporter with the Piedmont Post covering City Hall and local politics, with a background in political coverage, music, arts, and entertainment. You can find his work in publications like RIFF Magazine, Raptology and on his website mattrsimons.com. When not writing for the Post, Matt enjoys playing his guitar and exploring new restaurants in the East Bay.
Sports Reporter: Jonathan Comeaux
Jonathan Comeaux is a veteran sports reporter who has covered all Piedmont High School sports for the Piedmont Post since 2018. In addition to covering several champianship-winning teams and athletes, he created a popular California outdoors hiking series, "Hiking With Jon". In the year-round series, the Post has published hundreds of miles of Northern California trails.
An Oakland resident and native of San Lorenzo, he graduated from Arroyo High School and discovered journalism while at Chabot College in Hayward, where he won a General Excellence award from the journalism Association of Community Colleges. He later earned a BA in Journalism from the University of Massachusettes.
Jonathan also covers the NFL with www.NFLTradeRumors.com and reports on the Oakland Roots professional soccer team. He enjoys cooking, photography, hiking exploring the Bay Area food scene, and cheering on Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in the UK.