Teen's Epic Voyage Launches Photojournalist

By Mike Kelly

Jen Edney, adventure photojournalist. That's the name and occupation of a 26-year0old Omaha Native.

The daughter of John and Pat Edney graduated from Marian High and Creighton University and interned last year at the newspaper in Ventura, Calif. She was assigned to shoot photos of Zac Sunderland, attempting to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

The assignment led to a bigger project on her own - hopscotching the globe, meeting Zac at ports to document his voyage.

By the time he achieved his goal in California last week at age 17, Jen had visited such places as the Marshall Islands, Australia, Capetown, Grenada, the Panama Canal and Mexico. To save money, she worked for six weeks as a crew member on a power boat crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

She plans to publish a book of photographs, but just as important, she said, is that the project helped launch her career.

"It's just been an incredible year of growth as a person and professionally," she said. "This has become a passion of mine."
Location: Omaha World Herald