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The Early Years.
I was born in 1951, in Mansfield, Ohio. My dad is a retired engineer. He primarily worked on laundry equipment for what was originally Westinghouse. The plant went through several different owners and was closed down the same year dad retired. I am the oldest of six kids. My late mother managed the household. Both of my parents were very involved in all of our school and extra-curricular activities. There were some interesting role reversals. Mom was mostly the one who played sports with us and dad taught us how to sew. (His mother once had a tailor shop.)
The Boy Scouts was a big part of my youth. All of my brothers and I made Eagle Scout. Competitive swimming was also a big deal for me. I was not the athlete in the family, but I was a pretty good swimmer. As a teenager, I worked at the Boy Scout camp as a lifeguard and acquatics instructer, and later lifeguarded at a local public pool.
I graduated from St. Peter's High School in 1969 and received my Bachelor of Science Degree in Radio, TV, Film from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 1973. I stayed in Oxford for about a year to work at a local radio station. That was the worst-paying and most fun job I ever had.
Jobs Before I Started to Freelance.
After trying to find a better job in radio, I gave that up and moved to Dayton, Ohio, where I wrote and produced TV and radio commercials for a local department store. After that I wrote and produced more TV and radio commercials for ad agencies in Columbus, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky.
In 1980, I went to work for a Louisville company that was a cross between a graphic arts studio and a sales promotion agency. There I wrote many brochures and other sales materials, and developed promotion plans and other marketing plans. My biggest client was Brown-Forman, makers of Southern Comfort, Early Times, Bolla Wine and other beverage alcohol products.
Born to Be a Freelancer.
I started to freelance in 1986, in Louisville. That was going well and I liked Louisville, but a year later I moved to Chicago to become Executive Creative Director for a large, national sales promotion agency, after they waved a lot of money and perks in front of me. Whoops. (The less said about that experience, the better.) That lasted three months and I have been freelancing successfully in Chicago ever since.
At first, most of what I did was sales promotion and that was how I was known. I worked on sales promotion projects for some of Chicago's top agencies and clients. Eventually, I just got bored with it. Sales promotion, even when done at the highest levels, is pretty repetitive. In Louisville I had done a lot of scriptwriting, but nobody in Chicago knew me for that. I started to develop more scriptwriting work and also more brochure writing, which I enjoy. At one time I resisted writing speeches and presentations, but now I do a lot of those too. I also enjoy working with clients on their overall marketing planning. That is often where I am the most valuable.
Special Interests.
I am an expert on beverage alcohol products, Kentucky Bourbon in particular, and not just from drinking it. I have worked on promotion projects for most of the major spirits marketers, and for several beer and wine marketers too. On my own, I wrote, produced and directed a public TV documentary on bourbon called "Made and Bottled in Kentucky" that has been shown on most public television stations in the US. I also publish a newsletter for bourbon enthusiasts called The Bourbon Country Reader and write articles on bourbon for The Malt Advocate magazine.
Perhaps to offset the whiskey work, I do a lot of work with healthcare and insurance accounts.
Because of my work with the National Afro-American Museum in Ohio, I was asked by a publisher to write a book about blues, called Blues Legends. It contains profiles of 20 legendary blues artists and a 10-song CD.
In recent years, I have worked with information technology departments at several large companies, helping the IT people communicate more effectively with their internal “customers.” Between 1995 and 2000, I helped several companies communicate with their internal and external audiences about the Year 2000 computer issue.
To sharpen my analytical skills and generally challenge myself, I began part time legal studies in 1992 at DePaul University College of Law. I received my J.D. degree and was admitted to the Illinois and Federal bars in 1996. Legal practice is a small part of my “services mix,” but I have assisted clients with intellectual property and contract matters, and the legal training helps me a lot with my insurance clients.
OH and I ride a YFZ....it is blue, and pretty
