I am a former broadcaster taking my first steps into the print world. For thirty of my forty plus years in journalism, I wrote feature news as a reporter at WTVD-TV in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. I had a ninety second time slot each night to present amusing off-beat stories that earned me a local reputation as a humorist and led to several AP, UPI, RTNDA and regional Emmy awards and nominations. My first attempts at humor writing were at my first real TV job at WTAJ in Altoona, Pennsylvania where I always volunteered to write a "kicker" to end the newscast on a light note. The Altoona TV job was offered after I covered news for WFBG Radio in Altoona while simultaneously obtaining a degree in International Politics from Penn State. My plans to become a foreign correspondent never panned out but I satisfy a desire for foreign travel by going abroad at least once a year. I developed an interest in world affairs and international travel during a four year stint in the Air Force where I was a deejay and news broadcaster with The American Forces Radio and Television Service in Pakistan and Italy. I qualified for AFRTS thanks to my experience deejaying and news reading and writing at my hometown radio station, WCPA, in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. Retired now, I live in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina with my wife, Mary, who I met while stationed in Italy forty years ago. I have two children who live in the Charlotte-area and they have each given us two grandchildren.