Santa and crew will hit the high road tonight. My good bud, Jim "ZOOM" Campbell, has included my late father's FLYING Magazine column from December of 1962, RED RAIDER, as his lead item. I can't thank him enough for that.
The story in Aero-News.net is self-explanatory. If you go into the website, you may have to specify the date (December 24) and the "Top News" category.
Here's hoping hat Santa brings you everything you asked for (and some things you hadn't put on the list.)
Fly safe.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Blue Angels... Thunderbirds... WHA!!??
For those who know me, you are not surprised that I blog (occasionally) on many subjects other than promotional products. In addition to promotional products our business, Showline Promotional Products, started out as commercial embroidery in 1994. I spent 29 years in local radio and TV, three of those in network radio. I still perform voice-over work for radio and TV, occasionally movie trailers. I have been a pilot since 1967, and I have been fortunate enough to perform in major airshows as an announcer since 1977. I am a member of the National Rifle Association, and I support the armed citizen. Those three areas of interest right there are plenty of reason for me to have lost a majority of my hearing ["What?"] I am also a railroading nut, or a "railfan." Not so much model railroading but full-size… TRAINS.
I have written pieces for TRAINS Magazine and for the Wall Street Journal. So when you read things in here that seem far afield from promotional products, maybe now you can understand.
Back to the subject at hand. I was just at Costco picking up a few items, and I came upon a beautiful display of Citizen Wristwatches. Perhaps you have sen this same display. The particular display is touting "The Official Watch of the Blue Angels." There is a beautiful Blue Angels logo on the BACK of the watch. And the photograph on the front of the display shows the diamond formation swooping toward you. It's the Thunderbirds! The USAF Thunderbirds. Even a glance at the backlighted photo is enough to see that you are looking at a formation of F-16 Vipers, most certainly NOT F/A-18 Hornets.
I took a photo with my old fashioned dumb-cell-phone, and it is terrible. I will leave this to you to see for yourself. And maybe for Consumers Union to see.
Some creative person's fanny will be chewed for that.
I have written pieces for TRAINS Magazine and for the Wall Street Journal. So when you read things in here that seem far afield from promotional products, maybe now you can understand.
Back to the subject at hand. I was just at Costco picking up a few items, and I came upon a beautiful display of Citizen Wristwatches. Perhaps you have sen this same display. The particular display is touting "The Official Watch of the Blue Angels." There is a beautiful Blue Angels logo on the BACK of the watch. And the photograph on the front of the display shows the diamond formation swooping toward you. It's the Thunderbirds! The USAF Thunderbirds. Even a glance at the backlighted photo is enough to see that you are looking at a formation of F-16 Vipers, most certainly NOT F/A-18 Hornets.
I took a photo with my old fashioned dumb-cell-phone, and it is terrible. I will leave this to you to see for yourself. And maybe for Consumers Union to see.
Some creative person's fanny will be chewed for that.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
TSA - Thousands Standing Around
The Transportation Security Administration is probably my least favorite bunch in the United State Government. Actually, them and their parent Organization, the Department of Homeland Security, along with their head honcho, the former governess of Arizona, Janet Napolitano.
The TSA is the most badge-heavy bunch I have ever met. Please take the time, if you will, to peruse the following two video pieces. The FIRST is a collection of TV news stories about how the TSA abuses the power it has. The SECOND happened at the beginning of December. A doctor in Oklahoma City who had enough of being frisked. So she arrived at the airport "Frisk-proof." Yes? Wrong.
The TSA is the most badge-heavy bunch I have ever met. Please take the time, if you will, to peruse the following two video pieces. The FIRST is a collection of TV news stories about how the TSA abuses the power it has. The SECOND happened at the beginning of December. A doctor in Oklahoma City who had enough of being frisked. So she arrived at the airport "Frisk-proof." Yes? Wrong.
Monday, September 6, 2010
An Early Christmas Present
My late father, Frank Kingston Smith SENIOR, was an internationally known author and speaker on behalf of private aviation. In 1962 following the publication of his third book, "I'd Rather Be Flying", he began writing a monthly column for FLYING magazine. The December 1962 column, entitled "Red Raider", became one of FLYING readers' five favorite columns of all time.
A friend from Walt Disney Imagineering called me and asked me to read the narrative as a scratch track (a timing track) for an "animatic" he was putting together. (An animatic is the use of stills with motion added to simulate a completed story line.) I was asked to read it "flat" for timing with no emphasis or inflection. So I did.
The link here connects you to the completed animatic, used with permission. Before you play it, it is important that you understand that it was written in 1962 from the point of view of a private pilot; the animatic is produced from the point of view of an airline pilot (creative license.) There are mentions of things which no longer exist, such as a [low frequency] fan marker, a SCATER order (which by the way was pronounced SCAY-tur, not "scatter"), and airlines such as Eastern and Pan Am. The ATC conversations were added by the producer. And you may notice that airspeeds and altitudes are somewhat odd for an airliner.
All this having been duly noted, please CLICK HERE, and enjoy the show:
A friend from Walt Disney Imagineering called me and asked me to read the narrative as a scratch track (a timing track) for an "animatic" he was putting together. (An animatic is the use of stills with motion added to simulate a completed story line.) I was asked to read it "flat" for timing with no emphasis or inflection. So I did.
The link here connects you to the completed animatic, used with permission. Before you play it, it is important that you understand that it was written in 1962 from the point of view of a private pilot; the animatic is produced from the point of view of an airline pilot (creative license.) There are mentions of things which no longer exist, such as a [low frequency] fan marker, a SCATER order (which by the way was pronounced SCAY-tur, not "scatter"), and airlines such as Eastern and Pan Am. The ATC conversations were added by the producer. And you may notice that airspeeds and altitudes are somewhat odd for an airliner.
All this having been duly noted, please CLICK HERE, and enjoy the show:
Thursday, August 26, 2010
At least I didn't vote for him....
If you enjoyed the previous day's BLOG entry, showing the trailer for the new motion picture, I Want Your Money, this will be a real gut punch. It's a piece written by Joan Pryde, senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters. This is an excerpt from an article about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Of those 13 items, this is Number 3. It is very important that you read all the way to the end, the part about how insurance will now be considered income on your W-2s:
On January 1, 2011, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves. On January 1, 2011, here’s what happens... (PLEASE read it to the end, so you see all three waves AND the special little surprise):
First Wave:
Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief -- In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011.
Personal income tax rates will rise -- The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates.
The full list of marginal rate hikes (you are in here somewhere):
• The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
• The 25% bracket rises to 28%
• The 28% bracket rises to 31%
• The 33% bracket rises to 36%
• The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%
Higher taxes on marriage and family -- The "marriage penalty" (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.
The return of the Death Tax -- This year only, there is no death tax. (It’s a quirk!) For those dying on or after January 1, 2011 , there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes, a business, a retirement account, could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones. Think of the farmers who don’t make much money, but their land, which they purchased years ago with after-tax dollars, is now worth a lot of money. Their children will have to sell the farm, which may be their livelihood, just to pay the estate tax if they don’t have the cash sitting around to pay the tax. Think about your own family’s assets. Maybe your family owns real estate, or a business that doesn’t make much money, but the building and equipment are worth $1 million. Upon their death, you can inherit the $1 million business tax free, but if they own a home, stock, cash worth $500K on top of the $1 million business, then you will owe the government $275,000 cash! That’s 55% of the value of the assets over $1 million! Do you have that kind of cash sitting around waiting to pay the estate tax?
Higher tax rates on savers and investors -- The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011. The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011. These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.
Second Wave:
Obamacare -- There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:
The "Medicine Cabinet Tax" -- Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines....
The "Special Needs Kids Tax" -- This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States , and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington , D.C. ( National Child Research Center ) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can not be used to pay for this type of special needs education.
The HSA (Health Savings Account) Withdrawal Tax Hike -- This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.
Third Wave:
The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes -- When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they'll be in for a nasty surprise-the AMT won't be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired.
The major items include -- The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year. According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center , Congress' failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families-rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.
Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear. Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or "depreciate") equipment purchases up to $250,000. This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can currently expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011, all of it will have to be "depreciated."
Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the "research and experimentation tax credit," but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs:
1. Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced.
2. The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available.
3. Tax credits for education will be limited.
4. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses.
5. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut.
6. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed.
7. The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.
8. Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual "required minimum distribution." This ability will no longer be there.
Want to read more? CLICK HERE for the PDF file.
And worse yet (here is the REALLY GOOD part):
Now, your insurance will be INCOME on your W2's!
One of the surprises we'll find come next year, is what follows - - a little "surprise" that 99% of us had no idea was included in the "new and improved" healthcare legislation . . . those who backed this administration will be astonished!
Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of some sort. If you're retired? So what... your gross will go up by the amount of insurance you get. You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen. Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year.
For many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse. This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the15% that don't have insurance? And this is only part of the tax increases.
Not believing this??? Here is a research of the summaries.....
On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS-(sec. 9001, as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002 "requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income."
HOLY COW!
I hope you forward this blog entry to every single person in your address book. Everyone has the right to know the truth, because an election is coming in November! In the "Axis of Taxes" it would be nice to be rid of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid for a start.
On January 1, 2011, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves. On January 1, 2011, here’s what happens... (PLEASE read it to the end, so you see all three waves AND the special little surprise):
First Wave:
Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief -- In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011.
Personal income tax rates will rise -- The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates.
The full list of marginal rate hikes (you are in here somewhere):
• The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
• The 25% bracket rises to 28%
• The 28% bracket rises to 31%
• The 33% bracket rises to 36%
• The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%
Higher taxes on marriage and family -- The "marriage penalty" (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.
The return of the Death Tax -- This year only, there is no death tax. (It’s a quirk!) For those dying on or after January 1, 2011 , there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes, a business, a retirement account, could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones. Think of the farmers who don’t make much money, but their land, which they purchased years ago with after-tax dollars, is now worth a lot of money. Their children will have to sell the farm, which may be their livelihood, just to pay the estate tax if they don’t have the cash sitting around to pay the tax. Think about your own family’s assets. Maybe your family owns real estate, or a business that doesn’t make much money, but the building and equipment are worth $1 million. Upon their death, you can inherit the $1 million business tax free, but if they own a home, stock, cash worth $500K on top of the $1 million business, then you will owe the government $275,000 cash! That’s 55% of the value of the assets over $1 million! Do you have that kind of cash sitting around waiting to pay the estate tax?
Higher tax rates on savers and investors -- The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011. The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011. These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.
Second Wave:
Obamacare -- There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:
The "Medicine Cabinet Tax" -- Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines....
The "Special Needs Kids Tax" -- This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States , and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington , D.C. ( National Child Research Center ) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can not be used to pay for this type of special needs education.
The HSA (Health Savings Account) Withdrawal Tax Hike -- This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.
Third Wave:
The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes -- When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they'll be in for a nasty surprise-the AMT won't be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired.
The major items include -- The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year. According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center , Congress' failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families-rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.
Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear. Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or "depreciate") equipment purchases up to $250,000. This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can currently expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011, all of it will have to be "depreciated."
Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the "research and experimentation tax credit," but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs:
1. Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced.
2. The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available.
3. Tax credits for education will be limited.
4. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses.
5. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut.
6. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed.
7. The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.
8. Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual "required minimum distribution." This ability will no longer be there.
Want to read more? CLICK HERE for the PDF file.
And worse yet (here is the REALLY GOOD part):
Now, your insurance will be INCOME on your W2's!
One of the surprises we'll find come next year, is what follows - - a little "surprise" that 99% of us had no idea was included in the "new and improved" healthcare legislation . . . those who backed this administration will be astonished!
Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of some sort. If you're retired? So what... your gross will go up by the amount of insurance you get. You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen. Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year.
For many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse. This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the15% that don't have insurance? And this is only part of the tax increases.
Not believing this??? Here is a research of the summaries.....
On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS-(sec. 9001, as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002 "requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income."
HOLY COW!
I hope you forward this blog entry to every single person in your address book. Everyone has the right to know the truth, because an election is coming in November! In the "Axis of Taxes" it would be nice to be rid of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid for a start.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Not a big fan of the adminstration
I recall several months ago that I heard, I think it was Glenn Beck quote Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as saying: "We have to pass the bill [Obamacare] so you can find out what is in it." Quite honestly, I didn't believe that anything that STUPID could be uttered by someone in elective office. Well, it turns out I was wrong, doesn't it.
In July, our President appointed (during a congressional recess) Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This governmental office ... there are a LOT of them now, aren't there ... has a larger budget than the Pentagon. And Dr. Berwick is a firm believer in "redistribution of wealth."
After Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, it's about time that there is a movie about how utterly out of touch the current administration is with anything approaching reality. So here is the trailer for the motion picture, "I Want Your Money."
Watch it and weep.
In July, our President appointed (during a congressional recess) Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This governmental office ... there are a LOT of them now, aren't there ... has a larger budget than the Pentagon. And Dr. Berwick is a firm believer in "redistribution of wealth."
After Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, it's about time that there is a movie about how utterly out of touch the current administration is with anything approaching reality. So here is the trailer for the motion picture, "I Want Your Money."
Watch it and weep.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
My (current) greatest (silly) fear
I have this one nagging fear, and for some reason, it has really come after me in the past three or four months:
I am deathly afraid of my eventual obituary being listed in a local newspaper under "Other Deaths."
Pretty silly, eh? But after 29 years in radio and TV [I retired in 1993], 34 years in the airshow industry [I have not retired just yet] and 45 years of performing voice-over work in radio and TV, I just don't want to be listed as, "oh, yeah, and this guy died, too."
I still get calls and email from people referring to me as a "radio living legend". That's nice, but although I was honored to have worked at some pretty good radio stations with some pretty heavy talents, I view it as guilt by association. In Philadelphia in 1966-67, I was one of the original "Super Six" bringing to life the Pop Oldies Explosion. Chuck Browning, Jay Cook, Jim Nettleton, "King" George Michael, Dave Parks and me. Dave and I are the only survivors of that crew, and neither of us are in radio any more.
In Providence, RI, on WICE I worked with Bob DeCarlo, a fine air talent and PD. In Boston at WRKO, I was re-named "Bobby Mitchell" (not my idea), and I worked under the direction of Mel Phillips. I was the first hire after Bill Drake took over the consultancy of the RKO General stations. What a great place! The what used to be WIBG Philadelphia with Joey Reynolds, John Records Landecker, and Bill Gardner. At WABC New York I struck gold working next to, and sometimes for, Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram, Cuzzin Bruce Morrow, Chuck Leonard, and Jay Reynolds. Back in Boston I worked with Jess Caine, The Magic Christian, EVERYBODY on WBZ, Charlie Van Dyke, and the list continues. THESE are (were) living legends. I just got lucky enough to have the mike, the station and the signal.
The airshow industry? An interesting business where nobody knows your name except those on 1,000 acres in one town for one weekend. Three of my friends in airshows are HUGE names: Bob Hoover, Patty Wagstaff and Sean D. Tucker. But as much as we'd like it to be, airshows will never be like NASCAR. Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, Snowbirds, sure. Most people have at least heard of them, but the rest of us… I don't think so.
In the world of radio and TV voice-overs, there are some real stars, but not that many. I was fortunate to have earned quite a bit over the years, standing behind a mike in an air-conditioned studio. But I was never a "star". I'm proud to say I have been union all the way; Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Radio and Television Artists. On a couple of occasions they were solidly behind me when someone tried to screw with me, and I thank them for that.
So I don't really know what an obit writer could say, other than: "He had a fear of being listed in here alphabetically."
I am deathly afraid of my eventual obituary being listed in a local newspaper under "Other Deaths."
Pretty silly, eh? But after 29 years in radio and TV [I retired in 1993], 34 years in the airshow industry [I have not retired just yet] and 45 years of performing voice-over work in radio and TV, I just don't want to be listed as, "oh, yeah, and this guy died, too."
I still get calls and email from people referring to me as a "radio living legend". That's nice, but although I was honored to have worked at some pretty good radio stations with some pretty heavy talents, I view it as guilt by association. In Philadelphia in 1966-67, I was one of the original "Super Six" bringing to life the Pop Oldies Explosion. Chuck Browning, Jay Cook, Jim Nettleton, "King" George Michael, Dave Parks and me. Dave and I are the only survivors of that crew, and neither of us are in radio any more.
In Providence, RI, on WICE I worked with Bob DeCarlo, a fine air talent and PD. In Boston at WRKO, I was re-named "Bobby Mitchell" (not my idea), and I worked under the direction of Mel Phillips. I was the first hire after Bill Drake took over the consultancy of the RKO General stations. What a great place! The what used to be WIBG Philadelphia with Joey Reynolds, John Records Landecker, and Bill Gardner. At WABC New York I struck gold working next to, and sometimes for, Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram, Cuzzin Bruce Morrow, Chuck Leonard, and Jay Reynolds. Back in Boston I worked with Jess Caine, The Magic Christian, EVERYBODY on WBZ, Charlie Van Dyke, and the list continues. THESE are (were) living legends. I just got lucky enough to have the mike, the station and the signal.
The airshow industry? An interesting business where nobody knows your name except those on 1,000 acres in one town for one weekend. Three of my friends in airshows are HUGE names: Bob Hoover, Patty Wagstaff and Sean D. Tucker. But as much as we'd like it to be, airshows will never be like NASCAR. Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, Snowbirds, sure. Most people have at least heard of them, but the rest of us… I don't think so.
In the world of radio and TV voice-overs, there are some real stars, but not that many. I was fortunate to have earned quite a bit over the years, standing behind a mike in an air-conditioned studio. But I was never a "star". I'm proud to say I have been union all the way; Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Radio and Television Artists. On a couple of occasions they were solidly behind me when someone tried to screw with me, and I thank them for that.
So I don't really know what an obit writer could say, other than: "He had a fear of being listed in here alphabetically."
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