New York

My Della Femina Debut

 “From Those Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Pearl Harbor.”  – Tagline suggested by Jerry Della Femina for a prominent Japanese car company. Yes, you read it right. This was what Jerry had suggested in a meeting full of top executives from Japan. Or so the legend goes. This shocking verbiage was also the name of […]

My Afternoon with Norman

” Give me the freedom of a tightly defined strategy.” – Norman Berry, Creative Genius and Ad Legend, Ogilvy & Mather. I quote him often. He was my big boss from 1986-89 in New York when I was a copywriter at Ogilvy. I frequently saw him dashing by atwitter, burgeoning with disruptive, brilliant ideas, clad in Omar Sharif collared shirts inspired by […]

Malkovich Mashup

The year was 1987. I was on a flight to New York’s JFK from Chicago. I don’t remember why I was in Chicago, but I suspect it was for work. It was probably for a focus group for those potty training baby diapers, Pull-Ups. I believe I had connected in Chicago to go to Neenah, […]