For over thirty years I’ve worked as a writer for corporations and creative agencies. I was a journalism major at the University of Southern California and now, as a writer and creative catalyst, I develop words and concepts for high-tech, computing, biotech, healthcare and consumer-products clients that have included: Bausch & Lomb, Novartis, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba Medical, Abbott Medical Optics, Bayer Healthcare, Quest Diagnostics, Fender, Yamaha, Disney, Genomic Health, Mentor, Merck, Sony, Intel, Western Digital, Beckman Coulter, Fujitsu, Allergan and Amgen.

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My first writing job was at Standard Brands Paint Company in Torrance, California. I mostly wrote the label copy that appeared on a gallon of semigloss or a can of spray paint. I worked for the Port of Long Beach and got to ride on a fireboat. I wrote an article about that boat and a lot of other happenings that my boss thought would make good public relations stories. Propaganda of all types—advertisements, TV spots, websites, direct marketing, annual reports, product demos, smartphone apps, packaging, sales tools—flowed from my IBM word processor (with the nine-inch floppy drive) and then from a Macintosh Classic, and then, yesterday, from an Android and a wireless keyboard. I’ve written about Token Ring networks, semiconductors, fiber optic cable and computer hard drives when they were measured in megabytes. I’ve made up stories about 19 different kinds of medical devices, about Yamaha drums and Fender Strats, inkjet printers, nuclear scanners, laser eye surgery and Ruby’s burgers. In print and online I’ve stretched the truth, skirted the facts, told tall tales, exaggerated product benefits, fabricated performance data and generally bullshitted customers and prospective customers in dozens of industries. I helped companies sell things you swallow and inject; I’ve written thousands of words about breast implants and haven’t given up on the dream of touching one for real some day.

My great passion is nonfiction, learning something new through stories that celebrate people and accomplishments, places and events. My teachers, or rather my inspiration, are people like David McCullough, Stephen E. Ambrose, Alex Kershaw, Erik Larson, Joseph J. Ellis, and if I could define my intended style, it would be to blend the graceful, rich storytelling of these masters with a more conversational, somewhat more direct tone; efficient writing that’s always on the lookout for a good-humored hook. I’ve written a first book, Lessons From the Good Books (Or: 700 Fun Facts About America, Music & Sports), about the fun facts that can fall out of serious nonfiction, and a memoir, Walking Toilet Dog (…And other odd jobs I’ve had in advertising) and I am currently researching a new project, Leaf of Liberty, the American cigar story.