A Brotherly Shout Out

A departure from the norm here as I take a break for the week of July 4.

This week's posting date happens to fall on the birthday of my late brother John, who was struck down by lung cancer in his 50s. Before that, he was fully engaged in living, adored his daughter and wife and wrote the copy for some memorable if off-the-wall advertisements. He was the third of four brothers in our family, the tallest and, probably (remember, boys are competitive) the most creative.

He loved George Carlin and for some reason thought the phrase cheese noodles was hilarious. He spent hours coming up with bizarre slogans for them even though his agency had no engagement for cheese noodles. He thought Baby Maybe would be a good name for a contraceptive product that worked most of the time.

One of our favorite advertisements he created was for a chicken brand. In the commercial, a farmer is interrupted by a Godzilla size chicken. That image is all I remember about the add. That, and how funny it was.

The pictures above are from a frame in my mom's home. The first one shows why Jimmy Carter issued him a commission in the Georgia Air Force after being elected Governor. The other seems to capture his essence.

We miss John and celebrate his life this weekend along with the lives of the many who have contributed to our freedom.
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Next week we will talk about entrepreneurs and cormorants. What could be more natural to combine?

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