Phyllis Diller Shares the Spotlight with My Dad, Freddie Baby
“What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.” That’s just one of the many funny lines made famous by trailblazing comedian Phyllis Diller, who would have turned 98 today. Did this keen observation of corporate life qualify the flamboyant Phyllis to perform for managers in training? It’s debatable. But every year on her birthday I recall the time in 1969 when Westinghouse Electric Corporation sent a group of newly promoted supervisors, including my father, to watch her nightclub act.
The Gift of Anne Frank: Writing Till the Stoney End
Anne Frank, the Jewish teen diarist who documented her experiences hiding from the Nazis during World War II, would have turned 86 today. Her work inspired me to purchase my first diary. We were soul mates; both of us dark-haired and dark-eyed, yearning to be free, wrapped up in our writing as a form of escape and self-therapy. Like Anne, I will continue to write till my stoney end.
VD is for Everybody — And Other Scary Facts I Learned from Watching PSAs
Ten-year-old kids shouldn’t be worrying about the after-effects of unprotected sex, mind-altering drugs, and adult unemployment, but thanks to several artful public service announcements (PSAs) that aired on network television in the early 70s, I once considered pre-booking a room in a nunnery!
Walking the Haunted Chambers with my Guide, Emily D.
If Halloween is about taking a little trip to the dark, spooky, loony side of life, then every day is Halloween for me. Always has
Of Daddios and Raddios
Some of my fondest memories are of the times spent carpooling to work with my dad in the early 80s, gauging his reaction to the hits of the day and the humor of the morning DJs. “Those dirty bastards,” he’d chortle at the double-entendres of the radio hosts. Here’s a little ditty about Daddy for his birthday.
Eat Barilla Pasta…Be More Macho
Guido Barilla, president of the world’s largest manufacturer of boxed pasta, has vowed his company would never feature homosexuals in its ads. Well, when I heard this news, my thoughts immediately turned to Woody Allen’s kooky 1973 film “Sleeper,” which offered some insights into the virility-enhancing effects of pasta.