I ACCEPT PAYPAL

Hi! Lee G. Kushner, here. Magic Marketing is the name of my freelance promotion, writing, and editing business. While I work closely with the best printing and graphic artist professionals, filmmakers and others, I essentially operate my concern singlehandedly, and without the overheads of office rental.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to become involved with two, worthy projects in the Los Angeles area, enabling me to utilize high-caliber, phone communicative skills and writing abilities. I have submitted compelling grants for both of these endeavors, and I can do the same for you.

One is for a film, concerning the interference parents in metropolitan areas commonly receive from public school officials, when attempting to get educational services for children with Autism Spectral Disorder. The film proposes solutions and displays the benefits of Free and Appropriate Public Education, which is guaranteed under Federal law.

Your tax-deductible contributions to this effort are badly needed, as autism-specific and film-funding groups will only assist in the marketing of a finished documentary! Use the Contact Me link to find out how to help. Thanks.

Help Educate Autistic Children Fund the 150 Documentary

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My other project is Los Angeles’  first, informational, weekly publication to provide expert input, enabling Latin-Americans to overcome hindrances in white-collar employment, higher education, and representation in the community. Your advertising and other sponsorship will achieve great and positive visibility for your business or organization. Use the Contact Me link to find out more about Semana En LA (The Week In LA)!

Actually, now 1 in every 91 children, not 150, have Autism

Under the Lanterman Act (Federal law 94-142) (1975) (Education for All Handicapped), IEP’s (Individual Education Plans) must include disabled children and parental input. An Assistant School Principal is required to sit with parents and develop an adequate plan for their autistic children. In practicality, someone in the school board who has never met your child determines what service he or she receives.  What is necessary to achieve FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education) consistent with the law, is for parents to engage in a punishing and costly arbitration, using an advocate who must battle with a mediator paid by the school board.

One purpose of the film is to make people aware of how legitimate services are being denied their autistic children for the sake of indefensible budgetary considerations and illegal bureaucracy. This happens in an overwhelming majority of cases, and 80-90% of parents are dissuaded by school authorities from seeking recourse. In fact, the documents the school board now uses for IEP’s have been deliberately made more vague and ambiguous, in order to confuse parents into accepting grossly inadequate, special education for their kids. By denying those with Autism necessary and legally-mandated service, educators entrusted to possess their best interests are going  a long way in preventing them from becoming functional, self-sufficient members of our society. Our intention is to guide parents through the process of achieving redress and rectification, being the autistic child’s best advocate. In our film, we will be following families who are currently enduring different stages of this process.

In addition, we shall portray families who have older, properly serviced and educated autistic children, the latter now happy and productive members of our society. Adequate services include behavioral interventions designed to help affected children control their over-stimulation disruptions, so they may access the curriculum, and later, enter a vocational field. Special Day Classes (SDC) should be offered when needed, and in-class, Shadow Behaviorists who supervise the autistic child the entire school day. There are also Resource Teachers which must be there when the student is acting-out or having subject-specific difficulty. Finally, sufficient service includes mainstreaming the autistic child into a regular curriculum.

The “marching orders” are for school officials to lie to parents, and deter them from the achievement of necessary, educational interventions for their kids. This forces families into an exorbitant and emotionally jarring battle. Your contribution to our documentary will enable us to arm them for this battle to stop the tyranny against defenseless children. Our budget is 561,000, and the piece will be about an hour and a quarter. There will be a condensed version available to parents and educators with specific presentation of means of action. You may support the production with a tax-deductible gift through our non-profit umbrella, the International Documentary Association. Use the Contact Me link on this website’s Home Page, and I can inform you as to how to do so. Thank you very much. The documentary site is: www.150documentary.com

Most of my friends are of Latin American, Asian or Black ancestry. But multiculturalism is a pain in the kiester, when I drive in front of a meth-crazed cholo, and he threatens to dismember me for obeying the stop sign, ahead. In my highly ethnic neighborhood, walking across a street- anywhere near traffic- can be like navigating an Afghani minefield. Basically, merchants and children are the only ones speaking English. Yet, taxes are allotted for special schools designed to teach it. Recently, a Korean-American interrupted my convenience store purchase, to flash a 100 dollar bill and order the clerk around. I wished we had been in the southern Philippines. There, he’d be unceremoniously slapped to the ground, with the full approval of the police. Yeah, I know that extremes are negative. But this is just one of those cases where the “Middle Way of the Buddha” really sucks. Finally, I don’t flaunt my Russian Jewish ancestry by blaring Klezmer dance music from my car radio. So, I’m aggravated whenever 180 decibels of Mexican pop blare out of the Chevy Tahoe I’m stuck next to, in traffic.

Just when I feel the need for an extended vacation, accompanied by major, central nervous system depressants, I see an alternative. It’s the uplifting, substantive milieu of Downtown-Chinatown. It may be the monthly art walks, with the hippie-throwback, artist types, or the 2^nd Street Cigar Shop scene (between Spring and Main Streets). Near the latter are nightly crowds of highly-adorned females and their suave dates, waiting to be let into the Edison, to party down. Having your car parked there is a sign that you’ve made the “hip and cool” grade, but locals find them to be a source of jest when some exit, intoxicated. Still, they are laid back and refined people of many backgrounds. I love the ancient flavor of the herb shops, eateries and shopping malls of Chinatown- it’s a great area in which to buy a gift- a hat, book or porcelain figurine- and homosapiens of every variety are there.

So what makes the difference? Why are my friends from well-defined, ethnic ancestries? It’s about acculturation, stupid!

Twenty-eight year-old Greg Leeha, operator of Liliya’s Restaurant, embodies this phenomenon, remarkably. Liliya’s has the finest-tasting, most healthful and reasonably-priced Asian food I’ve ever sampled. Chinese and Korean cuisine is represented nicely. Vegetables and other ingredients are fresh, prepared to order and blend magnificently. There are no less than six nourishing and savory soups. The Hot and Sour drives me more stark-raving-insane than I am already. Everything, down to the appetizers, is masterfully rendered. Greg’s Pot Stickers are no exception, and his Shrimp Rolls are so delectable, they’re addictive. I have become a connoisseur of Asian, chicken and vegetable dishes, and for me, Liliya’s Kung Pao is the pièce de la resistance.

More importantly, Greg is a personable, quiet individual who takes a proud hand in his business. It is a common site to see him cruising down the Second and Spring Street area, making deliveries in his Cadillac. Greg has a generous spirit, and an irrepressible interest in people. If given the chance, he will ask you questions about the various aspects of your life, especially related to your work. I initially feared that his inquisitiveness arose solely from a desire to acquire me as a customer. Then, realizing that Greg is without ulterior motives, I said to myself: “Idiot! You’re reacting like the paranoiac you’ve been conditioned to be in L.A. Knock it off!” It was at that point that Greg Leeha and I became friends.

Liliya’s small band of employees has Greg’s knack of making you feel extraordinarily at home. Greg’s mother, a very warmhearted woman, always greets you with a smile and hello, and creates a dish so good, you may die in ecstasy.

Greg grasps the necessity of dedication. I asked him if he had any hobbies. “At the moment I don’t,” he responds. “On Sundays, there’s Church, a little hanging out with my girlfriend, and lunch with my parents. In this tough economy, you’ve got to work harder, because once you fall, there’s no getting up- I‘ve never worked this hard in my life.” Up until recently, he also manned another of his family’s many restaurants, in Koreatown. At that point, he toiled a combined, 65 hours a week. One could hardly accuse him of slouching now, putting in 50 hours weekly at Liliya’s.

Despite being “always a salesman” and a part of the business since age 17, Greg’s nose wasn’t always to the grindstone. “I hung around with a lot of the wrong crowd,” he reflects. “You know how it is. When you’re in high school, there’s a lot of peer pressure. After a couple of experiences….you want to focus and get your life on track…”

One of those experiences seems to have been a near-fatal car accident he had had, which put him in a coma for five days.

As a further explanation of the development of his maturity, he says: “I’m getting kind of old, too. I’m not…17 or 21.” (I only wish that I was as “old” as Greg is.)

A significant portion of his generosity may have been instilled by his mother, the Korean part of his parentage. A sincere Christian, she regularly visits the sick in nursing homes, and continues to provide 100’s of meals for the homeless on a regular basis.

Understanding that he may be tiring of his involvement in the eatery, I ask Greg what other plans he may have for the future. “I would like to get into Real Estate. This [the restaurant business] would be something to fall back on.”

Comparing the two restaurants he has had involvement with, leads him to a telling point. “Liliya’s is a change, where for the first time, customers are not Korean, but mostly American. Here, you have to learn to adapt to different standards of customer service.”

On deliveries for his Los Angeles Pizza Company, 39 year-old Oscar Arce echoes Greg’s sentiments, without ever having met him. “This country was founded on customer service,” he claims. “A lot of people have forgotten about that.”

As far as quality and pricing, Oscar has the same standards for pizza and pasta as Greg has for Bulgogi and brown rice renditions. He is also the driving force behind his enterprise. His mother, like Greg’s, is a beautiful and endearing person, who is integral to the operation of the business.

But Oscar Arce is as different from Greg Leeha in temperament as crushed red pepper is to Kimchi. One facet of that is his boundless sense of humor. A little before Thanksgiving, he reminisces: “Around this time of year, KCET used to run a Marx Brothers film festival. My two cousins and I would imitate the Marx Brothers, jumping around on the furniture and everything. Can you imagine three El Salvadoran kids trying to be the Marx Brothers? That’s ridiculous!”

Between pizza duties, Oscar will sometimes sing a few bars from his voluminous repertoire of Broadway show tunes, or tap dance. In fact, he surprised me by mentioning that he possesses a Masters in Fine Arts in Theater Directing and Choreography. With amusement, somewhat stocky Oscar recalls: “I was a hoofer.” But being a humanist, he regards dancing as something which should transcend mere entertainment. “People like Nureyev and Astaire showed how much they could defy gravity…. Michael Jackson never left the ground. James Brown was grounded. People like James Brown and Michael Jackson brought unity with their moves.”

I asked him how he got from performing to pizza. He starts answering in measured, Shakespearean terms: “That- was a big- mistake. But it worked out for me, because as you can see, I like to eat!” The “mistake” was allowing his brother to influence him to open, after which the former married and bolted. At this point, Oscar starts singing Sinatra’s “That’s Life.”

He makes an analogy between his philosophy of restaurant operation and theater. “You can only do it…one at a time. It’s like a performance. No two are alike, but you give it your best.” Not surprisingly, one of few things Oscar decries about Los Angeles is the shortage of substantive theater. (He criticizes the artificiality of the movie influence, when he mimics a struggling actor on set. Screwing his face up, in confusion, Oscar yells: “’Line!!’”)

He possesses an incredible affinity for Los Angeles’ diversity, integrating it into the menu with inimitable creativity. He calls the Italian wide-noodle, ricotta and ground beef dish: “L.A. Sagna.” I’ve had it, and it’s “magnifico.” Then there’s my favorite, the Chavez Ravine pizza, containing the sweetness of red sauce and mushrooms, perfectly counterbalanced by the briny, minced garlic, mozzarella, artichokes, goat cheese and pesto. No less than four cultures are represented by the Bruce Lee pizza: Italian (Mozzarella, red sauce), Filipino (Langonisa sausage), American (green pepper and red onion) and Asian (Hoisin sauce).

If Oscar has an insatiable appetite, it’s for local history. I ask him how the ingredients of his dishes reflect the Los Angeles-related names he assigns them. “How do they? They don’t,” he replies, referencing the Chavez Ravine. “A lot of people don’t know what that is. I felt that if I named it that, they would ask and find out- same thing with the Bruce Lee-because Bruce Lee had a dojo in Chinatown, at one time. A lot of people don’t know about that. People talk about Disney and Pixar, but Bruce Lee was the real special effects, and he doesn’t even have a plaque in his honor, here.”

Like Greg Leeha, Oscar Arce had a second business, a rare music and book store. His store contained virtually every type of music imaginable, including that of the only Black, Jazz bagpiper, Rufus Harley. I never dreamed anything like a Jazz bagpiper even existed, let alone a Black one. Rufus always rocks my socks off, when I hear him being played at L.A. Pizza.

Oscar still has quite a vinyl record collection, a medium of recording that was the subject of one of his many documentary films. His crowning achievement in DVD production necessitated a recent pilgrimage to Spain. There, he video-chronicled the path that landmark filmmaker Luis Buñuel took, when making “Land Without Bread (1933). The latter, a graphic expose of poverty in two small towns, sparked a backlash against Buñuel from the existing Fascist government. With a concern you can almost cut with a kitchen knife, Oscar notes: “He [Buñuel] was the first to film his subjects facing front- so he would have close-ups of people’s rotting teeth, or a guy shaking with palsy.”

I feel a great sense of inclusion at L.A. Pizza, as I do when at Liliya’s. Oscar has made me a part of his wonderful family. One of his employees mentored my attempt to sling and form pizza dough in the air. Even though the result was a bit “rough around the edges,” she encouraged and complimented me. Oscar’s generosity is apparent in his sponsorship of a high school athletic team and the Studio for Southern California History. He periodically invites schoolchildren over for pizza and math drills, the latter realized through counting toppings.

I have observed many “Angelenos” who have used their ethnic backgrounds as a springboard for the development of extraordinary talents. But it never happens unless it is accomplished within an American context. This means a framework valuing individual effort as well as a cooperative good-neighborliness. It also signifies an eternal optimism, a faith that supreme effort will overcome extreme adversity.

All of this should be a source of inspiration. It is also what makes Los Angeles the city with the most opportunity in the universe.

Liliya China Bistro

102 West 2nd Street 101

Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 620-1717

Los Angeles Pizza Company

712 N. Figueroa Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 626-5272

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Credit: Alosh Bennett, on Flickr, For Restrictions, see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

In consumer psychology, we know that over 90% of the time, if a customer believes that your company, enterprise or bid to be hired will provide them with outcomes which they favor, and that you can do so better than the rest, you will achieve your end.

What are the most relevant outcomes, we must ask? Cost-effectiveness is perhaps the biggest, in a Depressed economy, namely that people want to know that you will provide them with a necessarily adequate level of product, at the least expensive price. How is cost-effectiveness established? Not by bragging or repetition of catchphrases, but by explanation of the means by which you pull this off, and proof that you do. These may come through marketing materials and customer testimonials, but not through grandiose tactics, which indicate ruthlessness and an obsession with self, like claiming to beat anyone’s price or advertising which makes sweeping, negative characterizations of the competition. Those are indications that the company or job applicant does not care about accommodating those it or he/she claims to want to serve.

Actually, the personal touch is maybe, itself, the most essential outcome desired by people who would spend money on your behalf. Most companies and individuals, including myself, even in hard times, would rather spend slightly more money, when the product/service is provided by an individual who possesses more of a friendly, responsive, other-centered orientation, rather than a selfish one. Especially in tough economic circumstances, where things are more competitive, constant proclamations from individuals, regarding their own success, are seen as an interference to the success of others.

For example: which collision company would you rather take your car to, one who advertises “Over 30,000 satisfied customers,” “In business for over 12 years,” “Body Shop To The Celebrities,” and “We Do It For Less,” or one who advertises: ” Every Restoration a Work of Art,” “Full Compliance with OSHA and Clean Air Regulations,” and “Twenty-four/Seven towing?”

I found that what has made me a top salesperson boils down to the same ingredient which is associated with many millionaires I have met: being centered on others, whether that is manifested in sharing your passion for your product, and the benefits it brings, in asking a potential client if it is a good time to talk, rather than launching into a canned shpiel, showing a sense of humor, or refraining from asking a person you’ve never met, how they are doing. It also is revealed in writing follow-up letters and emails, and making calls, which convey what incremental benefit you feel you would provide to the people you are soliciting.

So, if you want not to fail, FORGET ABOUT SUCCESS!

Lee Gary Kushner (MagicMarketing)

“Like most people in the world of commerce, you may not personally possess what your livelihood depends upon- an ability to persuasively communicate the superiority of your products and services.

That’s where I come in. I have the writing proficiency, intuitive and analytical skills, and working knowledge of consumer psychology, necessary to convince people to buy what you have. I also employ clever slogans and concise, punchy text, in order to effectively brand your business. Please refer to my portfolio pages, which are side-linked.”

Basically, all that I represent lies within the realm of communication, which is my forte. In the first place, I am a high-caliber, professional and affordable, ad copywriter and freelance editor. I am a powerhouse of business advertising capability, as I utilize my advanced background in psychology to fashion a focused message, contained in a graphically effective way, which compels people to investigate the advertiser’s product. My credentials have also enabled me to select media for businesses, to use in their campaigns.

To facilitate my endeavor, I have a working liaison with Federico Hamelius, of www.justdot.net (323) 855-4243, who is an extraordinarily talented graphic artist and knowledgeable, web developer.

As an individual, I reap the benefits of low overheads, which permit me to be more reasonable, insofar as charges. Feel free to approach me for information on my rates and terms. Either use the SECURE, CONTACT FORM (SIDE-LINKED), or telephone me, at: (213) 622-2747.

List Of Services

Fundraising/Grant Generation and Submission

Media Consultation And Selection

Ad Copywriting, Editing and Proofreading

Website Content and Development

Promotional DVD Production

Manuscript Editing

Screenwriting and Doctoring

Freelance Writing

After graduating with a Bachelors in English, he pursued the serious study of his craft, at first with the Yale Drama school, and then, with the Actors’ Theatre, in New York. As such, he was perhaps the most dedicated actor of his day.

The characters which he brought to life, and made an inspiration, would seem poorly portrayed, and even ridiculous, in the hands of almost anyone else.

His modesty and selfless loyalty to charitable causes, as well as to peace and the environment, should be an inspiration, especially to those in the entertainment industry.

Paul Newman was a hero of mine, from childhood on, a positive, personal example, in several ways, and I, and many others will rightfully miss him. Regards are sent to his family, and perhaps, a way to honor Paul Newman is to make a donation to help the fight against cancer.

Americans are a long-suffering people, but push them too far, and they will tear your head off. And, their patience has been tested to the maximum. Regardless of who you blame, the economy has sunk into a Depression, triggered by the favoring of ruthless, abusive corporations, who have frauded investors and homeowners with lies about the solidity and workability of the transactions which are at issue, causing major bankruptcies, home losses, and staggering unemployment. The situation has been gravely worsened by the favoritism these mega-conglomerates have been spoiled with, in terms of being allowed to continue paying pennies on the dollar to creditors, after they declare insolvency, while middle class individuals have had their right to get out from under, through declaration of bankruptcy, revoked.

Then, we have the development of the worst Trade Deficit in the history of the world, and the erosion of more domestic jobs, in favor of a globalism nightmare which is beyond description. The loss of foreign-based business taxes, as more of these companies have dropped American labor, for foreign shores, has been staggering. The depletion of tax revenue from the elimination of the estate tax, as well as from the suspension of a stepwise-increasing, corporate tax system, has been enormous. The two billion dollars every week, which is spent in Iraq, has decimated the economy, if only in taking money away from educational and vocational programs and job and small-business, stimulus packages. Then, thanks to de-regulation of financial institutions, their greed and misbehavior, leading to their near-demise, the economy has been further toileted by gargantuan, taxpayer bailouts. The staggering price of gasoline has triggered an enormous, compensatory hike in the Consumer Price Index, as business owners feel compelled to make up for their larger overhead, by raising prices.

The war in Iraq has also threatened our national security, by putting us in a dangerously, military resource-drained position, leading Al-Qaeda to re-surge in Afghanistan, and Russia to invade our Georgian ally, unrestrained.

So, the American people have been pushed so far, that the color of Obama’s skin will not prevent many of the bigoted members of our society, even, from voting for him. So.. Obama is your next president…. mark my words. And, again, I have not missed a political prediction in over fifteeen years.

As unfortunate as today’s, narcissistic preoccupation among humans is, this site, after all, must necessarily be about the one and only: MOI, Ani, Je, Yo, Ich, or, in whatever language you wish to understand, ME. This is indeed a convenient, jumping-off point for my philosophy of multi-culturalism. I appreciate your ethnic background, and your struggles are really poignant, but if you want to have a happier life, at the end of the day, you’re going to have to appreciate and appropriate MY ethnicity, insofar as the use of ENGLISH.

That being said, I was born in the 1950’s, in Philadelphia, at a time where people appreciated the value of an education, especially since it kept them out of an atrocious Vietnam War. Despite my drifting off and being lackadaisical, to the point where I hardly opened a book, a remarkable thing happened: I was in the top 15% of my classes, and even better, when I specialized in psychology, achieving a Masters in that discipline, in 1979.

In the 1960’s, growing up was full of true, racial harmony between Blacks and Whites, like myself. Whites provided the Blacks with many vocational opportunites, including in management, as well as support for their civil rights concerns. On a campaign stop, in December, 1960, I saw John F. Kennedy, the greatest President of my lifetime; Kennedy revolutionized the civil rights movement, and pulled the country out of the all-too-typical economic stagnation of the prior, Republican administration of Dwight David Eisenhower. He also contained the Vietnam War, and increased benefits for many underclassed people- seniors, employees, college students and people needing low-cost, medical treatment.

Another thing transpired in the 1960’s, from the ripe, old age of ten, and it was the discovery that I could WRITE, after having discovered that I could ACT. The first foreshadowed my abilities and involvement in ADVERTISING COPY WRITING and EDITING. I first tried my hand at a children’s book, about a Catholic orphanage, a strange preoccupation for a Jewish child, but perhaps not for one who was always fascinated by comparative religion. The small novel got favorable review from Simon and Schuster, who, despite the fact that they had no market for a book, like that, encouraged me to keep writing. I took that to heart.

Music of the day was comprised of a lot of Black R&B, from James Brown’s early stuff, to Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, Little Richard, the Platters, The Penguins, the Flamingos, The Earls, etc. Then came the Beatles and Classic Rock, in the late 60’s, with Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Moody Blues, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Joplin, Hendrix, and a cast of thousands. My movie heroes, throughout, were people like Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Katherine Hepburn, and they continued with Robert DeNiro, AL Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Gwyneth Paltrow, and many, many others. Then, I envision the timeless entertainers. Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, the moving, black-comedic mastery of Jack Lemmon, and within the realm of comedy, Jerry Lewis, Jackie Gleason and the world’s most gifted comic, Lucille Ball, rank as my favorites, along with Charley Chaplin and Peter Sellers. Then came Paul Lynde, Jonathan Winters, Carol Burnett, John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Zero Mostel, and many more. I think the funniest comic today, other than Conan O’Brien, is Jack Black.

I left Philadelphia in 1982, to live for a year in Atlanta, and then, for the last time, in 1995, for a five-year stint in Charlotte, NC, before taking up my residence, or should I say, defending it, in the rigorous area of Los Angeles. This is not a place that will win any awards for selflessness, and in an lot of human cases, not one that could rightfully bestow a Nobel Peace Prize for any undertaking which involved intelligence, but it does have its unparalleled opportunity. I mean, for something other than sheer, oppressive, insufferable frustration. Not that I wasn’t forced to leave Philly, out of disgust with the egomaniacal stupidity of its medical doctors; their brutal, psychiatric-fanatical misinterpretation of a series of conditions I had, would make leprosy seem desirable.

But, the protocol in L.A., as senseless as it usually is , can wear on one- sort of like driving through the human-driven, vehicular obstacle course which we call: Korea Town. As a matter of fact, this is what I looked like BEFORE coming to L.A.:

No, as incredible as this seems, that wasn’t what I looked like. However, to conclude this little journey into the realms of the past, I did have a very supportive group of acquaintances in Philadelphia, in the form of The Playwright’s Workshop, at least before the founder of it, Albert Benzwei, died. Albert was a great, loyal source of counsel for me, and he was a magnetic and unsurpassed, performing arts innovator and dedicated director, actor and dramaturg. He inspired me to enter the performing arts, to learn and develop playwriting, and he helped hone my acting skills, through the weekly, cold readings and his personal teaching. He instilled a respect for judging plays according to their technical merits, without lapsing into the cheap tendency to evaluate them on their political leanings. I wrote several pieces, in the 1990’s, in Philly, and two more in Charlotte, where I appeared in several, additional, stage plays, in lead roles. In Charlotte, I enrolled in an acting course, with my wonderfully generous, fun-loving and humanistic teacher, Ed Gilweit. I took this class to loosen myself up, emotionally and with regard to the kind of sexuality that today’s film actors are required, sometimes, to embody. I must say, along those lines, it didn’t hurt to have a “Character Exercise” where a few of the girls in the class acted out the process of losing a game of strip poker, which they thought their characters would become involved in, or so they said. There were also dressing exercises, although tragically, Ed died of the same, horrible disease that Albert Benzwie did, before I got a chance to perform mine. I still have great friends in Charlotte, and they are all owed many calls. I moved here, because Charlotte just hadn’t the opportunity for me, as a film actor and screenwriter.

Throughout my life, I have written many poems and short stories, but since the mid-1990’s, freelance writing, especially ad copy writing for small businesses, has been one of my chief occupations.