Ah, the first byline is a thrill. And I have a story about it.

But an even bigger thrill came first, in 1968, hearing my first radio commercial air while driving to my aunt's house. It hit me -- I was putting words in other peoples' mouths. Here was my commercial, where everyone could hear it! Who could I tell? It was so exciting.

Writing for the voice is good practice for other kinds of writing. I figured this out at some point. Maybe when my neighbor JoAnn said my writing was lyrical.

When you write for the voice, the words have to flow. If I couldn't read them out loud easily myself, how could I expect an announcer to read them

Of course, flow had nothing to do with whether the words made sense or if they were actually engaging the listener. But it was important. And I knew how to do it. Still do.

In the course of my advertising "career," I put words in the mouths of comedian Norm Crosby, quarterback Johnny Unitas, Baltimore's then mayor William Donald Schaefer, as well as many, many professional voices and disc jockeys. The pros appreciated me for making their job easy. And I appreciated them right back for making my words sound so good.