By Edward Master
I really got my start in technical writing on a government contract for the U.S. Navy. But as far as my actual writing career, that probably commenced in high school when my senior class got the go-ahead for a dance and to advertise over the school intercom with morning announcements. So, Mike Rapp, Harry Roberts, and myself became morning mouths to start the school day. Somehow I got conned into coming up with much of the morning banter that would go on the air.
Once I penned a column for the "Clarion Call" (our weekly college paper) on my fraternity's goings on for the past week or so. At the time, The Call was running weekly columns on the different Greek organizations and that week it was Phi Sigma Epsilon's turn. After that, a writing career took a back seat for a while.
The tech writing business came and went with a layoff at RCA/GE. I had made some interesting contacts and met some interesting people at, first, Planning Research Corporation, and then RCA. At PRC, I was exposed to the culture of Philadelphia, especially South Philly. I attended my first Mummer's parade and fell in love with the cheese steak sandwich (I did take a bye on the cheese whiz though; I favored provolone). I worked closely with George Neborak, who I learned gave up a promising minor league baseball career to raise a family. George was a die-hard Eagles and Phillies fan. I managed a company trip to San Diego for a few days at sea on the US Navy's Constitution aircraft carrier. My brother Jack had been on the 'Connie' when he was in the Navy.
Across the river at RCA, I learned some history about RCA, Camden (NJ), and corporate takeovers (by GE). I think we had eight floors in my building, and part of one floor was a recording studio, complete with baffling on the walls to shut out extraneous noise. We had a lab working on a speech recognition project. We also had labs working on lasers, laser recordings (a forerunner of the discs), target recognition (aircraft and ships), and artificial intelligence. Once in a while, I'd journey to the Princeton Labs (David Sarnoff Research Center) for duty. Princeton had a pond complete with ducks (it was a bit lavish), but had plenty of 'mad-scientist' types working at all hours of the day and night. One of my perks was being the editorial rep to the "RCA Engineer" magazine, which included a rep from NBC out of the Big Apple. I heard about "Miami Vice" and "Cheers" long before other folks.
At RCA, I met Aubrey Sally, a true Southern gentleman. Aubrey was a veteran co-technical writer, originally from North Carolina. I explained one time of my background and he in turn explained how his home (of his youth) was built on stilts to protect his family from high water. Aubrey, who was susceptible to afternoon naps, often napped following lunch. Aubrey eventually passed due to a brain tumor.
I also became quite good friends with another tech writer named Carle Spriggs, only his given first name was Denny. He was Denny to differentiate him from Danny, his older brother. For some reason he adapted to Carle, which had something to do with the father. Carle may have lasted two years at RCA as he returned to his native Washington, DC. His wife Debbie was from Missouri and a fabulous cook. She once sent Carle to work with a dozen donuts, but none made it to Camden as Carle devoured them all on the high-speed line (commuter train).
Carle had a voracious appetite, but was a runner who ran in the Marine Corps marathon each year and thus ran off the associated calories. Carle's older brother played football at New Mexico Highlands U, had a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys at defensive back (size), and later became a secret service agent (on Reagan detail). Carle played football at Mizzou where he met wife Debbie; he was a graduate of the Journalism school at Missouri U.
After the layoff, I needed a job and that's when my wife said "Why not become an adjunct teacher?" So I did, and that is another story for another day.
Speaking of sports
Well, Skenes has arrived, which means zero if the Buccos can't hit and field. Surprisingly, they've had decent starting pitching but their bullpen has returned to Florida.