MUSINGS FROM JOAN #10


My grand-niece, Laura, will graduate this June from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago. Laura is the latest beneficiary of Nonny’s famous “writing gene”. . .my Mother’s gift that keeps on giving.

When Laura started college four years ago, I was sure that she was headed straight for the news desk at the New York Times, although she also had a yen to be a sports writer. But times have changed. While she is talented enough to be assured of a job with a major newspaper, she no longer aspires to work for one because she feels it will be a dead end. Today it is all about on-line news, and Laura’s decision to point her career in a different direction echoes this generation’s attitude about print news.

Which brings me to the direction my grand-niece does plan to take: public relations and marketing. Gee, that sounds familiar. I think I know someone who spent the last half century in that arena, and, with a few exceptions, enjoyed every minute of it.

My ex-husband used to say my business dealt in “bull shit”, and at times that was probably true, because I come from the era when the newspapers and TV loved crazy pr promotions and were willing to go along with the game. And what a game it was!

Like the time when I represented the Miami Serpentarium and we discovered that the markings on the hood of the very dangerous King Cobra looked exactly like the “eye” of the CBS logo. My colleague Marilyn and I decided to dub it the “Cronkite Cobra” after the venerable CBS newscaster, Walter Cronkite. A quick call to the news department at the local CBS TV station and we were off and running. One small problem. The cobra only flared his hood when he was angry or when Bill Haast, the famed snake man and owner of the Serp, was attempting to extract venom from the deadly creature. Actually, that made the creature pretty angry also.

When the TV cameraman sent by the station realized he would have to lie on his stomach to get a good view of the cobra as he reared up towards Haast’s outstretched hand, he panicked and admitted he was deathly afraid of snakes. We assured him that so were we, but that Haast had it totally under control. Then we stepped back. . far back. . and prayed that things would go well. Fortunately, the snake obliged and we got national coverage, including an on-air comment from Cronkite himself. That was a real winner and the client loved us..

Today, Laura will find that the public relations and marketing business is very corporate and much more serious. And probably not half as much fun. My business took me to many interesting places. . . pre-Castro Cuba where I handled US publicity for the Tropicana Night Club. . .: numerous times to Spain and Italy for the ceramic tile and stone industry:. . and to major cities around the country for a whole variety of client promotions. I escorted Linda Evans during the height of her “Dynasty” fame to the Phil Donahue Show in Chicago; had to baby sit a dejected Brooke Shields in the sauna of the Bonaventure Spa when Prince Albert of Monaco refused to show interest in her; spent more evenings than I can count bringing clients to be interviewed by Larry King on his late night radio show when he was still here in Miami, and actually got to drive Mario Andretti from his hotel in Coconut Grove to the Miami Herald for an interview when I was representing the International Auto Show. I think I made him nervous, possibly because the hotel driveway was very steep and I literally bounced off the end of it.

Of course it wasn’t all fun and games. A lot of it was long hours and plain hard work. In the public relations business you learn to accept rejection. We used to say that those who can’t accept rejection, work for newspapers. That’s an industry joke, folks..

I know Laura will be very successful. She’s smart as a whip and very much of today’s savvy computer generation. I will enjoy watching her climb the pr/marketing ladder. She knows she can always call Auntie Joan if she has a problem. I just hope she manages to have as much fun as I have had along the way.

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Photo caption: The PR Girl at work in the 70's. ., phone to ear, cigarette in hand. (I gave up smoking in the early '80s.)