Degree(s): BJ '49

Whereabouts: United States, Plano, Texas

What do you do?
I worked on newspapers in Texas and Oregon until 1957 when I entered public relations. In 1961 I started in the cotton business as an independent merchandiser operating in Lubbock, Texas, and in Visalia, Calif. Today, I am retired and live in Plano, Texas, near my five children and eight grandchildren, all living in the DFW Metroplex. Whatever success I have had in life, outside of surviving flying 35 combat missions over Germany in WWII in a B-17 bomber, I owe in great part to my attendance and graduation from Mizzou!

How did you get your job?
My first job was obtained through a reference from the School of Journalism.

What is the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School?
Be persistent, and don’t give up.

What advice do you have for current students?
Drink less beer, and study all you can.

What is your favorite J-School memory?
To survive in my college years, I worked as a messenger and operated a mimeograph machine in the basement of Jesse Hall. To start, I only made 35 cents an hour, but it was great because you could work any time you didn’t have a class. I usually could make $17 to $20 a month.

Any parting comments?
I love Mizzou, but somehow I “failed” with my kids. I put my wife through college; she even got a master’s. We put all five kids through college, but I could never get any of them interested in going to Mizzou!