STOP THE PRESSES!

     MONDAY, APRIL 18TH.
       STOP THE PRESSES!

     I have spent some 57 years
as a Broadcasted. Some radio.
Mostly television.
     But since I am still silenced
with a horrible case of laryngitis
and since April 18th is National
Columnists Day I suppose it's as
good a time as ever to admit to
my involvement in the newspaper
game!
     Yes, long before I was on the
air anywhere I was "in print."
      It began with my Junior High
School newspaper where I was
the poetry editor. My Mom was
quite a poet and I inherited just a
bit of her. Some were not half
bad. And then there was:
Little birdie in the cage............
How I wonder what your age....is.
I call that blank verse.
      But seriously folks, and I do
mean seriously, I ventured into
the newspaper world three times
while I was in radio.
       I wrote a column for a long
gone weekly newspaper in
Nanticoke and did some Political
columns for an independent
publication that popped up
briefly while the Newspaper
Guild was doing battle with the
Times Leader and the Citizen's
Voice was just being created.
      My Byline appeared in both
of those newspapers. But my
longest stent in print came
as a Media Columnist for the
Citizen's Voice. Since I was
offering a lot of "inside information"
I elected to write that weekly piece
under a Pen Name. So now, at
last, some folks will know who
 "Bart Summers" really was!
     Writing for newspapers, even
only once a week, was a lot
harder than writing for radio or
television. At least till Closed
Caption became the rule in TV.
That's because you had to spell
things correctly. Not my best
trait!
     Still, I suppose Ink, like
"show business" gets in your
blood.
     Readers of the Scranton Times
will notice a feature run every
other month that features stories
and helpful hints for families. I
write the Grandparents Column
for that publication!
     Hope my "Spell Check" works,
and that all your NEWS is good!