Hubber2Hubber: lrohner interviews Russell-D  This week lrohner interviews an 81 year-old Hubber, Russell-D, who decided to break away from the traditonal way to answer questions (in order) and instead elected to tell us all about himself in one mega, super-duper answer (when you were 81 years old and have parted the Red Sea you'd do whatever you want, too). I'll list the questions that lrohner sent over first and I'll follow those up with the question that Russell-D gave her in return. - Tell us a little bit about yourself.
- What brought you to Hub Pages?
- I see that you have a new series of hubs out there called A La Carte. Can you tell us what inspired you to write these? Do you have any favorites in the series so far?
- Your background was in film, print, radio and television advertising. Can you tell us more?
- What was your favorite account that you worked on in your career and why was it your favorite?
- I know that you've done a lot of traveling. Do you have a favorite place to visit?
- As a new 81 year old Hubber, what advice can you give to the other senior Hubbers out there?
- Tell me what you enjoy most about Hub Pages, and if you could make any improvements, what would they be?
Lisa, with one answer, I'll try to cover most of your questions. How do I spell out 81 years? Four days before my 80th Birthday, my answer was to write for my children and grandchildren 80 pages of what I experienced along the way. I don't think you want 80 pages. But, some highlights were as a beginning writer in New York Radio back in 1948. That carried me through thru l951, with the last year part of a new TV team at WOR. While there I also free-lanced on Brooklyn Dodger Broadcasts on the Branch Rickey Network with announcer Johnny Most, later the broadcast voice of the Boston Celtics.
In '52, I wrote at the March Of Dimes. We did such a good job beating Polio, our unit was dissolved. The following 2 years were spent as part of the Better Homes & Gardens Broadcast Division putting new TV stations on the air in the Dakotas and Iowa. My first ad agency gig happened in Cedar Rapids, which led to Cincinnati and then to Miami, where I wrote on the Island of Jamaica account.
In 1955, recruiter landed me on Madison Avenue writing commercials in all media for Barney's, National Shoes, Rayco and other retail accounts, plus Sammy Davis Manischewitz spots. From there, now married with one child, Detroit's Doner Advertising beckoned with a nice money bump, which my wife Claryce, and I agreed would be for one year. 8 years later, now an established writer and producer, with music lyric credits, plus production experience on Detroit Lion Football and Detroit Tiger Baseball, I was transferred to Doner's Baltimore Office, which involved The Colts and Orioles.
More important, I worked with Hank Russell in Hollywood, lyric writer and music producer for our National Beer account. When Hank passed, his responsibilities became mine. And my skills grew. I wrote a lyric song by young Glen Campbell that won first place in its NAB category. Other music recorded in London to save union residuals, were performed with young Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr.
After 6 glorious Baltimore years, now father of 3, we moved to the LA area because my heavy production travels limited seeing the best part of my two oldest children growing up, though in truth my production travel continued to grow. During 35 Hollywood years, I became principal in a special effects/animation/CGI company which produced the Pillsbury Doughboy, Speedy Alka-Seltzer, Chuck Wagon plus other puppet spokespeople, as well as effects work for Japan, primarily for Fuji with Yul Brynner. Most fun was opening foreign markets including Mexico and Canada to our skills areas, including traditional animation done by Tex Avery; those brilliant Raid commercials.
In 1986, now with a commuting to office in Mexico we worked on the countries largest accounts. In '88, a great New York friend kept me in the States for good with my own production company producing for the Ford Motor Company, an 8 year gig which also included their Hertz division.
Creatives are often rated by their Super Bowl Spots. I had 3, Flying Tigers, the intro of the Chevy Z-28 and the Around-The-World project mentioned in A La Carte during which we produced the commercial that introduced the Ford Contour.
At age 80 I hung it up. For what? A great question, one I asked myself every boring day. What would excite me enough to want to get out of bed each morning?
For my grandkids, from their ages 2 to 12, each birthday I would write them a book of stories and poems. (Don't try to write for a 2-year old, it's a killer!!).
When I retired, I looked at that body of work and began to rewrite, turning the collection into something I thought of commercial value. A full year of trying to interest an agent or publisher was a washout..
The idea for A La Carte happened when my wife and I saw "Julie and Julia". I'd been tinkering with the idea of doing a Blog all the while the 8 months I spent turning a shelf of detailed diary entries accumulated over 55 years of International Travel, into the book which is "A La Carte".
Thanks to Hub Pages, I now own that "Blog", where I can write to my heart's delight, not only A La Carte, but short stories as well, including those written for my grandkids. Hub Pages has given me the chance to test my literary muscle and I'm getting more kick out of the writing and the exposure than I've had in years.
You asked if I had a favorite place to go. I always thought Italy was the most fun country to visit; I never understood how Mussolini got any two Italians marching in the same direction at the same time. However, this year our stay in Provence opened my eyes and was a great surprise.
In answer to giving advise, I haven't been a Hubber long enough to offer suggestions, but when I have something to say, count on it, I'm not shy.
Finally, as to advice to other senior Hubbers. If you have something you're ready to share, share it. Every piece you write makes you a better writer. If putting words on paper proves satisfying, stay with it. If you need help getting started, there is always a class at a nearby community college if that's your preference. If not, go to the gym. There's no way to tell a senior what works for them. For each of us, it's different. My hope is whoever you are, you enjoy whatever you enjoy during your September - October - November - December years.
David Russell View Russell-D's full profile • Join Russell-D's Fan Club
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Just last night we officially busted though the 500,000 Hub mark, which is a huge milestone for me, the rest of the HubPages team and all of you fantastic Hubbers to hit. In just 2 short months we jumped from 400k to 500k, which is the fastest by far that we've ever grown to date. As all of you Hubbers continue to publish better content and as the word continues to spread about the cool things that we're doing over here I only expect us to continue to grow even faster as this HubPages train continues to move on down the tracks. CHOOOOOO CHOOOOOO!!
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