The Day I Didn't Meet Dave Grusin

© Variety

I knew I could do it. 

In the early seventies I’d arrived in California. I tired of working a steady job, and I knew I could do advertising work. I made a list of local advertising agencies and owners, then wrote to them.

“I’m nineteen years old, I have no experience, but I’m willing to work for a low wage, and learn.”

I wanted to learn how ads were produced first, then move on to creative work.

I heard from three agencies, and took the offer from the one that was offering exactly what I wanted.

So I did learn how ads were created, and within six months I was responsible for producing ads running weekly in nine newspapers in seven cities across California and Texas, and monthly in Car and Driver, and Road & Track.

After a year and a half, I moved on to an account executive position at an agency that specialized in promoting consumer products, mostly food and automotive.

By the early nineties I’d returned to the East. I was in my early thirties, I decided that I wanted to do entertainment advertising. In fact, I knew I could do entertainment work. I now had a home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and two young children, and ran a small ad agency. It was small, but it was mine.

So once again I made a list of film production companies, and record labels, and set out making calls.

I was a modern jazz fan, so I first called on GRP Records, 555 W. 57th Street, New York. It was great! This was well before 9/11, so I walked into their reception area. There were all their Gold Records on the wall. Lee Ritenour, Yellow Jackets, Jerry Mulligan, and many more. I had some of those albums. But then none other than the great Dave Grusin! You see at the time GRP meant Grusin Rosen Productions. This was where Dave Grusin came to work!

Since I was there unannounced, I made my pitch, dropped off my promo sheet, thanked the receptionist, and left.

They didn’t hire me, but it really didn’t matter. I had taken the first step towards entertainment work.

Years later, I had become a film publicist, and I heard about the Dave Grusin documentary Not Enough Time.

Now PBS has it available to the public here, and here it is.

Enjoy it, and let me know what you think!

Steve Thompson

sct2391@outlook.com

#davegrusin #modernjazz #grprecords #moviesoundtracks 

MAGA Cruelty Comes Full Circle

For my mother’s final years, I was her caregiver. She suffered with dementia, which is a little bit better understood now.

In the end it’s nothing but sad to see a loved one gradually deteriorate.

I saw her go from a fully functioning rational person, to a confused, even angry person.

One day, in a calm moment though, she said; “Steve, I’ve seen what I do to you, but I don’t know why. I’m sorry.”

Now we see this former President talking about sharks, and how he would have dated Nancy Pelosi, and establishing a migrant fighting league.

Donald Trump’s dementia has progressed substantially, but he’s nowhere near done yet.

He’ll continue to deteriorate until his very last day, there’s no cure.

And his MAGA* base will continue to cruelly encourage him to make a fool of himself, and in the end inflict his cruelty on themselves.

* MAGA isn’t even an original idea, Ronald Reagan said; “Make America Great Again.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_America_Great_Again

My Seventies

 June 19, 2024

My foremost concern is my health. The first week in January I had my third stroke.

The first was due to me letting my blood pressure and blood sugar get too high. The second and third were, well, “causes uncertain.”

There are plenty of doctors who can explain the clinical info on types, causes, and treatments available.

I’ll try to briefly explain what it’s like to experience it.

My right side was affected from all three strokes, so my right arm always feels like I slept funny on it. I received physical, occupational, and speech therapies.

My entire right side is now weak, I use a wheelchair most of the time, I can’t walk unassisted, I can’t button an Oxford shirt.

But my sense of self has always remained strong. I know who I am, and who I’m not. Recently I’ve learned that if I accept my present condition, life is far more pleasant. And if I look for the good, I find it!

So don’t try to help me, just leave me alone. Please.

Steve Thompson

June 19, 2024

My Next Chapter: My Seventies

June 19, 2024

Man, I'm really out of practice, so please excuse me for a while!

I enter a new chapter of my life: I recently turned seventy, I fully retired from the film publicity business, and I survived my third stroke.

So where does that leave me? I learned to invest. Warren Buffet has some simple guidelines: Invest in what you know, buy low, sell high, and be in for the long run. Well that works!

Do I want to start another ad agency? No. Do I want to work in the film business? No.

I’ve decided that no one can be a better me than me. I’ve decided to write about the various aspects of me, so that’s where I'm going to start!

Here’s to being seventy!