Mickey has created his own watermark.

In this letter he talks about slacking off and not “sweating the small stuff.” I wholeheartedly subscribe to this policy. A lot of life is small stuff. Knowing how to discern the small from the big, that takes skill.

A side benefit as I tackle this project is the pleasure of learning about pop culture during this time. “The Les Crane Show” – a show Mickey enjoyed – aired in 1963 and was on for about a year, going head-to- head in a battle against The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. PS. He lost.

He was a jack of all trades: beginning his career in radio, then moving to TV and then computer software. Does anyone younger than 45 remember Mavis Beacon typing lessons? Well, Les Crane was the chairman of the company that made “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.” According the the New York Times obituary from 2008, he was deemed an original “shock-jock” because he invited guests such as George Wallace and Lee Harvey Oswald’s mother onto his show. He sometimes hung up on viewers who called in to his show, a big faux pas back then.

He even won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word recording in 1971. Here is a link for your listening pleasure: https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/243DiQm4D8A679lJl6IQfk

Fun fact – he was also married at one time to Tina Louise, who played Ginger on Gilligan’s Island.