Work, another four letter word.
I’ve had a few different jobs rather than a career long one. If I thought something looked interesting, I’d want to give it a try, even if it meant leaving what I was doing. It didn’t always work out but it was fun trying, most of the time. The variety of experiences meant the most to me.
After I graduated from college in 1967 I was in no way ready for working in the “real” world. I was a “hippie” and that lifestyle seemed more appealing ( plus, I was lacking in self confidence so no way I could put my BBA degree to use at a Madison Ave. ad agency ). In my 20s I got carried away with drug and alcohol use and abuse. But, luckily, I pulled myself together enough to go back to school to get an A.S. degree in Turfgrass Management in 1977. Upon graduation I moved to California and got a job as an Assistant Golf Course Superintendent in Glendale. I returned to MA in 1978.
Subsequent jobs in Massachusetts
Golf Course Superintendent
Turf related equipment and supplies salesman
Grass seed and fertilizer salesman
In 1984 I took a guided group golf trip to Scotland. I liked it so much I decided I’d like to live there, so later that year I quit the grass seed job and made an extended visit to St. Andrews in early 1985. Because, as a US citizen, I could not qualify to work there I decided to try creating a golf travel business for myself. I spent a few months gathering information and returned to the US later that year. While trying to get the new business up and running I was offered an opportunity to caddie on the newly formed Senior Tour for players over 50 years old. I caddied there from late 1985 to early 1987. I loved caddieing, but I was still hoping to find success in something that would lead me to being able to live in Scotland.
In July of 1987 I escorted a group of golfers from Utah to play courses in Scotland and attend the Open Championship at Muirfield.
I had connected with a golf magazine publisher on Hilton Head Island, SC who helped me form a new golf travel company that included arranging golf tee times on Hilton Head courses while hoping to sell more group travel packages to Scotland. Unfortunately, it was not successful.
While in Hilton Head I also became involved in the golf art and memorabilia business, through a connection I made in Scotland.
I looked at my time in the South as my years in exile and I happily returned to MA in 1989 and worked for a friend managing a golf course pro shop.
I continued to make trips to Scotland hoping to hit upon an idea that would help me to establish residence there. Unfortunately this did not come to fruition and upon a return to the US I decided a return to caddieing ( I had about $300 to my name ). I hooked up with the PGA Senior Tour again for a couple of years.
In the off seasons of caddieing I worked for an airport transportation service in Amherst, MA as a driver and in the office taking reservations. I also was in charge of buying advertising and a local radio station was one business that I worked with. Their salesman mentioned to me that I had a good voice and wondered if I had ever considered working as a radio DJ.This was Heaven to my ears and I leaped at the opportunity. I started as an intern to the morning DJ and eventually talked my way into an unpaid position as the overnight DJ. I absolutely loved it.
I progressed to the point that I felt I was ready for a paid position and after sending in an audition tape I was hired as the evening DJ at a station in White River Junction, VT. I don’t mind saying I was very good at it. But, the late night hours took a toll on my health, and with no daytime shift available I had to leave that job. What do you suppose came next? Yes, caddieing again. I intended to join the Senior Tour again but ended up on the Nike Tour. I caddied off and on until 1997 when I decided a steady paycheck and benefits was better than the uncertainty of the week to week caddieing environment.
I was an early user of the Internet and I had been working online doing web site promotion work in 1996 and 1997. I left caddieing when one of my clients offered me a full time position.
1997 Outpost.com – Linkmaster, AOL account manager, marketing
1999 PC Flowers and Gifts – Gift product manager, marketing
2000 Eyescream.com – ZThing marketing manager
From 2003 to 2018 I was able to earn an income from my own website projects described elsewhere on this site, supplemented by early retirement SS benefits.
My last job before full retirement in 2023 was as the Programming Director for a public access community TV station.
There are a few gaps in the narrative and maybe the dates are off a bit, but I think I was able to recall the major happenstances.