The Grant Years, 1958 -: Writing My Way Through Chicago, Detroit and New York

November, 1958. A sunny day and I was feeling pretty good about things. I’d been writing ads and commercials in Chicago for over eight years, and found it both rewarding and satisfying. Heck, I’d only been fired once.

Even that wasn’t all that horrible; my boss offered to cancel the firing, but I told him to forget it. Who wants to work for a guy who’s just fired you?

So that day I was on my way to my new job at Grant Advertising. Good job, good agency. Things looked terrific. But how was I...