So far, I'm the only writer I've ever known who started writing just to aggravate his wife.  The first published humor column I ever wrote was written a full year before I got guts enough to see if the Gaston Gazette would run it.  I wanted it to be a surprise to her. You know, let a one of her teacher buddies or a parent come up to her and say, "Honey, I can't believe you let your husband write that in the paper."  And then let her find out what I wrote. I'm a such a lovable guy, after all.

After that first column, I liked it so much I talked to Barry Bridges, the Editorial Pages Editor at the Gazette, and he was kind enough to start running my column on a regular basis. I can't thank him enough for giving me my start, support, and editorial guidance. After all, cop who majored in History in college needs all the help he can get when it comes to writing.

When I got serious about being funny, I headed to the Gaston County Public Library's branch on Union Road in the southern portion of Gaston County. (Notice here I always head in a southerly direction).  The librarian there, De Ann Redwing pointed me in all the right directions.    She also invited to speak at the 3rd birthday celebration of the branch, and this was my first advertised speaking engagement. 

My influences as a writer and humorist so far have been good ol' boys themselves and include southerners Lewis Grizzard and Jerry Clower, as well as Midwestern good ol' boy Garrison Keillor, and western good ol' boy Will Rogers. From these all stars of common humor I have developed a style that targets five goals I attempt to accomplish in each column that I write. These are as follows:

First:  I have focused on a target audience.  Originally this included southerners, males of all geographic locations, and older Americans but now includes women and the many northerners who have moved into North Carolina.

Second: I am a storyteller and I write stories and tell stories based on true events, people, and places. I then put a humorous spin or "good ol' boy" point of on these everyday tales of life.  To use Jerry Clower’s credo, “I don’t tell funny stories, I tell stories funny.”

Third: I try to use at least one real person or character in each story that I write. I then focus on introducing and relating these people to my target audience.

Fourth:  I endeavor in each column to interject a small detail or fact aimed at evoking a pleasant memory or thought from my target audience. I’ve found that the pleasant past is a wonderful escape for most people and I try to take them back mentally to somewhere in their pleasant past with each story that I write. 

Fifth:  My ultimate goal is to leave the target audience felling good, uplifted, and in some way identifying with the story, its characters, or its point of view.  For me this has become an addiction.

From the reaction I get from editors and readers it seems I have been successful in accomplishing these goals.  This has also become quite apparent from the many speaking engagements I have been invited to participate in at civic groups, church groups, school classes, and as an after dinner speaker. I have been equally successful as a speaker telling these same stories that I write.

As a writer I bring a unique perspective to the table. So far I am the only police officer I have ever known who not only wrote a newspaper column but is also a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. I have also held elected office as a town councilman, and although I was a licensed United Methodist minister who pastured two churches for two years, my wife and I are now Roman Catholic converts. My wife, by the way, is also my childhood sweetheart, who is a Yankee from Pennsylvania and a schoolteacher by profession.  We have two elementary school age children, Jacob and Kathleen. 

And most important of all, I am the only living newspaper columnist who appears in the newspaper every week wearing a white Stetson hat!