A Pat On His Back

Friday June 12th, 2009 - Milwaukee, WI

Unexpected but necessary change of plans today. I was starting in on my huge pile of all I have to do when I received a call from my old friend Pat Martin. Pat is my mentor in the radio business and sometimes I don’t know whether to thank him or beat him like a drum.

Radio can be very bittersweet and it isn’t for the squeamish or thin skinned. When radio is going well it can be a euphoric high but when it isn’t there aren’t too many things more soul crushing. Getting fired in a strange town by a clueless toad can be overwhelming and most people who’ve worked in radio have experienced that at least once. Usually more.

Pat is the one who helped me get started and like my comedy mentor C. Cardell Willis I totally appreciate his support and guidance in the beginning. Both of them taught me what life in the business was like and how to handle it and were extremely passionate about the craft even though neither one of them achieved the status and recognition they deserved.

Unfortunately nice guys seldom get recognized or thanked so I always try to do it as I’m in that class myself. I help people all the time and that tends to be forgotten by most of the ones who get helped but the ones who do appreciate it really stand out. They’re the elite.

I know how good it feels when one of my comedy students sends me even a short email of thanks so that’s why I always try to be grateful for those who helped me. Cardell was a kind and giving soul but died in squalor in a low rent nursing home. He deserved better.

Pat Martin deserves more too in my opinion. He’s been a mentor to a lot of people over the years but few recognize it. He owns a small radio station up in Manistee, MI and it’s a life long dream of his to be a station owner. People are always telling him to shut it down and I know that hurts him very much. He’s a small fish in a smaller pond but he loves it.

Pat’s birthday is May 14th and I always try to take him out for a thank you lunch. We’ve both been busy and this is as close as we could make it but I didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to give him some proper respect so when he called I changed my day‘s plans.

Most people don’t realize Pat Martin was the one who suggested I use ‘Mr. Lucky’ as a stage persona. He’d been trying to think of a stage gimmick for years and one year during his birthday lunch he came up with that idea and it stuck. I’ll always be grateful for that.

Even more than that I’m thankful for his kindness and friendship and support over a lot of very hard years. He knew me through the bank robbery fiasco and all the tortured times that went with it and he was there for me when I got fired all over the country and now he uses me as an example of someone he admires for staying with it through the worst times.

I know it meant a lot to him for me to drive up and buy him lunch and it meant a lot to me to be able to do it. Pat is a great mentor and I hope I can be the same to others. People like he and Cardell make life worth living and I for one never want to forget their gifts.