While my family helped fuel my ever-curious nature, it was my maternal grandfather, Jim Craig, who inspired my passion for communication. He believed in empathy, clarity, and a never-ending quest for knowledge. Although he passed away in 1991, he left a legacy of letters, memos, even a short story about his WWII Army trunk (which he named Harvey). These written treasures inspire me daily to be a better person and a better communicator.
In 1979, he wrote to a manager at his direct mail distribution business:
In 1979, he wrote to a manager at his direct mail distribution business:
“[We have] a most unique opportunity to maintain empathy with [our] customers. Never forget that our customers range from the tick-infested woodsman to the manicured executive, to the pedagogic school person, to the dedicated scientist, to the avid researcher, to the avowed environmentalist, and more. We reach them all. They are our customers. We talk, we write to each of them on a person-to-person basis. How do we do that? By simply being human. By simply telling the facts, in the clearest possible manner, with the least amount of ostentation, and the maximum amount of appeal. In that manner we will reach our customers no matter what their social status, no matter what their interest, no matter where they are.” |
These are the words that I live by, that I write by, and that I work by.