Jim Van Cleave grew up in a middle-class home in suburban Chicago, His father was a stern task master, but taught him the virtues of hard work and independence. Jim graduated from Washington & Lee University in 1958. That same year he joined Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati where he worked in marketing and advertising for thirty-seven years. At the end of his career he supervised the production of P&G’s soap operas. This working experience influenced a number of these stories. He has been married to Judie, to whom this book is dedicated, for thirty-three years. Judie appears in a number of these stories in a variety of guises. She is the smart, feisty woman who is almost always right. They have three children, Beckley, Bill, and Chris plus four grandchildren. Jim and Judie are retired on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Jim writes, plays golf, and teaches film history for Lifelong Learning.