Today I celebrate eight and a half decades on this wonderful planet and it has been an exciting time with many twists and turns. Please come along with me as I look back at one hell of a ride during these eighty five years of my life.

I was born in Brooklyn, New York, during the height of the Great Depression. I remember, in vivid detail, Dec. 7, 1941 and the devastating news about the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor where my Uncle Sonny was stationed as a Naval officer, and fortunately made it through unharmed. I remember the scrap drives I went on with my mother, helping my folks plant a “Victory Garden” during the war and so much more. I remember our family changing our name from Koch to Cook so we would not be thought of as Nazis (yes, back then people did think like that).

There were the great high school years I had at Lodi High School in New Jersey, being in the drama club, glee club, the baseball and basketball team. Then came a snap decision with my best friend Billy Feczer, when we decided to join the Air Force in 1953. Little did I know the Air Force would actually shape my career for the next 25 years or so. I did my first radio gig at WFIG in Sumter, South Caroline while I was stationed at Shaw AFB. I left the Air Force in 1956 and embarked on a radio career that took me to many places over the next 20 plus years and I had the pleasure and honor to work with so many stars of the day in rock and roll and country music that have left indelible memories with me. I married in 1958 and divorced in 1964 taking a break from radio because I was in a two year battle to get custody of my sons. On May 17, 1966 I was awarded permanent custody of them.

In October 1968 I was talked into a blind date and would meet a true angel, Flo, who would become the most important part of my life for the next thirty four years with her love, understanding and belief in me. I went back to radio and in 1970 formed my own country music talent agency booking and managing local talent and working with the best in Nashville. In 1976 I had had enough of the big city rat race, the commuting, the brutal winter weather and headaches. So we made the decision to just pack up and head for Clearwater, Florida where one of Flo’s daughters lived. We arrived on November 1, 1976 and have never looked back. I took on a variety of jobs but always kept that “show business” light lit. In 1983 I met a new neighbor by the name of Paul Allen Cianci and because of our love for sports we became very good friends and Flo and I got to know his family. Fact is the Cianci clan became my second family and I love them all.

June of 1989 brought another life changing moment came along when Paul asked me to join him in doing a new magazine he had started called “Sports South”. Not knowing what the future held I joined with Paul and here we are today 31 years later still going strong. We even did a sport talk radio show on the old WFNS for a few years. Sports South would morph into NightMoves in 1991 and here we were, two guys with little knowledge of the adult industry doing an adult publication. Paul also decided, because of my background, we should do a country music  magazine so we did  for almost 5 years in conjunction with Q105 which was a country music station back then and had good success with it. In 1996 we took on another adventure with little knowledge and began Full Throttle, a motorcycle magazine, which is now run by Paul’s son Tony and very successful. Through it all NightMoves became the main focus of the company and this past October we presented our 27^th  Annual Adult Awards show, the third longest running awards show in the industry. That is an accomplishment that we are very proud of. Now, even with the COVID-19 pandemic we are still chugging along with NightMoves in the digital world and hoping we can have awards show #28 in November.

On May 23, 2002, I lost Flo after she suffered a devastating stroke in 2000 that was followed by dementia and Alzhiemer’s. Thank God for Paul and his family or I wouldn’t be here today. They kept me focused, kept me working, kept me thinking positive and were there for me every step of the way. But God had another plan. July 8, 2009, saw me in another blind date situation and meeting Carole Tutko, who I truly believe was sent to me by God and Flo. In another week we will celebrate 11 fantastic years together proving you can live and love again. Then it got even better. In 2006 I lost my brother Richard, but in 2010 he re emerged in the person of Vern Allen, who has become my brother from another mother and meant more to me than he will ever know. On December 3, 2014 I suffered a “widow maker” heart attack and only one out of four make it. I was that one, so God certainly was there and kept me here. It allowed me, at almost age 80, to have my book “When Swing Was King” published by Richter Publishing in Clearwater. It didn’t make the NY Times best seller list, but those who bought it enjoyed it and that’s what counts most. Now here we are today in 2020 and I have no intention of slowing down. I will keep on writing, reviewing, enjoying life as best I can and being blessed by all those who make my life the joy that it is, even in a pandemic.

I have been truly blessed over the years in so many ways by so many opportunities, so many people, so many true friends and two of the most incredible women to come into my life. I have also been honored to receive several different awards over the years that are very special to me. I thank you all for your love, your caring and understanding and most of all, for believing in me when I sometimes didn’t believe in myself. I love you all.

Now instead of the big party we had originally planned to have, it will be time for just Carole and I to share some birthday cake and then get started on the next eight and a half……Look out world!!!!

Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN