In just three more days, July 1, it will finally be here and I can’t believe I made it. Eighty eight years on this planet, wow! How did I ever do that? It has sure been one hell of a ride and hopefully it is far from over as I have much to still accomplish.

There are so many things I can recall and remember in all those years, some of them in the most minute detail. The very first remembrance I have was October 31, 1938 and the night of Orson Welles Mercury Theater on radio and the “War of the Worlds” broadcast that turned into panic for everyone, my folks included. I remember being hustled out of my bed being quickly dressed, my mom and dad getting as much in the house they could get into the car. We had to get away because the Martians were invading New Jersey!! I was crying and screaming not knowing what was going on as my father drove from the house only to face backed up traffic everywhere. Everyone had the same idea, to get away from the Martians. Of course, we would soon find out that it was all fake and just a radio show drama that created all this panic. It was a time, to this day, I can never forget in my life.

Then there was December 7, 1941 another day that I can remember in detail and really shook me even though I didn’t fully understand it. I was playing with my first Lionel train set under the Christmas tree, my dad was painting the ceiling in my bedroom and mom was cooking roast chicken for Sunday dinner and the radio was playing when there was a sudden interruption. They mentioned the attack on Pearl Harbor and I remember my mother screaming “Sonny, Sonny” from the kitchen and my father running into the living room and turning the volume louder. They were besides themselves and I was crying and being held tightly as the news report came across the radio. As for my mother yelling “Sonny, Sonny”, that was in regards to my uncle Sonny who was in the Navy and stationed at Pearl Harbor. That day would change a lot in my family for a long time, especially my father who would become a very bigoted man until the day he died. As for my uncle, 5 days later we got word that he was okay and had been on the other side of the island when it happened. Unfortunately, I would lose my uncle George in 1943 when he was shot down over Germany. My recollections of those growing up years during the war with rationing, going on scrap drives, growing a Victory garden, etc. still resonate with me today.

There are so many other days I recall like my first day of high school and my graduation, playing on the baseball and basketball teams. Then skating in the Roller Derby for a year after graduation. In September 22, 1953 joining the Air Force, a move that would determine my career path for the next 25 years or so. It was while I was in the Air Force that I would begin my radio career. My boss, Major Edward DeWitt, liked my voice and my love for music and suggested I do a local radio show on Friday nights from the local USO. So, the “USO Platter Party” began and so did my career in radio the rest of my time in the Air Force and then after until the mid 70’s.

There is so much more that I have been able to see, hear and observe over all these eighty eight years. My first marriage in 1958 and the birth of my fantastic son Warren in 1960, the Korean war, segregation, civil rights, the JFK assassination, as well as MLK’s and Bobby Kennedy’s, the space program and the man on the moon, the death of Elvis, Woodstock, Nixon and Watergate and of course September 11, 2001. I could go into a whole rant about that but I won’t. All I will say is that 9/11 became a very, very personal incident to me. There was October 14, 1968 when I met Flo on a blind date and resulting in a union that lasted until her passing from Alzheimer’s in 2002. Then July 8, 2009 when Carole came into my life and in another week we celebrate year number 14 together. A date that I can never forget is December 3, 2014, the day I had my “widowmaker” heart attack. Statistics say only 1 in 4 make it and I was that one. It is now almost 9 years and I have never felt better and am still functioning on all levels. Thank you, my dear Lord.

I have to also add one more very important date, December10, 2015 when a dream I had 50 years earlier finally came true when I became a published author. Thanks to Richter Publishing for taking me on and publishing my book “When Swing Was King” all about the big bands, the depression and WW II era. It is something I am very proud of and even received an award for. Thank you Tara for believing in me.

However, with all that and so much more, I must say our move to Florida in 1977 was the very best I have ever made. It changed our lives for better and I wouldn’t trade what I have today for anything. It not only gave us a new lease on life and new direction but would eventually put me into a new career path I have been on since 1989 as a writer, editor, creator, critic and reviewer. A huge thank you goes out to Paul Allen Cianci. Knowing you and your family for 40 years has been an honor and blessing. Being part of NightMoves and P.A.C. Publishing and all we have done over the past 35 years has given me some of the very best times of my entire life and I am looking forward to many more.

That is just a small sample folks, hopefully the final chapter is still a long way off from being written. Now, as I continue on living each day to the fullest my next goal is to still be very active living and loving life and doing my work as I start the approach to the upcoming 16th president during my lifetime and the start of decade number nine. Thank you to each and every one of you that have been a part of my life past, present and future, I cannot express enough the love I have for life, for this great country and for all of you that are a part of this journey I have been on.

Happy Piano Keys Day to me!!

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