It’s late March 1989, I come home to a message on my machine from a clothing company wanting to use an image of mine. I was ecstatic and impatiently waited for the additional call to come as promised.
Then suddenly on the 1st I get a call from someone claiming to be the Rep saying “April fools” it was my dear family friend William Losee. It truly rocked me as I had never been on the receiving end of an April Fools joke before, my favorite holiday.
Years passed, then one day a fax arrives from the Authentic fitness wear company (Speedo) asking if I was interested in doing a line of triathlon wear. Well of course I wasn’t impressed by the repeat joke, so when the call came in I laughed saying, this is so pathetic, no build up, no letter head (fax) and why try again with the same old joke? My God try harder would ya? Boo! I barked into the phone, try again lady, thinking it was my father’s secretary Patty, I yelled put Oldie (my father) on the line.
The very nice lady on the other end said “listen I have 1,000 photographers to choose from if you are not interested…. I interrupt with “weak weak weak, this is so weak!”
She said she has no idea who Oldie or Patty are or what I was talking about………after much conversation, she puts me on speakerphone so the whole conference room could hear. She then asked me to repeat my April Fools accusations back to the office….everyone had a huge laugh….except me. I was mortified, surely I had blown the deal.
Well life is strange because we did end up with a big check from our first successful sportswear line.
Happy Speedo Hump
