Charles Francis began his career in communications as a reporter for United Press International in its Los Angeles bureau. A graduate of UCLA, he later worked there as a public relations representative, during which he followed a parallel career as a free-lance magazine writer. He spent the bulk of his professional career as a senior communications executive for the IBM Corporation. His last 15 years with IBM were as the company’s worldwide Director of Advertising.

On retiring from corporate life, Mr. Francis founded a subscription internet service whose huge collection of quotations, anecdotes and humor were accessed on-line by speech writers and communications professionals in the U.S., Canada and 12 foreign countries. As was the material in the internet database, this book is organized for easy access to sparkling material on almost any subject.