The world of Stephen Brockelman: Memoir, Arts, Opinion
Every once in a while you just have to revisit the ’60s
Animal House, Faber College Girls
And for me, Animal House is just the way to do it:
Dean Wormer:
Greg, what is the worst fraternity on this campus?
Greg:
Well that would be hard to say, sir. They’re each outstanding in their own way.
Dean Wormer, Animal House
Dean Wormer:
Cut the horseshit, son. I’ve got their disciplinary files right here. Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the swim meet? Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode.
Greg:
You’re talking about Delta, sir.
Dean Wormer:
Of course I’m talking about Delta, you TWERP!!! This year is going to be different. This year we are going to grab the bull by the balls and kick those punks off campus.
Greg:
What do you intend to do sir? Delta’s already on probation.
Dean Wormer:
They are?
Greg:
Yes, sir.
Dean Wormer:
Oh. Then as of this moment, they’re on double secretprobation!
Greg:
Double secret probation, sir?
Dean Wormer:
There is a little-known codicil in the Faber College constitution which gives the dean unlimited power to preserve order in time of campus emergency. Find me a way to revoke Delta’s charter. You live next door. Put Neidermeyer on it. He’s a sneaky little shit, just like you, right? [Greg nods] The time has come for someone to put their foot down. And that foot is me.
As a Sr. Writer at T. Rowe Price, I work with a group of the best copywriters around. We belong to the broader creative team within Enterprise Creative, a part of Corporate Marketing Services.
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A long and winding road: My path to T. Rowe Price was more twisted than Fidelity’s green line. With scholarship in hand, I left Kansas at 18 to study theatre in New York. When my soap opera paychecks stopped coming from CBS and started coming from the show’s sponsor, Proctor & Gamble, I discovered the power of advertising and switched careers. Over the years I’ve owned an ad agency in San Francisco; worked for Norman Lear on All in the Family, Good Times, Sanford and Son, and the rest of his hit shows; and as a member of Directors Guild of America, I directed Desi Arnaz in his last television appearance— we remained friends until his death. In 1988 I began freelancing full time didn’t look back.
In January 2012 my rep at Boss Group called and said, “I know you don’t want to commute and writing for the financial industry isn’t high on your wish list, but I have a gig with T. Rowe Price in Owings Mills…” I was a contractor for eight months, drank the corporate Kool-Aid, became a TRP associate that August, and today I find myself smiling more often than not.
