Birthday Brother

I'd like to wish my oldest brother, Bill, a very happy birthday today! Bill's considered a mentor and part-time deity in the world of copy editors, but no one in the field owes more to him than I do. Bill is the inspiration behind my entire career, starting from the time I was 9 years old. I'm still trying to get my hands on back issues of the Hiller News, the unsanctioned school newspaper we ran out of our basement on 13 Mile Road. But even as a junior high "adviser" to my brother Terence and me Bill was already setting the bar very high. His scathing op-ed about the lunch ladies' decision to create a "snowball area" in lieu of actually doing their jobs may have gotten us shut down for good (censorship, I tell you!), but I'm guessing the shock waves he created with it are still felt on the playground over at Hiller Elementary to this day. I thought he was the smartest person in the world back then because he was my big brother. It turns out I was right. I hope it's a good one, Billy. (And that my present arrived on time.)