Read Online 03.She.Wanted.It.All.2005 by Kathryn Casey - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kathryn Casey
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Methodist University, and the University of Georgia, majoring in advertising and marketing. He earned a degree in chiropractic medicine, although he never practiced. In World War II, with the nation in turmoil, Steve joined the navy and trained as a pilot and an engineer at the U.S. Maritime Academy in Kings Point, New York. He worked as a supply officer on a ship, and after the war, joined the Coast Guard for a stint.
Out of the service, with thousands of GIs returning home, jobs were scarce, and Steve felt lucky to land a fifteen-dollar-a-week shoe salesman’s job at Neiman Marcus in Dallas. There he met a young model from Arkansas, Elise Adams. A pretty girl with a petite figure, she’d attended the University of Texas at Austin and played clarinet in the band during the time Tom Landry, the legendary Dallas Cowboy’s coach, played football for the school.
Steve and Elise had much in common. Both loved the outdoors. For all her grace on a runway, Elise was a tomboy at heart. They went camping and fishing, and quickly fell in love. “I don’t know that it was love at first sight, but I think it must have been,” says Paul. “My mom and dad had their ups and downs, but they loved each other dearly.”
In their wedding photo, Elise is stunning in a flowing chiffon wedding gown and carrying a bouquet of roses. She looks so thrilled to be marrying Steve that looking at the photo, one might have assumed her groom was Neiman’s chairman of the board, not a young shoe salesman. At twenty-three, Steve has a boyish face, dark eyes, and generous cheeks. He is wide in the girth, giving him an ample appearance in his white dinner jacket and slender, Errol Flynn–style bow tie.
The future media exec first got interested in TV and radio in college, when he worked as a student broadcaster at TCU. Knowing where his interests lay, as soon as he could he quit Neiman Marcus and joined Dallas’s KRLD radio, doing whatever they asked, even sweeping floors. From KRLD he signed on at Tracy-Locke Advertising Agency. It was there Steve came into his own, finding his niche, selling ads. He produced TV commercials for the nation’s top companies, including Haggar Slacks, Borden Dairies, and Imperial Sugar. In 1948, Locke transferred Steve to New York, where he and Elise had their first child, Steven III, while living in the suburbs.
From Tracy-Locke, Steve signed on in 1950 with John Blair & Company, a nationwide firm that sold radio and television commercial time, and he returned to Dallas to open the firm’s southwest regional sales operation. While they were there, their second child, Becky, was born. In 1953 their third and final child, Paul, made his entrance.
At just twenty-six years old, Steve was a superstar at Blair. He was committed, hardworking, and bright. And he had a way about him, a boisterous, effervescent personality that advertisers liked. When he entertained clients in New Orleans, he introduced himself to the proprietors of the city’s best restaurants. They remembered him when he returned, and he got top-shelf service. Soon, Steve could walk into any of that city’s top restaurants without reservations and get a center-stage table. “We called him the mayor of Bourbon Street,” says a friend. “Everybody knew Steve. He was the kind of guy who made an impression. He was easy to do business with, ethical, never a question about him honoring a promise, and fun to be around. Just an all-around good guy.”
Quickly, Steve was promoted and brought back to New York to work for Blair’s television division, where he wasresponsible for sales development with many of the city’s largest ad agencies. But he never truly settled in back East. He loved Texas and asked to be transferred home to Dallas. In 1954 he got his wish and returned as Blair’s vice president and manager of the southwest regional operation. He and Elise bought a two-story, five-bedroom house in exclusive North Dallas. With a putting green and a
Out of the service, with thousands of GIs returning home, jobs were scarce, and Steve felt lucky to land a fifteen-dollar-a-week shoe salesman’s job at Neiman Marcus in Dallas. There he met a young model from Arkansas, Elise Adams. A pretty girl with a petite figure, she’d attended the University of Texas at Austin and played clarinet in the band during the time Tom Landry, the legendary Dallas Cowboy’s coach, played football for the school.
Steve and Elise had much in common. Both loved the outdoors. For all her grace on a runway, Elise was a tomboy at heart. They went camping and fishing, and quickly fell in love. “I don’t know that it was love at first sight, but I think it must have been,” says Paul. “My mom and dad had their ups and downs, but they loved each other dearly.”
In their wedding photo, Elise is stunning in a flowing chiffon wedding gown and carrying a bouquet of roses. She looks so thrilled to be marrying Steve that looking at the photo, one might have assumed her groom was Neiman’s chairman of the board, not a young shoe salesman. At twenty-three, Steve has a boyish face, dark eyes, and generous cheeks. He is wide in the girth, giving him an ample appearance in his white dinner jacket and slender, Errol Flynn–style bow tie.
The future media exec first got interested in TV and radio in college, when he worked as a student broadcaster at TCU. Knowing where his interests lay, as soon as he could he quit Neiman Marcus and joined Dallas’s KRLD radio, doing whatever they asked, even sweeping floors. From KRLD he signed on at Tracy-Locke Advertising Agency. It was there Steve came into his own, finding his niche, selling ads. He produced TV commercials for the nation’s top companies, including Haggar Slacks, Borden Dairies, and Imperial Sugar. In 1948, Locke transferred Steve to New York, where he and Elise had their first child, Steven III, while living in the suburbs.
From Tracy-Locke, Steve signed on in 1950 with John Blair & Company, a nationwide firm that sold radio and television commercial time, and he returned to Dallas to open the firm’s southwest regional sales operation. While they were there, their second child, Becky, was born. In 1953 their third and final child, Paul, made his entrance.
At just twenty-six years old, Steve was a superstar at Blair. He was committed, hardworking, and bright. And he had a way about him, a boisterous, effervescent personality that advertisers liked. When he entertained clients in New Orleans, he introduced himself to the proprietors of the city’s best restaurants. They remembered him when he returned, and he got top-shelf service. Soon, Steve could walk into any of that city’s top restaurants without reservations and get a center-stage table. “We called him the mayor of Bourbon Street,” says a friend. “Everybody knew Steve. He was the kind of guy who made an impression. He was easy to do business with, ethical, never a question about him honoring a promise, and fun to be around. Just an all-around good guy.”
Quickly, Steve was promoted and brought back to New York to work for Blair’s television division, where he wasresponsible for sales development with many of the city’s largest ad agencies. But he never truly settled in back East. He loved Texas and asked to be transferred home to Dallas. In 1954 he got his wish and returned as Blair’s vice president and manager of the southwest regional operation. He and Elise bought a two-story, five-bedroom house in exclusive North Dallas. With a putting green and a
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