Have you ever heard of Chick Hearn? The “poet laureate of basketball broadcasting” was the radio voice of the Los Angeles Lakers who, night after night, provided listeners with a “word’s-eye view” of the game (“Q&A with Chick Hearn, Basketball’s Fast-Talking Master Poet,” Los Angeles Times, December 30, 1994).
I grew up in Southern California, I now live in the Midwest (Goshen, Indiana—Hearn was from Aurora, Illinois), and I enjoy most sports, including basketball.
The phrase “word’s-eye view” has stuck with me, primarily because Hearn painted a picture of what was happening on the court below. He was a master with his medium: words. With the same medium, I help people—authors, students, professors, business owners, nonprofit managers, anyone with a tale to tell—refine and polish their stories to the point of excellence and elegance.
