Douglas Storer '2l: His own best "Amazing but True" tale?

"Don't worry, drink lots of coffee, and smoke a good cigar" was the philosophy of the world's oldest man, who lived to the reputed age of 167 and was discovered in Colombia in 1956. His discoverer, Douglas Storer '21, creator and president of the "Amazing but True" series, agrees in part. At the "pretty ripe age" of 84 himself, Storer believes the secret to his long and interesting life is "don't worry. Worry kills more people than all the bugs in the world. If you have a bug, it'll make you worse. If you don't have one, it'll get you one."

Time and inclination to worry have been scarce in the "amazing but true" life of Storer. A one-man history of broadcasting, he helped lay the ground floor of early radio programming. In 1923, after graduating from Dartmouth and attending the medical school for two years, he joined a small New York advertising agency and had his first contact with radio. In 1929, he was invited to try his luck at turning around the fortunes of two struggling radio stations, one in Toledo and one in Detroit. Thus began a super-charged period of commuting and creating that brought success to the stations and helped shape radio programming as we know it today.

"We wanted dramas but had no money. So I went to the police chief in Detroit. 'You guys are doing a helluva job,' I said. 'Why not do your own parts on radio for a half-hour show?' The flattered police chief readily agreed, and one of many firsts for Storer and for radio - the crime show - was born.

When he rejoined his old agency, he became one of the first radio station representatives with 600 clients. As a middleman between the stations and advertisers, Storer became a sort of talent scout and was instrumental in launching the careers of such luminaries as Bing Crosby ("'a color-blind bum,' they called him"); the Mills Brothers ("they couldn't read music"); Frank Sinatra ("he looked like he couldn't stand up without holding onto the microphone"); Perry Como; and Jackie Gleason.

In 193 1 a shy cartoonist named Ripley hired Scorer as his personal manager, and Storer began v,hat would be 55 years of world travel. Together, they built "Ripley's Believe It or NTot into an international success story. At its peas;, it appeared daily in 14 languages, read by 70 million people.

But that wasn't enough for the effervescent Storer. In spite of the more timid Ripley's reliance. Storer saw the feature as good radio material. "I knew how I'd do it, dramatic. I made a deal. Ripley was emcee. He'd set the time, place, scene. We'd dramatize with actors, sound effects. Then the climax. Riley would capsule the kicker at the end: 'Yes, that judge was the son of the woman who did thecounterfeiting.'

When Ripley died in 1949, Storer became president of the feature, bringing it to television. After ten years he sold it and started his own company, Amazing but True. Just a few of his feats included attending a reindeer roundup in Lapland; convincing foreign governments to commission special stamps, such as Turkey s stamp commemorating the hometown of St. Nicholas; arranging for Edward, Duke of Windsor, to make his first radio broadcast following his abdication; and the discovery of ancient Javier Pereira, "the world s oldest man.

In his home in Clearwater, Fla., Storer has curios, plaques, and mementos that mark practically every day since the beginning of history: a Japanese temple gong; one of the first televisions; a lampshade made from a Pakistani camel's bladder; and an Alaskan totem pole, to name but a few. A particularly prized award is one signed by Admiral Chester Nimitz, commending Storer's part in the establishment of a memorial for the 1,200 who died on the Arizona in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Few would be surprised to find that retirement" is not on Doug Storer's agenda. Currently he's preparing three books for publication - on women, money, and the supernatural. (These he will add to his 21 books already in publication.) He's also preparing a T.V. series for the Hearst Corporation, based on Amazing but True" stories. He is not overly impressed with the rash of similar shows on T.V. these days too many of them count on violence and mayhem to astound their viewers, Storer says. Of the modern, sophisticated audiences, he thinks, "People are getting blase and full of knowledge, but they can still be amazed."

Indeed, life continues to amaze and delight the energetic Storer. He still swims off the Florida coast, hardly too challenging a task for one who once broadcast from the mouth of Mount Vesuvius. "He is a collector-gatherer, a participant in the excitement, the fun, and sometimes the danger of being a magpie of curiosa, states the preface of one of his Amazing but True books. The "collector-gatherer" is often asked which of his adventures and discoveries is the most amazing. But investigation of the life and adventures of this creator and seller of ideas suggests that the best idea, the most amazing reality of all, may be Storer himself.

Surrounded by signed photographs, awards, artifacts, and other mementoes of his long career insearching out the unusual and off-beat the world over, Douglas Storer 21 presents a picture ofinvolvement and activity belying his 84 years.