This morning I listened to a humorous fundraising piece submitted to PRX by New Hampshire Public Radio. The summary to the piece said, "Add a little humor to your pitch breaks." I laughed when I read it because not everyone agrees.

On April 8, 1978 I was asked to produce my first weekly show for Maine Public Radio. Over the 28 years I spent as a volunteer, my old-fashioned-music and humorous social commentary became an early evening staple for the intelligentsia in Northern New England and bordering Canada.

So it was inevitable that I should eventually appear on MPBN television at fundraising time. My spot was sandwiched in between the showing of Hamlet. When they put the camera on me I opened with my usual deadpan: "I hope you'll stay tuned to this Hamlet thing. It is my understanding that it has a very happy ending."

I was never permitted to help out with fundraising again.

But if you've been in Public Radio for three decades you know that our radio friends have long memories and for years afterwards I would occasionally be accosted by a radio friend who would grab me by the lapels of my jacket and say, "humble, that thing you said about Hamlet was the funniest thing I've ever seen on Public television."

Yeah, add a little humor to your pitch breaks --- our radio friends love humor -- but make sure you have tenure.

I'm Robert Skoglund, The humble Farmer, and I'm still laughing.