At the recent conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in Boston, I had the pleasure of meeting Jerry Zezima, a humor columnist for the Stamford (Conn.) Advocate.  He also has written for Newsday, Family Circle magazine and other publications.  At the conference, he was awarded third place for humor writing in newspapers with below 100,000 circulation in the annual NSNC column writing contest. 

   After the meeting, Jerry sent me a note saying he hoped to make it to the Will Rogers Writers' Workshop in Oklahoma City in March, 2007, and added:

   "We in the humor trade owe much to Will, who was one of America's greatest humorists.  We in the human race also owe much to him.  He was a great humanitarian, a terrific guy and a peerless role model as well."

   Very well said.