My publishing company is part of the small press movement now flourishing in the United States.

I started the The Word Doctor Publications in 1974 with an unusual "book" written by our then nine-year-old son, Philip, titled, "A Child's View of Inflation." The book came about when Phil went shopping one day with his mom, my wife, Carol, and was refused a gum ball. Upset, he declared: "Inflation is when you go shopping with your mom and she won't buy you a gum ball any more."

This cracked us up and we asked him what else is "inflation." He rattled off forty more definitions, which we wrote down. We then sat him down and had him illustrate them. We rushed out a saddle-stitched 40-page book-pamphlet, photocopied on multi-colored paper, charged $1.15 and ended up with national print and broadcast media attention -- and a complimentary letter from President Gerald R. Ford.

And so, my son had a book published before I ever did!

Three years later, my company published my biblical novel, "My Jewish Brother Jesus." This really represented the serious start of my publishing venture.

I had written the novel ten years earlier. It went to 30 publishers over the ten-year period. The publishers rejected the book, despite excellent reactions from Jewish and Christian religious leaders, and others. I felt compelled to write the book and to see it published. I finally decided not to waste any more time with publishers and publish it myself. I was also approaching my fiftieth birthday in 1977. I decided to celebrate rather than despair and take control of my life and my creative work. And so, like others in the small press movement, I became a publisher, dedicated to publishing what I believe in. It was a glorious year.

In 1983, I published three more books of mine: "Sparks of Spirit: How to Find Love & Meaning in your Life 24 Hours a Day," a spiritual self-help book; "A Celebration of Life," containing the text of my one-man show and of my poetry; and "The Messiah of Midtown Park," a comedy-drama dealing with the question, "What might happen if the Messiah appeared today?"

Since I have also spent more than thirty years as a public relations professional and UCLA Extension instructor, I wrote and published two PR books: "Publicity Advice & How-To Handbook" (1988) and "Publicity Writing for Television & Film" (1992).

I originally chose the name "Word Doctor" when I was doing some freelance public relations writing. It is a variation on the term "play doctor," a writer who is called in to fix a script for a stage play when there are problems with the play.

Since I help people with their public relations problems, and since part of that involves writing press kits and letters to the media, I chose the name "Word Doctor." Whether doing creative writing or public relations writing, I am, of course, constantly working with words.

When I became a publisher, I named my company The Word Doctor Publications. I only publish my own books -- with one exception, "A Child's View of Inflation." Since then, Phil's interest turned from writing books to writing music. It came as a great relief to me. I just didn't need the competition!