Steve Trout, NIE and an Ad

When I was running the NIE program at Lerner Newspapers, I did whatever I could to promote the program. Since our budget was literally zero, I relied on advertising in our newspapers. Aside from the Lerner Salutes Literacy ad series (mentioned here several times), I also attempted to do as many other NIE-related ads as possible.
One such ad involved former major league pitcher Steve Trout, who had just written a book, Home Plate, about his father (Dizzy Trout) and him and their careers. Trout is a Chicago favorite, having pitched on both sides of town.
I was helping out at AU Sports in Skokie (IL) when Trout was doing a book-signing there. When I approached him about appearing in an ad promoting NIE and also his book, Trout quickly agreed.
Pictures were taken with a disposable camera (remember...zero budget). A few days later, I took a picture of my niece, Laura Fitzpatrick, reading a book. This picture would be presented as happening at the event.







Later that week, I presented all to our Graphics Department. They produced a decent, but uninspired ad, throwing all of the elements together. Had Laurie (the driving force behind the beautification of the NIE ad series) been involved, I am sure the ad would have looked much different. However, with the way things were at Lerner at the time, I was happy with what was produced (meaning I was happy that anything was produced).