Besides writing newspaper columns, Raymond Reid is a professional artist and retired adman.

His accomplishments have been widely acclaimed in all three professions. As an adman, Reid won more than 100 creative awards locally, nationally and internationally in a variety of print and broadcast media. In 1998 the Piedmont Triad Advertising Federation awarded Reid its annual Silver Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the American Advertising Federation (AAF).

As an artist, Reid’s work is represented in private and corporate collections across America and in several foreign countries including Great Britain, Russia and Australia.

He has had 17 one-man shows and has had work accepted in important juried shows regionally, nationally and internationally. In 2001 he was awarded Special Judges’ Recognition in the International Spiritual Art IV juried exhibition in Omaha, Neb. In 2005 Reid was awarded Best of Show at the International Art of Golf Festival in Southern Pines, N. C. As a writer of humor columns, Reid has reached the top of his field in just two years.

He won first place (humor, under 100,000 circulation) in the 2005 annual column-writing contest sponsored by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Raymond Reid lives in Kernersville, N. C. with his wife, Stephanie, and Palmer, the Jack Russell Terrier.

“You can pretend to be serious; you can’t pretend to be witty.”
Sacha Guitry (1885-1957)

Pancho Villa’s last words were: “Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something.” Well, I hope those won’t be my last words. But if they are tell them I said, “It was fun.” May not be very deep and philosophical, but it sure beats, “Oh $#@&!” And life has been fun, so far. Oh, I’ve lived through tragedies like everybody else who gets to be my age. But there’s never been a day in my life that I didn’t laugh out loud about something.

For the past couple of years I’ve translated my life experiences into humor writing. It’s been good therapy. Even during weeks of anger and frustration I’ve found that voice in my head: The one that won’t let me take myself too seriously.

I believe humor columns will begin appearing in more and more newspapers. Why? Because we need a break from wars, rumors of wars, bird flu, mad cows and other pending dooms. And that’s just the front page. There’s bad news buried all the way back to the obits. In my opinion, there should be at least one humor column for every 10 columns of obituaries.

Laughter may not be the perfect antidote for what’s ailing the world today, but, like chicken soup, it can’t hurt.

That brings me to “Who Rattled My Cage?” It’s a collection of columns first printed in the Kernersville (N.C) News. I would like to thank John Owensby, Duncan McInnes and Meredith Owensby-Harrell for letting me say pretty much what’s on my mind. Ditto for Steve Bouser and Melissa Breedlove at The Pilot in Southern Pines, N. C. There’s a wealth of writing talent in the Sandhills. So I’m very honored to be among that fine paper’s corps of columnists.

The columns in “Cage” aren’t necessarily in chronological order. But they don’t need to be. Because each one stands alone and reflects how I felt about a particular world event -or jerk - or jerkess that week.

With apologies to vegetarians and PETA and the people in China who make my underwear…well, I take that back. I make no apologies for the things I say in this book. My take on life is aimed at people who have a sense of humor; who don’t take themselves too seriously; and who enjoy laughing out loud.

This book is not recommended for members of ARSA (Anal Retentive Society of America).

In 2005 Raymond Reid won first place in the National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) annual columnwriting contest in the largest category, humor columns under 100,000 circulation. In the same year he won third place for humor columns in the North Carolina Press (NCPA) Association annual journalism competition.

In 2007 he won third place in the NSNC annual contest, again for humor columns under 100,000 circulation. Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Clarence Page presented him this award in Philadelphia. And also in 2007, he took another third place in the NCPA journalism competition.

Raymond began painting, teaching art and writing after selling his advertising agency, R. L. Reid & Company, in 1998. He won over 100 creative awards during his storied advertising career. In 1998, he was awarded the Silver Medal for lifetime achievement, the highest honor bestowed by the American Advertising Federation.