About Me — William (Dollar Bill) Mersey

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Photo by author’s friend (at the rodeo at Madison Square Garden)

I know. I’m certainly not the first guy to name himself Dollar Bill. And I won’t be the last. But the slogan worked for my advertising agency. And my real name was William — which in my mind, legitimized the hackneyed old moniker.

So anyway…I was born in the New York City area to educated parents both of whom graduated from Columbia University. Predictably, I was run through the academic mill and by the age of 21, had graduated college with honors, was awarded a government fellowship to enter a PhD program in Economics, and had dropped out to play the guitar for a living.

Music defined me for the next 15 years during which I played at least one gig in all but two states east of the Mississippi. Working as a backup musician for the likes of Stephanie Mills, the Main Ingredient, the Marvelettes, Crystals, Shirelles, Joey Dee, the Belmonts, and on and on had its moments — both good and bad.

Photo by author’s friend (age 27 taken by the drummer with the Shirelles. We were on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at the time.)

By age 35, I grew weary of the music business and settled into driving a taxi, a hustle that led me to writing slice-of-life stories about the…