Tracy Crowell

Creative Writer Years at Spiro: 2, maybe 3, maybe fewer. No one really knows or cares.

Writing is not writing is not writing.
Good writing tells a story that entertains, educates, or is thought-provoking. It’s memorable. In advertising, good writing increases client awareness and sales – depending on client needs. Easy, right? No. Never.

It can be a grueling, hated process that, when completed, brings joy. Even happiness. But mostly, relief coupled with a feeling of contentment that doesn’t last long.

What’s in a name?
A lot. Tracy has never liked his name. Tracy? “Come on, Mom and Dad, you could’ve done better.” When a 16-year-old Tracy asked his parents what they would’ve named him had he been a girl, they responded, Tracy. And that, Tracy shot back, “is why I hate my name.” And that’s why Tracy sometimes goes by Jorge, or Ed Guapo, or El Conquistador.

In the beginning.
For 27 years, Tracy and all his personalities had an advertising agency in Utah. Life was pretty good – a good staff, good off-the-wall creative for clients that led to good long-term clients, a unique office space filled with large personalities, disagreements, agreements, and big enough for a basketball standard, ping pong table, dart board, pogo sticks, a taser ….and a liquor cabinet. They had it all. Crowell Advertising gained notoriety and was known to be a bit notorious. But their clients were thriving – all that mattered – and their advertising was noticed, talked about, remembered, and moved prospects to action. Loved by its clients and not loved by its competitors, life was good. Life was an adventure – which is what Tracy has always believed life should be.

But that was then.
And now, Tracy, the Parrot Head and Sun Bum, lives near the beach, something he’s always wanted. Life is different, but advertising is still a part of it. As is the water, his jet ski, and an older perspective. Still, his immaturity remains.

Travel is one of life’s greatest teachers.
Tracy travels. He’s been fortunate enough to have visited nearly 50 countries, lived in Ecuador for two years, and takes an annual two-to-three-week jaunt with his brother-in-law, Bob.

Tracy’s goal on each trip is to experience what “normal” tourists miss. For example, last year, in Vietnam, an elder brother gave his two 70-year-old sisters to Tracy and Bob for wives. A nice but unnecessary gesture.

Travel fuels Tracy’s spirit and provides stories and experiences to use in his writing, his living, and his retelling and exaggeration of each adventure.

Just another papa.
Yep. In the end, Tracy is just another old guy fighting age. With four kids, five grandkids – three living with him – a beautifully hot and humid climate, the beach and backwaters, and Jimmy Buffett playing in the background, Tracy lives on.