How do you generate readership in a rapidly shrinking newspaper market? Engage Op/Ed readers with lively, entertaining columns – columns like Tom Purcell's.

In the tradition of Art Buchwald, Mike Royko and Lewis Grizzard, Purcell's column is sometimes wry, sometimes poignant, but always original and compelling.

"Tom Purcell is a gifted writer," says Dan Hatfield, executive editorial page editor of the Contra Costa Times papers in the San Francisco Bay area. "His gift is his ability to touch readers. I receive more compliments on Purcell's work than all my other syndicated columnists combined."

Bob Satnan of the East Valley Tribune (Mesa, AZ) uses Purcell's column to liven up his Op/Ed pages.

"Tom has an engaging, conversational style that brings readers in and takes them on a fun journey," says Satnan. "His slice-of-life commentaries bring real storytelling to our opinion pages and provide a meaningful break from hard-core policy and politics."

Colin McNickle of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says he uses Purcell for the same reason:

"One of the biggest raps against the editorial pages of modern, big-city newspapers is that they are 'too serious.' Well, these pages DO deal with serious topics. But there's always room for levity. And Tom Purcell sends home a hefty dose of it every week."

After an eight-year tour in Washington, D.C., where he worked as a writer and communications consultant, Purcell returned to his home town of Pittsburgh, PA, land of friendly, down-to-earth people. He spends his days in blue jeans pecking away on his laptop in a coffee shop.

Purcell's weekly column, now in its 15th year, is syndicated by Cagle Cartoons to hundreds of publications and Web sites nationally and internationally. It has been featured on the Rusty Humphries Show, the Laura Ingraham Show and the Rush Limbaugh Show, as well as other radio programs in Canada and the U.S.