Here's a link some of you are really going to enjoy…
This morning, I had breakfast with a gang of comedians and comedy writers. One of the latter was Bob Mills, a gent I'd heard of but never met, and we had a very nice time talking about show business and mutual friends and his career and even a little of mine. Bob's is more interesting as he spent many years in the service of Mr. Robert Hope. Mills was one of those writers that Hope had on call 24/7 and would sometimes phone in the middle of the night and say, "I'm playing the Rutabaga Festival in Jerkwater, Alabama tomorrow. I'll call you back in 90 minutes for some good rutabaga jokes." Some very fine and loyal writers worked that way, and Bob Mills was one of the best. Still is, though he doesn't get many calls from Hope these days.
Mills has posted some of his tales of working with Bob Hope over on this website. They're very good and, of course, straight from one who was there. Many of the anecdotes are accompanied by audio examples and don't pass them up. In fact, don't pass up any part of this splendid memoir.