David Sedaris - Happy 54th Birthday! - Writer's Almanac biographical sketch

from Garrison Keillor daily list serv (Minnesota Public Radio):

It's the birthday of David Sedaris, born in Binghamton, New York (1956) and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. He's the author of the best-selling books Naked (1997), Holidays on Ice (1997), Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000), Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (2004),  When You Are Engulfed in Flames (2008), and Squirrel seeks Chipmunk (2010).

He moved to Chicago after college, and then to New York City, where he cleaned people's apartments, wrote short fiction pieces, and sometimes read them aloud at small gatherings. He also kept a daily diary. And then, 18 years ago this week, he read some stuff from his diary on NPR's Morning Edition, in a commentary that Ira Glass produced and edited. It was about working as Crumpet the Elf in Macy's SantaLand. It began:
I wear green, velvet knickers, a forest green velvet smock and a perky little hat decorated with spangles. This is my work uniform.
I've spent the last several days sitting in a crowded, windowless Macy's classroom undergoing the first phase of elf training. You can be an entrance elf, a water cooler elf, a bridge elf, train elf, maze elf, island elf, magic window elf, usher elf, cash register elf or exit elf.
We were given a demonstration of various positions in action acted out by returning elves who were so on stage and goofy, that it made me a little sick to my stomach. I don't know if I can look anyone in the eye and exclaim, oh, my goodness, I think I see Santa. Or can you close your eyes and make a very special Christmas wish? Everything these elves say seems to have an exclamation point on the end of it.'
The eight-minute monologue made him famous. Suddenly his phone started to ring. He said: 'I was very, very surprised. ... I've always thought that the definition of a good life was being asleep when Morning Edition was on. I never listened to the show, so I never had a concept of anyone else listening to it, I suppose.' People asked him if he would like to be in commercials or movies. Soap opera producers called to ask if he'd write for their shows, as did Seinfeld. Editors from magazines like Harper's and Mademoiselle also offered him work. In the end, he signed a two-book contract and continued to clean apartments for a while after he'd published his first book, Barrel Fever, in 1994.