Here’s the opening paragraph from what I’m reading now.
Every so often I find on my answering machine in mid-Manhattan a brief cry for help. “What should be used to stop water stains coming through the ceiling?” the voice asks, or “Is it O.K. to use primer-sealer 1-2-3 for peeling paint in the bathroom?” I don’t know anything about water stains and peeling paint; I’m a writer. The callers are trying to reach William Zinssser & Company, my father’s shellac business. The company was in New York so long – well over a century – that some old customers think it’s still there, and when they call directory assistance the number they’re given is mine. I’m the only William Zinsser still doing business in New York; the firm moved away in 1975 and was later sold out of the family.
From Writing About Your Life by William Zinsser