after the broadcast found himself in the middle of an actual air raid. An excerpt: Block also wrote the humorous song Baby, That's a Wolf, sung by Rosalind Russell. Russell wanted to do something beyond the ordinary to entertain the troops and Block wrote the song especially for her. With this song he has been credited with popularizing the term "wolf" in referring to a libidinous American male, An excerpt: With Bob Hope's USO tour Through most of 1943, Block was Bob Hope's writer for Hope's first USO overseas tour. They entertained troops through England, Africa and Italy. Initially, when Hope began his tour he had to write all the jokes, until the USO assigned Block as his comedy writer. Hope said that after Block joined him "the jokes got a lot less shaky." Hope said Block had "learned to write funny in bomb shelters, jeeps, and on the backs of camels." Working close to the war zone could be dangerous. Hope had followed General George Patton's 7th Army into Sicily and one time while Block and Hope were writing a script in a Palermo hotel, the Germans began a bombing raid. "We did a show and ran for our lives," said Block. Immediately after the incident, Patton sent Hope's troupe back to Algiers for their safety. On another occasion, Block was forced to travel alone in the storage compartment of a cargo plane and the crew tied him to the cargo for his own safety. It was only mid-flight when Block realized the boxes he was tied to were filled with live ammunition. There was also an unnerving episode where Block was taken by MPs to the OSS compound as a suspicious character. Block also escaped a real tragedy when he was originally to be a passenger on the ill-fated USO plane which crashed in February 1943, seriously injuring actress Jane Froman and killing 23 others. The work was laborious and the conditions often spartan. Block and Hope would sometimes work until four in the morning writing and discussing material, only to head for a car or airfield at six to travel to another camp or hospital. On one occasion in Algiers, Block and Hope were contemplating their accommodations, wondering how they could spend the night sharing a room so small. John Steinbeck, at the time a war correspondent, overheard them complaining. "You'll think this is practically a bridal