Gary interviewed for two podcasts
OKLAHOMA CITY — For two decades, Oklahoma’s most enigmatic figure wrote letters to a Philadelphia-area childhood confidante. The 50 little-known letters were purchased 20 years ago and have been archived at the University of Oklahoma’s Western History Collection. In the Roaring Twenties, Lydie Marland was one of the world’s most talked about women. As a…
Read MoreA Movie about Lydie
The reassembled statue of Lydie Marland and Marland Mansion curator Paul Prather.
Read MoreWhy Was Lydie Marland, 28, Attracted to E.W. Marland, 54?
E.W. was a majority shareholder in Marland Oil, a $100 million company when they married in 1928. Photos show him to be a powerfully built man of medium height. He may have seemed more virile in 1912, when Aunt Virginia brought Lydie, 12, to Ponca City to live with the Marlands. According to 11 Things…
Read MoreThe Night 101 Ranch Died
The 101 Ranch had been losing money, so in the final days of January 1929, George Lee Miller drove four hundred thirty miles and inspected a wellsite south of Lubbock. After a seven-hour return trip, George stopped in Ponca City. His cronies were already at the Arcade Hotel for an evening of booze, pitch and…
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Something Stupid As a boy, I believed in good. A mother’s love was unconditional. Fatherhood was an undying pledge. Brother and sisters were ultimate protectors. Schoolmates were a gift. Life was a promise of success. I did good things. I made friends with a black girl and a Down’s boy. I worked hard in school…
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Nine Months AgoIn the fall semester of 1966, Scooter Andersen had been the first sophomore at Hell Creek High to own a motor. He made that clear the first day of school, blasting around campus on that junker without a muffler. He rounded the traffic circle, skidded his Yamaha sideways, and booted down the kickstand…
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If Dumb Were Manure I couldn’t stop looking at the freckles dusting her nose. “Hi.” That’s it? Probably shouldn’t write a manual on how to talk to girls. “Hello.” O’Murphy stood on the cafeteria steps. Those Siamese-cat eyes bedazzled me: jewel blue, blinking slowly and vacantly at a faraway horizon. For fourteen years, I’ve yearned to…
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Spring Semester My bedroom door opened. Startled awake, I rolled onto my flashlight. Oh. No. I reached under my side and set the light on the Remington typewriter between Biggy’s bed and mine. My eyes closed in resignation. “You still read under the covers?” Mother came in each school morning to make certain Biggy and I…
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Hollow Fathers We’d never really known how Vin Trainer felt about us. I’d tried to like him, but he’d kept repeating his bad-man patterns. Nan and Grand were teetotalers, and so was Mother. She’d carp about his drinking and Vin would storm away. Then he’d get drunk or sorry or lonesome, he’d want return to…
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No Respect without a Motor “Cutie, can you ride with me today?” Mr. Presley asked. “I have to throw Richie’s route.” So, Richie quit? “I’ll deliver it.” “His route and yours? This afternoon? On a bicycle? Can you finish both by six?” Presley’s Rule: every Daily Oklahoman on its doorstep by six A.M.; six P.M. for The Oklahoma City…
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