Poetic Tulsa
When I first came to Tulsa 53 years ago, I had little thought about poetry. In my arms was a ten-day old baby, on my
Francine Ringold
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Letter to Senator Inhofe
Senator James Inhofe 205 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 -3603 Dear Senator Inhofe, This
Vincent LoVoi
The Death of Snail Mail
Jeanie Harris met “Dust Bowl poet” Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel at just the right time: long after she had been
Shawna Lewis
Just as I Was: Confessions of a Fallen Southern Baptist
I sprang from a deep well of Southern Baptist blood—crimson, of course. One of my most frightful childhood memories
Sheilah Bright
Sports Illustration: Slain Longhorn
In this episode: the eyes of Texas are fixed and
Jeremy Luther
Urban Chicken
The journey from Maple Ridge to the farmer’s market fords a great divide, with ornate porches—framed by massive
Rebekah Greiman
The Japanese Garden
In 1958 or ’59 when I was sixteen I came up with the idea of replacing my parents’ back yard with a Japanese
Ron Padgett
Continuous Present
“Not much is not enough.” -Bruce Goff Long before I found myself down the Bruce Goff rabbit hole, I lived in a
Russell Cobb
Devil’s Advocate
Mary McAnally poses no immediate threat. Most of her peers are at constant rest in the twilight of their lives, and her
Sarah Fonder
Letter from Peru
I listen to Javier’s story as I sit in the back of his taxi while he snakes his way through the thick morning traffic
Philip Reiser
Sports Illustration: Sad Day for Basketball
It's the same old struggle between players and team owners in this monetary
Jeremy Luther
Original Okie: Shane Hood
Lortondale resident Shane Hood is the creative director of HOOD design and sits on the board of the Tulsa Foundation
Shane Bevel
MEET: Stuart Hetherington
In this ongoing feature, our social media editor Vicki May Thorne meets and greets the staff and contributors of This
Vicki May Thorne
Teaching the Organic
An important, yet often overlooked, dimension of Bruce Goff’s contribution to American architecture was his years
Arn Henderson
Tent Makers and Prophets
Not all prophets operated with the same proclivities, and so Pentecostal and Baptist officials faced distinct
Darren Dochuck
The Lost “Gypsy Society”
Badger sipped coffee in the audience at The Gypsy Coffee House open-mic night for an entire year before he wrote his
Natasha Ball
She Was the Punk of My Life
Kelli Mayo snarls into the microphone. The girl with fire-pink hair, turquoise leggings, a black skirt, and white tee
Joshua Kline
Jim and Nancy Edwards
“It’s better to avoid talking about how we met,” Jim said with a laugh. He tiptoed around the specifics of their
Rebekah Greiman
Ernest Wiemann (1910-2010)
“He’s got quite a story,” Doug Bracken said of the man who used to own his business. “Ernest had a lot of
Shawna Lewis
Vigil
The light from our candles makes coronas in the mist as a breeze threatens to blow them out. He bought them at the
Matt Hollrah
That’s Not Funny; You Clowns Don’t Make Me Laugh
The woman in the grocery store on Sunset stopped me in the produce, her claws about my shoulders, to bless me on
Lynn Melnick
Original Okie: Jimmy Markham
Musician Jimmy "Junior" Markham is one of the caretakers of the Tulsa
Shane Brown
The Ringleader
The Tulsa Underground Circus fictitiously wrote that it was the work of a deranged Russian immigrant, a circus clown
Steve Gerkin
Ken & Shelley Umezawa
Shelley assumed the lump seen in the mirror was nothing more than a cyst and was shocked when the doctor told her
Rebekah Greiman
Countdown to Christmas Giveaway
Congratulations to Warren Vieth from Oklahoma City! You've won our Christmas Giveaway that includes: From now until
This Land
Taco and Me
Everyone who knew him called him Taco. I didn’t know him. I called him Pat. It was 1997 when I met him. He was a
Collin Hinds
Rich Hewitt (1948-2011)
Most know Rich Hewitt as “The Mushroom Man”—the guy who started a Tulsa-based mushroom business in his garage,
Shawna Lewis
A Brady Heights Christmas Story
Any bride-to-be wants to celebrate her last days of freedom together with her friends. within the future"> at some
Ivan Pickard
The Billionaire’s Garage Sale
On January 29, 1903, an ambitious 29-year-old named Edward King Gaylord purchased interest in a struggling newspaper
Joshua Kline
Inside the ‘Guide’
I’d heard murmurs of Uptown News for years. I wasn’t familiar with the publication, but folks would ask me about
Holly Wall
Brett McKay
Brett Mckay is the creator of The Art of Manliness, a Tulsa-based blog that proves to more than 2 million readers each
Paul McEntire
The Alternatives: A Lineup of Oklahoma’s Other Voice
Though alternative journalism traces its roots to the muckrakers of the early 1900s, the alternative newsweekly as we
Holly Wall
Bible Student Humor
About 20 years ago, a group of students at Rhema Bible Training Center met in secret, somewhere under that spinning
Natasha Ball
Between the Truth and the World
People said it to me as an aside, as if they didn’t want anyone else to hear. Like they were attending the funeral of
Jeff Kauffman
special you’s
you’re too much waist in time. you’ve been renting a room in the wrong house and your bill was late. you’re
Mia Wright
Sports Illustration: A New Dawn for OSU
In this episode: Out of the shadows, over the hump, at last — the monkey off the back. A steep and grueling peak has
Jeremy Luther
George Matarazzo
“George was Italian,” his partner, Bill Ferguson, said, “and Italians in Brooklyn didn’t leave home until they
Shawna Lewis
From Eumseong: the Teacher is Not Coming in Today
When you must leave a place you have loved, even if you never called it home, you are grateful that you inherited a
Jennifer Westbrook
Flim-Flammery and the Devil: An Early History of the Tulsa World
Dr. S.G. Kennedy was furious. He had put his trust and money in a young man, who seemed to be making a name for himself
Lee Roy Chapman
Holy Frack
It started with just a few tremors. Then a few more. Then it seemed like a swarm, each one following thick and fast on
Ginger Strand
Kevi Luper
Last season, Oral Roberts University basketball star Kevi Luper became the first player in NCAA Division 1 history to
Shane Bevel
The Oddities of Evangelism
After he slew his enemy—a warrior in another tribe who killed his brother and was, according to ritual, justly
Holly Wall
Silence of the Goats
You have to push pretty hard to puncture animal skin. The goat was dead, but its lungs still had breath. I thought I
Spring Houghton
Anarchy in the OK
No one took credit for the bomb threat that January night. Though no device was found in the women’s restroom of the
Lee Roy Chapman
Dunk in the Name of Love
Baptism is usually a fairly traditional ceremony. It involves a baptismal, a preacher, and a person who has made a life
Isaiah Sheese
Mr. Ray Fits a Suit
When I walk into Ray’s Tailor Shop, I immediately notice the ordered disorder of the two-room store. Directly in
Michael Berglund
The Church on the Corner
Founded in 1899, eight years before Oklahoma was even a state, the First Baptist Church of North Tulsa is one of
Joshua Kline
Majors Roy and Kathy Williams
There are your typical saints, those who volunteer at the local food bank, the faithful charity check writers or the
Rebekah Greiman
The Migration
Men had taken back up the much-sung practice of stepping out for smokes and never returning home, and it seemed all
John Brandon
Ripping Up Phonebooks for Jesus
TO THE FIRST ‘POWER’ I remember the tension, the edge-of-the-seat nervousness. I remember wondering which
Jeff Martin
Johnny Rotten
Johnny Rotten, lead singer of the Sex Pistols, performing in Tulsa. The Cain's Ballroom is the only venue graced by the
Tom Dutton
Prophecies: Right Here, Right Now
Today it’s a guy hawking prophecies on the 4 train. Strides into the car at the Brooklyn Bridge stop, white
John Brehm
In the Company of Gin
Barnaby Conrad III pointed out the home of the Mai Tai, its entrance obscured by palm fronds and banana
This Land
Dear Uncle Ronnie
My uncle, Ronald David Roberts, was born in 1945, the oldest son of the late televangelist, Oral Roberts, my
Randy R Potts
No Train, No Gain
The billboards go up in early November: the flushed cheeks of a Coca-Cola- reminiscent Santa Claus rendered 10 feet
Natasha Ball
So Long, Joe Coleman (1922-2011)
“Oh, I met Joe probably a dozen years ago,” said Lee Anne Zeigler, executive director and CEO of Tulsa Foundation
Shawna Lewis
MEET: Jeremy Luther
In this ongoing feature, our social media editor Vicki May Thorne meets and greets the staff and contributors
Vicki May Thorne
The Snake and the Diamond are One
Most people dread the thought of prison. Claustrophobia, confinement, artificial and controlled light sources,
Erin Turner
Depression-Era Color Photos of Oklahoma
During the Great Depression, photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information began
This Land
Gaming: the Gift that Keeps on Giving
For someone who’s not from here, it must be eerie to head out for breakfast on a Sunday morning and discover the
Natasha Ball
Tom Parkinson
If you’ve visited the Tulsa Air and Space Museum in the past 10 years, there’s a good chance you’ve met Tom
Shawna Lewis
MEET: Dustin Brasel
As one of the members of our all-star sales team, Dustin keeps This Land close to heart and mind. He's a natural
Vicki May Thorne
Karma, Oklahoma
As I puzzled over the position of Karma, a bony waitress at a roadside café swept up all my change and explained how
Caleb Puckett
The 89ers
The last time I played for a sports team that wasn't digital was in the summer of 1989, if memory serves, in the
Nathan Gunter
Dreams of a Black Oklahoma: On the Trail of the Forgotten Okies of Alberta
At some point during Coach McBride’s four week long excursion into Oklahoma History, I figured out I could sleep on
Russell Cobb
Sunday Morning Coming Down
Wednesday, June 9, 1982 In the news in Tulsa, Oklahoma: “Rotarians change laws to allow black members.” “She
Randy R Potts
The Making of Miss Hornet
I’ve been teaching high school social studies for 18 years, so it’s hard for me to be shocked by the behavior of
John Waldron
Hunting for a Mayor
I have been reading a good deal in the news recently about your problems with our Mayor. The litany of charges you have
Beau Adams
Beau and Chrissie
Beau Rotramel drives musicians across the country; his job keeps him on the road for months at a time. The man needs
Rebekah Greiman
Christy Sanders and Kimmie Michie
“I have zero ‘gay-dar’,“ Kimmie Michie laughs. ”I can’t tell when people are interested. I’m usually the
Rebekah Greiman
Original Okie: Gwendolyn Ransom
It's a Saturday evening at a Brookside coffee house. The atmosphere is pretty relaxed. I'm chatting with an old friend
Michael Cooper
Phillip and Fiawna: Together in Tulsa
“I was blown away,” Phillip recalls the first day he met Fiawna at the now-closed record store, Mooch and Burn.
Rebekah Greiman
Flooding the Arkansas River: A Pro and Con List
MEMO TO: Citizens of Tulsa FROM: Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. RE: Arkansas River Dear
Beau Adams
Jamin & Gina Brasongré
“I was casting for a production and I was hired to find people to dance for a musical about the Tulsa Race Riots,”
Rebekah Greiman
Robert Littlejohn(1936-2011)
“He was our most excellent historian,” North Tulsa Historical Society President Charlotte Bates said at
Shawna Lewis
Letter from Bhutan
It’s not every day you find a four-foot penis painted on a house. When was the last time you stopped by a restaurant
Sheilah Bright
Death’s Yellow Door
"We may be indifferent to the death penalty and not declare ourselves either way so long as we have not seen a
Kelly Kurt
Poet Issues
I have an almost pathological fear of poets. Well, not all poets. I developed my phobia in a graduate poetry
Carol Johnson
Return to Kornfield Kounty: Why Hee Haw Still Matters
THE COUNTER-COUNTERCULTURE It’s been nearly two decades since the world said goodbye to Hee Haw. The show ran
Jeff Martin
Rusty and Colleen
After a month of being turned down, Rusty got the green light on a date with Colleen. “I picked her up in my junky
Rebekah Greiman
Tulsa TV Memories
In the early days of the World Wide Web, I fell in love with a couple of websites. One was Ash Wakeman's humor site,
Mike Ransom
Harold Dorsey
When I first encountered Harold Dorsey, he wasn't shining shoes at all. He was sitting high up in the chair usually
Michael Cooper
John Chick
John Chick is widely remembered by most Tulsans as the host of the children’s shows Cartoon Zoo and Mr. Zing and
Clara Nipper
John Sands (1936-2011)
John Sands got married in Ireland, got a job in Canada, then changed careers in Seattle before making it to Tulsa to
Shawna Lewis
Original Okie: Johnny Polygon
It's been an assiduous two years for Tulsa native Johnny Polygon. After making a name for himself in the local rap
Michael Cooper
Serving Kagame
On April 30, 2010, a team of lawyers and process servers arrived at the campus of Oklahoma Christian University (OCU)
Collin Hinds
The Stuff of Dreams
I want you to pay a lot more attention to all my words longer and deeper and quieter and louder than I ever could.
Thomas Conner
Amy Cottingham
Amy Cottingham sings, composes, arranges, transcribes, teaches and performs classical and jazz music. She performs
Jeremy Luther
Mana Tahaie & Nick Doctor
Nick Doctor and Mana Tahaie were married twice—once at Woodward Park with only a few family members present, then in
Rebekah Greiman
Government 2.0 in Oklahoma
There’s an app for Shawnee, Oklahoma. On Android-powered smartphones, on iPhone or iPad, or on a mobile web browser
Michael D. Bates
Blind Spot
“I’ve been arrested!” Gasko croaked over the cell phone as the FBI agents watched his every move. Seconds
Laurence J. Yadon
Redefining the Liberal Arts
On that fateful night in 1935 when God first promised to heal Dad of tuberculosis, God also spoke to him, albeit
Roberta Roberts Potts
A Week with the Boys
In May of 1919, Greek soldiers occupied the Ottoman province of Smyrna, in what is modern day Turkey. During the
Gene Perry
Yiren & James Gallagher
Yiren Gallagher pores over Internet articles, calling out ideas with a thick accent to her husband James. He sits just
Rebekah Greiman
Frank Roubedeaux
Frank Roubedeaux takes part in an Otoe-Missouria pow-wow. In 1855, the Otoe-Missouria people were confined to a
Alexis Newton
Cardiology
One. Heart melts into ink. Burns in the Arctic eternal night. Melts snow to drips. One. Drip drips down
Nicklaus Faith
The Trouble with Harry
Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana bent over the library table and peered down at witness Harry Ford Sinclair, “I
Steve Gerkin
House in the Hill
Here it comes, I’d tell myself. I’d know it was almost time by the way my parents’ car would begin to wind along
Natasha Ball
Blood Cult
Bill Blair was a visionary. A longtime film collector and fan, he spent his early adult years primarily as an appliance
John Wooley
Dancing the Fright Away
We walked into the smoky bar, and there wasn’t a man in sight. Country music played through the speakers, and a
Kerry Cohen