Karen Dalton
Even before she rose from the dead, Karen Dalton always sounded like a ghost. Her voice was an unearthly coo, a
Thomas Conner
Filter / Sort
Ramblin’ Jack
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott strutted on stage. Not like a pimp, or someone with a chip on his shoulder, but as a man
Sarah Graalman
Life as a Lip
The following is an interview with the Flaming Lips conducted by Kory Jay Willis and Steve Kite originally published in
This Land
Beyond the Archives
Woody Guthrie wrote songs, poems, essays, newspaper columns, letters, diaries, you name it. Writing was a compulsion
Thomas Conner
The Myth of Saint Woody
It’s easy to want to idolize Woody Guthrie. The guy was an adventurer, a wandering bard with a soft spot for
Matthew Carney
Hard Luck Okie
This poem was recorded by the Library of Congress at a migrant farmer’s camp in California in the late 1930s. Before
Roy Turner
Guy Logsdon
Dr. Guy Logsdon is a folklorist, writer, musician and Woody Guthrie historian. He’s known for his articles and
Shane Bevel
The Hills Have Eyes
I climbed the remnants of Standpipe Hill on a recent, windy, early morning with a Wal-Mart canvas chair and a cup of
Steve Gerkin
Adventures of the Barely Clad
Jessica Gripp pulled off her T-shirt, revealing the black demi-bra underneath. A few of her classmates helped her on
Natasha Ball
Drawing the Line
The estimated 1,000-plus songs he wrote have made him the de facto poet laureate of common humanity. Generations of
James Vance
Stick a Fork in it
The wind came sweeping down the plain and shot me in the face with a load of dust and gravel. It blew pejsebrænde
This Land
Lasers and Leather Pants
The man with the shaggy hair was the keyboardist, Derek. He led us backstage into a dressing room where a bunch of guys
Olivia Edwardes
The Wills Connection
My mother, Ruth Elaine McMaster, was born into music. Her grandfather Rufus was the deacon at John Brown University in
Jim Downing
Dust Bowl Dad
When Joe and I crossed the Oklahoma line, from Texas, still well before dawn, I let out a long sigh of relief. Almost
Richard Higgs
‘Til the Cows Come Home
India is a country of convergences, contradictions, ancient memory, and prolific examinations of the senses. There is
Erin Turner
Everybody’s All-American
Roughly five miles outside of Prague, Oklahoma, I make the necessary turn onto Moccasin Trail road and head towards
Beau Adams
Under Closer Examination
Rust grows like a rash inside the Oklahoma Medical Examiner Offices. It’s the crusty orange-brown fringe
Jennie Lloyd
Dark Fantasy
During the height of radio drama broadcasts, shows originated from urban areas where technology, actors, writers,
Bret Jones
Four Men Hanging
"The Masons came down in pairs, erect and orderly,” wrote Welborn Hope, “until at the foot their Worshipful Master
Tamara Logsdon Hawkinson
Gorillas in Our Midst
There are two high schools off of I-35 that are just about the same size. The first is 45 minutes out of downtown
Alexander Yates
Brook Tarbel (1924-2011)
Brook Tarbel was born in the heart of Hollywood, where his mother made her dough as a talent agent for big movie stars
Shawna Lewis
Tour of Rwanda
An American racer from TT1 rides just behind a member of the Rwandan national team in Stage 6 of the seven-stage Tour
John Wendle
Plugging the Brain Drain
Seven years ago, a group of 20- and 30-somethings set out to infuse Tulsa with "a new kind of energy." And they did.
Holly Wall
Housing
House of all day; house on the sea, of doors no one knew how to enter; house of small country and green, green land;
Karen Alayna Thimell
Chad Cagle
Chad Cagle is a husband, father of two, pilot, vice president at SemGroup, and one of the top Category 1 racers in the
Jeremy Charles
Rules? There Are No Rules.
Editor’s Note: This story is excerpted from Dan’s War on Poverty: A Grassroots Crusade for Social Justice, by Ann
Ann Patton
Holy Crap
Shit happens every day. At least, it should. When it doesn’t, there’s a Seventh-Day Adventist in southeastern
Sheilah Bright
The Boy and the Band
If you were lucky enough to see Levon Helm & the Barn Burners on tour in this region a few years ago, you probably
Tamara Logsdon Hawkinson
Beau and Stefanie Leland
Beau and Stefanie Leland made a connection before they ever met. Stefanie was an extra in a feature-length film Beau
Holly Wall
Crispin and I on the Fourth of July
On June 1, 2011, I received an email from occasional actor and full-time eccentric, Crispin Glover. At the time it
Jeff Martin
Breakfast of Champion
Waffle Champion surfaced on the Oklahoma City corner of the Facebook universe last summer, posting a series of photos
Natasha Ball
Four Years on the Rack
My father built a shadow box for me and filled it with memories. I often picture what he must have looked like while
Bradford Hill
Redemption Denied
Jorge “George” Aguilar doesn’t seem different than I remembered from a year ago. His tan face is fuzzy on my
Jimmy Carter
Betty Voie(1924-2011)
In the early chapters of an unfinished memoir, Betty Voie wrote that growing up in Kentucky was like “living in a
Shawna Lewis
Doug Rucker
Doug Rucker teaches fourth grade at Tulsa's Eliot Elementary, where he’s been for 20 years. He paints murals under
Alexis Newton
The Prisoner of Wilshire Boulevard
A dark-eyed beauty named Anna Lowe stepped off the train in late January 1920 at Henryetta, just south of Tulsa, but
This Land
Back Roads
The explosions are always real. Small wheels turn tighter. These stark prairie towns keep the eyes and bones close
Laura Brandenburg
Moving Thunder
David Holt is a state senator from Edmond who was instrumental in the relocation of the Thunder NBA basketball team to
David Holt
Chris Fellure and Sara Bowersock-Fellure
Chris and Sara began a 13-year “on again, off again” relationship as teenagers. They’d break up, get back
Rebekah Greiman
Me and Larry
In March 2005, Larry Clark held his first exhibit in New York City at the International Center of Photography across
Randy R Potts
The Deluge
After thirty-four days of rain we wake to mallards navigating the back lawn and four survivor squirrels beached on
Markham Johnson
The Genesis of Vagabond
In the early 1970s, Tulsa delivered two of the world’s most promising young photographers, Larry Clark and Gaylord
Grant McClintock
City of Hope
Kerry Noble was one of the founders of the Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord, a cult paramilitary group with
Kerry Noble
Meet the Clarks
In the late 1990s “progress” once again reared its ugly head in Tulsa, consuming a house which had been converted
Lee Roy Chapman
Bill Rabon
Tulsa-based artist Bill Rabon is an abstract painter, latter-day bohemian, and Vagabond muse. He is represented in
Grant McClintock
Shop
Rusted valves and pipes, sleeping gas lines, tables with saw blades rising to railway, vintage dust taking in streams
Bill Turley
When the Going Gets Tough
The crowd of spectators lining the edges of the course are packed just as tightly as the racers—shoulder to shoulder,
Natasha Ball
Hell on Wheels
Stephen Lassiter is not a hipster. He is an Integrity Analyst for Magellan Midstream Partners in Tulsa and he rides
Beau Adams
Is Larry Clark Obscene?
On July 3, 2003, a film critic stood before a crowd of around 500 crammed into a community building in Sydney,
Denver Nicks
Irons in the Fire
Minus the invention of the steel shaft in the 1930s, golf clubs had barely changed in decades. Irons were forged of
Beau Adams
Letter from New York
There’s this sports bar in New York City with for-shit food called Stillwater that has been visited for a decade by
Sarah Graalman
The Ways We Remember
His four-day road trip traced I-40 from Durham to L.A. By the end he’d seen the Smoky Mountains, Meteor Crater in
Natasha Ball
Mood Swing
On a furlough from a California state prison, convicted wife killer spade Cooley walked off the stage of Oakland’s
Steve Gerkin
Café
Luckily, She was there to take his order. Or he wouldn’t have gotten any coffee. Luckily, There was that
Eli Wright
Agnes Taylor
It all started with my great-great-great-grandpa, James Taylor, who moved to Big Pasture Indian Territory—now Cotton
Jeremy Charles
The Poster Boy of Rock
It all started at the Dale Clark Lumber Supply store at Utica Square in the fall of 1972. “I saw him when I was
Tamara Logsdon Hawkinson
The Influence of Two Tulsas
In preparation for my first visit to Tulsa, my potential boss reassured me over the phone, “I know what you’re
Lauren Ross
Grace in Broken Arrow
Editor's Note: Names of victims have been changed. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord
Kiera Feldman
Mike Appel & Emily Oakley
Just past the beehives, the blueberries, and the asparagus, the fields are being prepared for the spring planting. The
Rebekah Greiman
Kris and Nicole Crawford
Kris and Nicole Crawford stand apart. They waited to kiss one another until they were standing at the altar. Instead
Rebekah Greiman
Leon’s Got Mussels
Kathy Todoroff took the phone from her husband. She remembers asking into the receiver: “What would you like to eat,
Natasha Ball
Gypsies, Tramps, and Me: Letter from India
At the end of a dusty day, we turned from the smooth comfort of good pavement and paused beneath a lone shade tree in
Sheilah Bright
Joseph Merz (1968-2011)
“His presence was big,” Blakely said. “I mean, he was a pretty big guy himself, over six foot and with his big
Shawna Lewis
Postcards From the Edge
The artifacts arrived in a truck at the back door of Gilcrease Museum, shipped there in cardboard boxes. They’d been
Natasha Ball
Tulsa Revealed
Shantelle Jennings talks about seeing her father and mother in Larry Clark's Tulsa: He’s on the cover.
Shantelle Jennings
The Making of Leon Russell Road
Before Leon Russell got ahold of it, the building was called the First Evangelical United Brethren Church. Russell and
Lindsey Neal Kuykendall
Job Machine
as wages stagnate up store square feet sore from eight days a weak excuse for profit margins measure of time out
Melody Charles
Mike Turnbaugh
Mike Turnbaugh, taking his turns at Tulsa Glassblowing Studio on Brady Street, delicately manages a 2000-degree piece
Alexis Newton
The Best We Can Do
Last Friday, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan issued a statement addressing This Land Press and its coverage of the
Vincent LoVoi
Where the Buffalo Drift
Maybe it was a gimmick, but I’d prefer to call it an experiment in semi-urban psychogeography: Walk as far as
Russell Cobb
Ford Is Prepared for Rising Gas Prices
Wіth oil рrісеѕ оn thе rise, аutоmаkеrѕ аrе eager tо provide drіvеrѕ wіth fuеl еffісіеnt
Richard Higgs
Conduct Unbecoming Part 2
Yesterday, This Land Press revealed that Tulsa Police Captain Shawn King had engaged in sexual behavior while on duty.
Joshua Kline
Stormchasing 101: Learning to See Red
At the front of Meeting Room A at the Case Community Center in Sand Springs sat a projector on a metal stand, humming
Natasha Ball
First Families
"Pa Taken with Oklahoma Fever" is how my great-grandmother described her father's obsession with the exodus. He'd
Tamara Logsdon Hawkinson
Anthony in Ramallah
I met Anthony in Jerusalem in March 2002, when he was a reporter at the Boston Globe. He, like many journalists and
Timothy Fadek
Our Own Private Afghanistan
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from the chapter “Interview with John Millar, Head of the Christian
This Land
The Nightmare of Dreamland
The seventeen men were terrified, and with good reason. They stood shivering in the November midnight air, their bare
Lee Roy Chapman
The Third Man?
A lot of eyewitnesses believe they spotted a suspect the government never found in the Oklahoma Bombing. Is he out
Gerald Posner
Norma Stone (1938-2011)
In a world where it’s all about whom you know, Norma Stone had it all. she made her resume from online resume builder
Shawna Lewis
Who’s Afraid of Elohim City?
The following is a collaboration by Lee Roy Chapman and Joshua Kline. Bad men are drawn to the City of
This Land
Bigger and Better
This Land gets bigger today. And this land gets better, too. I mean that in every possible sense: we’ve expanded
Vincent LoVoi
Bluford Johnson (1934-2011)
Rachel Robinson remembers a lot of her father’s quirks—the way he’d shout “Judas Priest” when something upset
Shawna Lewis
The Making of Longhair Music
One of the benefits—or curses, depending on your viewpoint—of archiving is that, over the years, you accumulate a
Steve Todoroff
Leon’s Lair
I thought my childhood was pretty normal until I started telling people about it. I thought, for instance, it was
Matt O'Meilia
Down in the Dirt
“You lose racers in crashes,” he said. “What happened today, this morning, is different.” I’m talking to
Natasha Ball
The Intimate Life of Timothy McVeigh
Editor's Note: The 4/15 issue of THIS LAND will offer several remarkable feature articles that shed new light on the
This Land
Drive-By Truckers
In the years since the interstate era began, the proportion of freight going over the road has steadily increased.
Ginger Strand
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
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
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
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
Cardiology
One. Heart melts into ink. Burns in the Arctic eternal night. Melts snow to drips. One. Drip drips down
Nicklaus Faith
Frank Roubedeaux
Frank Roubedeaux takes part in an Otoe-Missouria pow-wow. In 1855, the Otoe-Missouria people were confined to a
Alexis Newton
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
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
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
Blind Spot
“I’ve been arrested!” Gasko croaked over the cell phone as the FBI agents watched his every move. Seconds
Laurence J. Yadon
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
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
Amy Cottingham
Amy Cottingham sings, composes, arranges, transcribes, teaches and performs classical and jazz music. She performs
Jeremy Luther