The legendary country-music impresario Jim Halsey — with whom I have had the pleasure of co-authoring a couple of books — reflects on the holidays, some of his famous clients, and his one-of-a-kind collection of show-biz memorabilia in my OKLAHOMA Magazine column this month. You can read it here.
Barron Ryan of Tulsa is a breathtakingly good piano player who just about ended his career trying to reproduce Art Tatum’s knuckle-busting 1933 version of “Tiger Rag.” You can read all about that, as well as learn his unorthodox approach to jazz music, in my OKLAHOMA Magazine column for November, available HERE.
I’m very glad to be a part of what is, at this writing, Amazon’s No. 1 bestseller in the Antique & Collectible Magazines and Newspapers category: IDW’s THE ART OF THE PULPS: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY. Edited by my pals Doug Ellis and Ed Hulse, along with the late Robert Weinberg — all top-tier names in… Read More »THE ART OF THE PULPS
Back in 2007, my friend Leo Evans (HELL HIGH, CAFE PURGATORY) and I, along with a cast and crew that included my videographer son Jonathan and future FORGOTTEN HORRORS PODCAST producer Joey Hambrick, shot a documentary on the life of our friend, Bill Boyce — who, as the doc’s tagline notes, romanced Marilyn, played touch football with… Read More »BILL BOYCE: MONEY ACTOR
The story of how filmmaker Jeffery Haas brought the new Leon Russell DVD to life is as remarkable as the footage itself, which captures Leon at the height of his musical powers even as it shows the influence of TV and radio preachers on his stage patter. I’ve written about it in my latest OKLAHOMA… Read More »Out of a Mercedes Trunk and Deep Freeze
Most of us know Bartlesville’s Becky Hobbs as a country-music recording artist, songwriter, and playwright. In my OKLAHOMA Magazine column this month, Becky tells us about a not-as-well-known facet of her early show-biz, career, when she organized the first all-girl rock ’n’ roll group in Oklahoma — which later figured into her friendship with one… Read More »LIFE AFTER GIRL BANDS
My OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE column for August 2017 tells the story of actor Gar Moore, a guy from Chelsea, Oklahoma who became a matinee idol in Italy following World War II and, unfortunately, found himself unable to duplicate that success in his home country. You can read it here Again, big thanks to Sandi Bible, Kristi… Read More »A Shooting Star
Back in 1989, I wrote the teleplay for a made-for-TV movie called DAN TURNER, HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE, which ultimately played in prime time over some 200 stations via the old LBS network. You may have seen it. In 1990, it was released on VHS by Fries Entertainment (as, unfortunately, THE RAVEN RED KISS-OFF), and while it… Read More »HOMICIDE HIGHBALL
On behalf of co-host Michael H. Price and producer Joey Hambrick, I’m proud to say that we will be presenting a new Forgotten Horrors Podcast on the 13th of every month. As is the case with the acclaimed Forgotten Horrors series of books, originated by Michael and George Turner back in the ‘70s, our podcasts… Read More »FORGOTTEN HORRORS PODCAST UPDATE