I’ve often told people that our birthday boy today, John Carradine, is the only celebrity I ever encountered in my 23 years on the TULSA WORLD’s entertainment beat who actually intimidated me. And I’ve written many times before about his coming to Tulsa to shoot a… Read More »John Carradine, born February 5, 1906
For almost a generation of Tulsa-area radio listeners, Phil & Brent and their Roy D. Mercer ruled a lion’s share of the airwaves. These days, Brent Douglas — who voiced the hilariously bellicose Mercer character for many years — has overcome health issues and dipped… Read More »ANOTHER HILARIOUS CHAPTER
Plenty of evidence exists to suggest that Gene Crose, who passed away in August at the age of 84, was Tulsa’s first rock ’n’[ roll star. In the decades he performed around the area, dozens of great Oklahoma rockers spent time in his bands, many of them… Read More »The Legacy of Gene
I’ve long been a fan of Sam Harris, the wildly talented Sand Springs kid who parlayed his award-winning appearances on TV’s STAR SEARCH into a lasting career as a Broadway player, recording artist, renowned stage performer, and in-demand talk-show guest. Now, following the successful publication… Read More »Master of All Trades
If it’s the Labor Day weekend, then it must be time once again for WriterCon. Masterminded by my good old friend, frequent publisher, and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Bill Bernhart, it brings scores of writers, agents, and editors together every year at Oklahoma City’s… Read More »2020 WriterCon
Working with a group that spans the better part of three generations, Tulsa music figures Paul Benjaman and Scott Hutchison, along with several other notable music figures, have created a new song that pays tribute to classic Tulsa Sound drummer and songwriter Chuck Blackwell. You… Read More »A Tribute to Blackwell
While I’m able to navigate the Internet with all the the adroitness of an Allosaurus trying his hand at tole painting, I’m lucky to have a couple of people who really know what they’re doing to run online interference for me: my media coordinator, Lourdes… Read More »Introducing the John Wooley Newsletter
Greg Renoff is a top-flight Tulsa-based author who’s just collaborated on a book with one of the top record producers of the rock era. Subtitled A PLATINUM PRODUCER’S LIFE IN MUSIC and published by ECW Press, TED TEMPLEMAN tells the story of its subject’s musical… Read More »Behind-The-Scenes Magic
The final chapter of WPA folklore collector Robert A. Brown’s adventure in the fear-fraught hills of 1939 Arkansas has arrived. Be a part of the journey! Sign up for the John Wooley Newsletter and be entered to win The Cleansing Trilogy! Winner will be announced… Read More »Enter to win The Cleansing Trilogy!
Fifty-four years ago, I rode a Greyhound bus to the end of the Turner Turnpike from Tulsa, where I had a summer job on the truck-loading docks at Skelly Oil Company. A couple of years earlier, I’d started writing for a comic-book fanzine — cranked… Read More »Sinister Serpent available now!