Oklahoma Center for the Book. 2004 Oklahoma Book Award Program.

              Oklahoma
2004
Book Awards
A Celebration of Oklahoma
Books and Authors
Oklahoma
March 13, 2004
Petroleum Club
Oklahoma City
Welcome to the
15th Annual
Book Awards
Ceremony
2004 L Oklahoma Book Awards
Welcome.........................................................................................................................................................B.J. Williams
President, Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
Comments................................................................................................................................................Susan McVey
Director, Oklahoma Department of Libraries
Master of Ceremonies...................................................................................................................Joan Gilmore
Columnist for the Journal Record
Greetings from Washington....................................................................................Maurvene Williams
Center for the Book in the Library of Congress
Ralph Ellison Award...................................................................................................................Rodger Harris
Honoring Lynn Riggs Oral Historian, Oklahoma Historical Society
Accepted by Leo Cundiff and Bernice Hodges
Non-fiction Award Presentation.....................................................................................Diane Glancy
2003 recipient of Fiction Award
Poetry Award Presentation....................................................................................................Ivy Dempsey
2002 recipient of Poetry Award
Children/Young Adult Award Presentation..................................... Bettie Estes-Rickner
Board member, Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
Design/Illustration Award Presentation.........................................................M. Scott Carter
Board Member, Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
Fiction Award Presentation..............................................................................................Diane Seebass
Board member, Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
Directors Award Presentation.......................................................................................Carol Hamilton
Chairman of the Awards Committee
2004 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award.............................Eve Sandstrom
Honoring Carolyn Hart 1994 recipient of Fiction Award
Announcements and Drawing..........................................................................................Glenda Carlile
Executive Director, Oklahoma Center for the Book
Billie Letts
Oklahoma Reads Oklahoma Honoree
Music by Edgar Cruz
The book sale and signing continues following the dinner and ceremony. Please enjoy visiting with Book Award Finalists and Recipients.
Lynn Riggs
Recipient of the 2004 Ralph Ellison Award
Rollie Lynn Riggs is probably best known as the author of Green Grow the Lilacs, the play
that Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II used as the basis for their groundbreaking
musical Oklahoma! While Lilacs opened on Broadway in 1931, and had a limited eight-week
engagement (before going on the road), its 1943 musical adaptation was the first Broadway
show to run for over 2,000 performances, and was later translated into a motion picture.
During the first half of the twentieth century, Lynn Riggs was the only active American Indian
playwright , and by the end of his life, he had written thirty plays. Once an aspiring Hollywood
actor, Riggs also worked on scripts for fourteen films produced between 1930 and 1955. His
best known work includes co-writing Cecil B. DeMille’s Gary Cooper Western, The Plainsman,
and two installments of the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes series.
Riggs was born on August 31, 1899, in the Cherokee Nation, a few miles southwest of
Claremore, Oklahoma. His mother Rosie was one-eighth Cherokee, and had registered herself
and her children on the Cherokee rolls. His father William was a prominent cattleman and
banker.
As a youth, Riggs held a variety of jobs, including cowhand and singer in local movie houses.
He later moved to New York, where he worked as a proofreader at the Wall Street Journal, and
clerked for Macy’s department store. Beginning in 1920, Riggs attended the University of
Oklahoma, where he was poetry editor for the University of Oklahoma Magazine, and taught
freshman English. In 1923, Riggs first play, Cuckoo, was produced at the university.
Riggs’s first play to be produced in New York was The Big Lake in 1927, which the American
Laboratory Theatre presented to mixed reviews (despite a cast that boasted Stella Adler and
Harold Hecht). In 1928, Riggs received a Guggenheim Fellowship. While in France on that
fellowship, he began writing his two most important plays, Green Grow the Lilacs and The
Cherokee Night. Both plays were set in Indian Territory, in the last decades of the nineteenth
and first decades of the twentieth centuries, depicting ordinary people struggling in a hard
and unyielding land during a time of rapid, unsettling change.
Riggs also wrote such plays as The Lonesome West, The Cream in the Well, Laughter from a Cloud,
Russet Mantle and Borned in Texas. Lynn Riggs died of stomach cancer on June 30, 1954.
The Ralph Ellison Award
From time to time, the Ralph Ellison Award, honoring a deceased Oklahoma writer, is pre-sented.
The award is named after the first recipient, Ralph Ellison, who received the award in
1995. The 1997 recipient was Angie Debo. Melvin B. Tolson was honored in 1998. In 2000, Jim
Thompson received the award.
Non-Fiction Dictators, Democracy, and American Public Culture:
Envisioning the Totalitarian Enemy, 1920s–1950s
Benjamin L. Alpers—University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC
Alpers focuses on U.S. films, magazine and newspaper articles, books, plays, speeches and
other texts to trace America’s understanding of dictatorship from the late 1920s through the
early years of the cold war. Alpers is Reach for Excellence Assistant Professor in the Honors
College, and Assistant Professor of History and Film and Video Studies at the University of
Oklahoma.
Art Treasures of the Oklahoma State Capitol—Bob Burke, Betty Crow, and
Sandy Meyers—Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc.
This official Oklahoma Centennial Project depicts and describes the more than 100 works of
art on display in and around the State Capitol building. The Senate Historical Preservation
Fund, founded through the leadership of Senator Charles Ford, was joined by the Oklahoma
Arts Council, Oklahoma Heritage Association, Friends of the Capitol, and more than 36 other
contributors to make this publication a reality. Burke received the Oklahoma Book Award in
1999 for From Oklahoma to Eternity: The Life of Wiley Post and the Winnie Mae. Crow is co-author
of The House Oklahoma Built: The History of the Oklahoma Governor’s Mansion. Meyers’s goal for
years has been to write a book about the art in the capitol and the contributions of Oklahoma
Arts Council Director Betty Price.
A Dancing People: Powwow Culture on the Southern Plains
Clyde Ellis—University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Folklorist Barre Toelken describes the powwow as “one of the most rapidly growing
expressions of ethnic awareness and identity to be found in the world today.” Ellis has written
the first comprehensive history of Southern Plains powwow culture: from its history and
traditions to the vital cultural force it is today in Indian country. Ellis himself has participated
in powwow culture for the past two decades. He is Associate Professor of History at Elon
University in North Carolina.
Taking Indian Lands: The Cherokee (Jerome) Commission, 1889–1893
William T. Hagan—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
The Cherokee Commission was formed to negotiate the purchase of huge acres of land from
tribes in Indian Territory in order to “civilize” the Indians and speed their assimilation into
American culture. The coerced sales opened 15 million acres to white settlement, making
2004 Oklahoma Book Award Finalists
possible the state of Oklahoma at the expense of the tribes who had held claim to the
land. Hagan is retired Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma, and the author of
numerous books on American Indian subjects.
Machine Gun Kelly’s Last Stand
Stanley Hamilton—University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Machine Gun Kelly’s 1933 abduction of Oklahoma City oilman Charles Urschel (“arguably the
shrewdest kidnap victim in American history”) sparked a chain of events that would have
lasting significance on crime fighting in America. Hamilton’s cast of larger-than-life characters
of the time includes the 38 year-old director of the national police force, J. Edgar Hoover.
Hamilton is a freelance writer and former reporter for the Kansas City Star.
One Woman’s Political Journey: Kate Barnard and Social Reform, 1875–1930
Lynn Musslewhite and Suzanne Jones Crawford—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
Kate Barnard was a tireless crusader for the disadvantaged, becoming a spokesperson for
child labor laws, compulsory school attendance, and a modern penal structure. In 1907, she
became the first woman in the nation elected to a state post: Commissioner of Charities and
Corrections. Musslewhite and Crawford detail Barnard’s life and work, including her political
successes and failures. Musslewhite is Professor Emeritus of History at Cameron University in
Lawton. Crawford is Professor of History at Cameron.
Oklahoma Tough: My Father, King of the Tulsa Bootleggers
Ron Padgett—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
Padgett draws on interviews, historical documents, police records and his own vivid memories
to resurrect the father he never really knew. Wayne Padgett was a study in contrasts: charming
and generous, and also one of the state’s most elusive bootleggers and career criminals.
Poet Ron Padgett is the author of more than 20 books. He served as publications director of
Teachers and Writers Collaborative from 1980 to 2000.
Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity
Eric R. Pianka and Laurie J. Vitt—University of California Press, Berkeley, CA
“The biology of lizards is a window through which we can peek at the evolutionary history of
life,” Vitt writes in his introductory copy. Lizards is considered the first comprehensive reference
book on lizards around the world. Pianka is Denton A. Cooley Centennial Professor of Zoology
at the University of Texas. Vitt is Professor of Zoology at the University of Oklahoma and
Curator of Reptiles at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.
Searching for Lost City: On the Trail of America’s Native Languages
Elizabeth Seay—Lyons Press, Guilford, CT
More than 100 Native American languages are quickly moving toward extinction. By the
middle of this century, experts predict only twenty tribal languages may still be in use. What
do we lose when a language disappears? That’s the question that fuels Seay’s narrative as she
tracks down what is left of these languages in her home state of Oklahoma. Seay writes for the
Wall Street Journal.
The Days We Danced: The Story of My Theatrical Family—Doris Eaton Travis with
Joseph and Charles Eaton as told to J.R. Morris—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
At age 14, Doris Eaton Travis was a young Ziegfeld Follies dancer appearing with such legends
as Will Rogers and Fanny Brice. Her sister Mary became a Ziegfeld star, and her brother Charles
was a popular child actor. This book relates the remarkable successes and poignant sorrows of
the theatrical Eatons, complete with period photographs and an Eaton Family show business
chronology. Eaton Travis is still dancing at age 99, running a ranch in Norman. Morris is Provost
Emeritus and Regents Professor Emeritus of the University of Oklahoma.
Around the Sacred Fire: Native Religious Activism in the Red Power Era
James Treat—Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY
This is the first comprehensive study of the Indian Ecumenical Conference. Founded in 1969,
the conference was an attempt at organizing grassroots spiritual leaders who were concerned
about the conflict between tribal and Christian tradition. By the mid-seventies, thousands of
people were gathering each summer to participate in weeklong encampments promoting
spiritual revitalization and religious self-determination. Treat teaches in the Honors College at
the University of Oklahoma.
Children/Young Adult
The Painters of Lexieville—Sharon Darrow—Candlewick Press, Cambridge, MA
For this harrowing coming-of-age story, Oklahoma native Darrow drew on her experience
of working in an Arkansas county welfare department. The tale of determination and
empowerment is told from the point of view of the heroine, Pert, as well as that of her brother,
Jobe, and mother, Truly. This is Darrow’s first novel for young adults. She has written several
books for children. She lives in Chicago with her three daughters.
The Great American Bunion Derby—Molly Levite Griffis—Eakin Press, Austin, TX
Did you know a Sooner was crowned the best long distance runner in the world in 1928?
Griffis’s book is the inspiring story of Andy Payne, the “Cherokee Kid” who ran 3,000 miles
between Los Angeles and New York to win the first International Trans-Continental Foot Race.
Griffis expresses her appreciation to Jim Ross for the “mounds of research” provided for this
book. Griffis has written five books for children. Three have now been Book Award finalists. She
received the Oklahoma Book Award in 2002 for The Rachel Resistance.
Flying Blind—Anna Myers—Walker & Company, New York, NY
Two-time Oklahoma Book Award winner Anna Myers spins an unusual tale based on a real
life environmental crisis. At the turn of the twentieth century, millions of birds were being
slaughtered in Florida so that their feathers could be used to make fashionable hats. In Flying
Blind, a father, son, and clairvoyant pet macaw take their traveling medicine show to the
Everglades. The son faces a moral dilemma when he befriends two orphans who depend on
feathering to stay alive.
S is for Sooner: An Oklahoma Alphabet—Devin Scillian—Sleeping Bear Press, Chelsea, MI
“E” is for Enid and Elk City and El Reno and Edmond and Eskimo Joe’s and evening at Lake
Eufaula. Scillian’s book is a celebration of Oklahoma “A” to “Z.” Author, journalist, and musician
Devin Scillian grew up all over the world, but considers Oklahoma home. He is former anchor
for KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City, and author of the national best-seller A is for America: An
American Alphabet.
Grady’s in the Silo—Una Belle Townsend—Pelican Publishing Company, Inc., Gretna, LA
How would someone squeeze a 1,200-pound cow out of a silo? That’s the problem Townsend
solves in this book, which is based on a true story that happened in her hometown of Yukon,
Oklahoma in 1949. Sick and upset, Grady the cow tries to escape after the vet gives her a shot,
only to end up stuck in her farm family’s silo. People from across the country and around the
world are all too happy to give their advice on how to rescue Grady. Townsend has been an
elementary school teacher for nearly 20 years.
Bone Head: Story of the Longhorn—Desiree Morrison Webber—Eakin Press, Austin, TX
Webber was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in 2000 for The Buffalo Train Ride, the story
of how the American Bison was saved from extinction. Webber now turns her attention to the
Longhorn, a species of cattle that played a unique role in the history of America. Indeed, as
Webber explains, if not for these creatures, we may never have had the cowboy, trail drives, or
the Wild West! Webber is Director of the Mustang Public Library.
Poetry
Crossing the Ladder of Sun—Laura Apol—Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI
Apol’s poetry explores the ordinary, mundane moments of life, transforming them into
the extraordinary. Her poetry has appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals,
including a full-length collection, Falling into Grace. She is currently Associate Professor of
Education at Michigan State University. Although she now lives in East Lansing, she still
considers Oklahoma her spirit’s home.
Wild Civility—David Biespiel—University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA
Biespiel was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Texas. The poems in Wild Civility are the product
of two years of writing in a single form: a nine-line sonnet that Biespiel calls an American
Sonnet. The result was an “explosion of language” for the author. Biespiel lives with his wife and
son in Portland, Oregon.
The Shadow’s Horse—Diane Glancy—University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ
“Wholeness is when the shadow of the rider and his horse are one,” according to a saying in
the Native American tradition. In The Shadow’s Horse, Glancy employs her diverse talent with
words to walk the margin between her Indian and white heritage as she writes about family,
work, and faith. A 2003 Oklahoma Book Award winner for The Mask Maker: A Novel, Glancy is a
perennial presence on Oklahoma Book Award finalists lists, and is also a finalist in the Fiction
category this year.
By the Grace of Ghosts
Judith Tate O’Brien and Jane Taylor—Village Books Press, Cheyenne, OK
O’Brien and Taylor met in poetry class in 1992. Thereafter, they met weekly, “teaching each
other how to look for the poem that had gone into hiding; how to craft it or else abandon it;
and how to braid our writing lives into a long rope of friendship.” The small Oklahoma Catholic
mission of Sacred Heart, now a ghost town, played a role in the family histories of both
women. O’Brien currently teaches creative writing at Rose State College, while Taylor makes
her living as a reference librarian at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Design/Illustration
Art Treasures of the Oklahoma State Capitol
Designed by Carol Haralson—Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc.
The last decade has been kind to the grand State Capitol. Architectural restorations, the
additions of new artwork, and the soaring new dome have enhanced this historic building.
The establishment of the State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, through the leadership of
Senator Charles Ford, means more art is destined for the halls of state government. Haralson
has received a record five Oklahoma Book Awards. Her design for this work showcases the
diverse murals, paintings and sculptures currently on display at the capitol, and provides a
sneak peak at some projects in the works.
Family Album: A Centennial Pictorial of the Oklahoma Publishing Company
Designed by Scott Horton; Chief Photographer, Jim Argo
The Oklahoma Publishing Company, Oklahoma City, OK
This book is one of two finalists that commemorate OPUBCO’s centennial. Family Album is
already a collector’s item since the company printed only enough copies for distribution to
employees, families, and friends. Horton employs an intimate photo scrapbook design to pay
tribute to the many Oklahomans who have worked for OPUBCO, highlighting pictures from
the vaults as well as modern photographs.
How Medicine Came to the People and How Rabbit Lost His Tail
Drawings by Murv Jacob—University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM
These two titles mark the fifth and sixth times Jacob has been honored as a Book Award
finalist in Design/Illustration. He won the Oklahoma Book Award last year for The Great Ball
Game of the Birds and Animals, a retelling of a traditional Cherokee tale. Once again, Jacob
has collaborated with author Deborah Duvall to bring two more Cherokee stories to life for
children today.
S is for Sooner—Illustrated by Kandy Radzinski—Sleeping Bear Press, Chelsea, MI
Radzinski’s art has been described as “quirky realism.” She has taught art at Central Washington
State College and the University of Tulsa, and has illustrated children’s books, posters, greeting
cards, and even a six-foot penguin. She won the Oklahoma Book Award in 1993 for The Twelve
Cats of Christmas. She lives in Tulsa with her husband, son, and two Scottie dogs.
The Oklahoma Publishing Company’s First Century: The Gaylord Family Story
Designed by Jeff Wincapaw—The Oklahoma Publishing Company, Oklahoma City, OK
Seattle designer Wincapaw helps bring author David Dary’s OPUBCO history to life with
historic photos, notable editorial cartoons, and reproductions of Daily Oklahoman front pages
from throughout the company’s 100 years of existence.
Fiction
Death Row—William Bernhardt—Ballantine Books, New York, NY
This “master of the courtroom drama” (Library Journal) returns with another legal thriller
featuring crusading Oklahoma attorney Ben Kincaid. This time around, Ben must save an
innocent man from execution. Bernhardt is a two-time winner of the Oklahoma Book Award in
fiction. He is a former trial attorney who has received a number of awards for his public service.
He lives in Tulsa with his wife and three children.
Stone Heart: A Novel of Sacajawea—Diane Glancy—The Overlook Press, Woodstock, NY
Glancy juxtaposes excerpts from Lewis and Clark’s diaries with those from an imagined
journal kept by Sacajawea to retell the story of this legendary Shoshoni woman. Glancy won
the Oklahoma Book Award in this category last year for The Mask Maker: A Novel. She is also a
finalist in the Poetry category this year. She has received numerous other awards, including the
American Book Award, the Pushcart Prize, and the Native American Indian Prose Award. She
teaches at Macalester College in Minnesota.
Letter from Home—Carolyn Hart—Berkley Prime Crime, New York, NY
Oklahoma City’s Carolyn Hart has written more than 30 mystery novels, but this is the only
one set in Oklahoma. Journalist G.G. Gilman receives a letter from home, which brings back
memories of a sultry summer in a small Oklahoma town, when her life changed forever. Hart
has won a slew of mystery awards, including the cream of the crop: the Agatha, the Anthony,
and the Macavity. She is an Oklahoma Book Award winner for fiction, and is tonight’s Arrell
Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
University Boulevard—A.B. Hollingsworth—Clock Tower Press, Ann Arbor, MI
This sequel to the best-selling Flatbellies follows Chipper DeHart and Peachy Waterman as
they maneuver college life in the late 1960s—a time when the John Wayne world of right and
wrong is turned upside down in a tornado of social change. Flatbellies was also a finalist for
the Oklahoma Book Award. In addition to his new career as author, Hollingsworth is a breast
cancer specialist. He serves as Medical Director for Mercy Women’s Center in Oklahoma City.
As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries
Janelle Meraz Hooper—iUniverse, Lincoln, NE
Eight year-old Glory has a father who has taken out a $50,000 accidental death policy on her.
Now he’s spending the summer trying to collect. This is Hooper’s self-described “fictional
autobiography” of her childhood, growing up in Southwestern Oklahoma, and her second
novel set in Oklahoma. Her short stories and commentaries have been published in books,
magazines, and newspapers. She currently lives in Oregon.
The Greek Summer—John Douglas Miller—iUniverse, Lincoln, NE
In this funny and thought-provoking coming-of-age story, five young lifeguards discover
the Greek philosophers, and learn that the world of mind and ideas is far more fascinating
than anything they have ever known. Dr. Miller received his Ph.D. from the Union Institute in
Cincinnati. His past publications include A Footnote on Plato: An Introduction to Philosophy. He
currently teaches philosophy at the University of Central Oklahoma, and lives in Edmond with
his wife, Janelle.
Song of the Bones—M.K. Preston—Intrigue Press, Denver, CO
Preston’s first novel, Perhaps She’ll Die, was also an Oklahoma Book Award finalist, as well as
a finalist for the Redmond Barry, Macavity, and Mary Higgins Clark Awards. This engaging
second novel is also set in the fictional town of Tetumka, Oklahoma, where protagonist and
amateur sleuth Chantalene Morrell becomes embroiled in a decades-old mystery. Preston lives
in Edmond, where she edits and publishes ByLine, a nationally distributed trade magazine for
writers.
This Raw, Red Land—Voncille Shipley—iUniverse, Lincoln, NE
In Shipley’s first novel, a large family from Texas moves to Indian Territory to protect a son
from the law and to start a new life. Death, murder, and punishment follow them to their new
home. Shipley was raised in Healdton, a town near the area depicted in the novel. She and her
husband John live an acreage where they raise pecans and hay.
Walking the Choctaw Road—Tim Tingle—Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso, TX
In his Introduction, Tingle writes, “…the Trail of Tears lingers deep in the memory bank of every
Choctaw. We have all heard the stories. In our minds and dreams, we have walked the frozen
ground carrying our dead.” Although these stories depict tragedy and loss, they also represent
triumph and survival. Tingle is a collector of Choctaw oral literature. He is the recipient of the
2003 John Henry Faulk Award for “outstanding contributions to the art of storytelling.”
Available in hardcover from Berkley Prime Crime
Berkley
congratulates
Carolyn
Hart
recipient
of the 2004
Arrell Gibson
Lifetime
Achievement
Award
from the
Oklahoma
Center for
the Book
Carolyn Hart
Recipient of the 2004 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
Carolyn Hart is an acknowledged master of mystery and suspense. Hailed as America’s
Agatha Christie, she is the author of 35 novels with more than 2.5 million copies of
her books in print. Hart is the first author to win all three major mystery awards for her
novels—the Agatha, the Anthony, and the Macavity awards. She has won each award
twice, and is the only author to be nominated seven times for the coveted Agatha
Award. She was one of ten authors appearing in the Mystery and Thriller Pavilion at the
2003 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
Born in Oklahoma City, Hart began her love affair with mystery by reading Nancy Drew,
the Hardy Boys, and Beverly Gray. She received a BA in journalism with honors from the
University of Oklahoma in 1958. She was a newspaper reporter and worked in public
relations before her first book, a children’s mystery, was published in 1964. She wrote
four more young adult novels before moving into the mainstream.
Hart is renowned for her two bestselling mystery series—the Henrie O mysteries and
the Death on Demand series. She was the recipient of the Oklahoma Book Award for
Fiction in 2001 for Sugarplum Dead. Hart’s newest novel Letter From Home—a finalist
for tonight’s fiction award—has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Hart lives in Oklahoma City with her husband Phil.
The Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
The Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award is presented each year to
recognize a body of work. This award was named for the Norman historian who served
as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
Fiction
1990, Robert Love Taylor, The Lost Sister
1991, Linda Hogan, Mean Spirit
1992, Robert L. Duncan, The Serpent's Mark
1993, Rilla Askew, Strange Business
1994, Eve Sandstrom, Down Home Heifer Heist
1995, William Bernhardt, Perfect Justice
1996, Billie Letts, Where the Heart Is
1997, Stewart O’Nan, The Names of the Dead
1998, Rilla Askew, The Mercy Seat
1999, Billie Letts, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon
2000, William Bernhardt, Dark Justice
2001, Carolyn Hart, Sugarplum Dead
2002, Douglas Kelley, The Captain’s Wife
2003, Diane Glancy, The Mask Maker: A Novel
Poetry
1990, William Kistler, The Elizabeth Sequence
1992, Carol Hamilton, Once the Dust
1993, Jim Barnes, The Sawdust War
1994, Carter Revard, An Eagle Nation
1995, Joy Harjo, The Woman Who Fell from the Sky
1996, Francine Leffler Ringold-Johnson,
The Trouble with Voices
1997, Renata Treitel, translation of
Rosita Copioli’s The Blazing Lights of the Sun
1998, Betty Shipley, Somebody Say Amen
1999, Mark Cox, Thirty-Seven Years from the Stone
2000, N. Scott Momaday, In the Bear’s House
2001, Carolyne Wright, Seasons of Mangoes and Brainfire
2002, Ivy Dempsey, The Scent of Water:
New and Selected Poems
2003, Joy Harjo, How We Became Human:
New and Selected Poems
1990, Helen Roney Sattler, Tyrannosaurus Rex and His Kin
1991, Stan Hoig, A Capitol for the Nation
1992, Jess and Bonnie Speer, Hillback to Boggy
1993, Anna Myers, Red Dirt Jessie
1994, Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith, Cherokee Summer
1995, Russell G. Davis and Brent Ashabranner,
The Choctaw Code
1996, Anna Myers, Graveyard Girl
1997, Barbara Snow Gilbert, Stone Water
1998, S. L. Rottman, Hero
1999, Barbara Snow Gilbert, Broken Chords
2000, Harold Keith, Brief Garland:
Ponytails, Basketball, and Nothing But Net
2001, Joyce Carol Thomas, Hush Songs
2002, Molly Levite Griffis, The Rachel Resistance
2003, Darleen Bailey Beard, The Babbs Switch Story
Children/Young Adult
Ralph Ellison Award
1995, Ralph Ellison—National Book Award winner—Oklahoma City
1997, Angie Debo—“First Lady of Oklahoma History”—Marshall
1999, Melvin Tolson—poet, journalist, and dramatist—Langston
2000, Jim Thompson—novelist and screenwriter—Anadarko
2002, John Berryman—poet, biographer, and editor—McAlester
Previous Winners
Design/Illustration
1990, David E. Hunt, The Lithographs of Charles Banks Wilson
1991, Carol Haralson, Cleora's Kitchens
1992, Joe Williams, Woolaroc
1993, Carol Haralson, Will Rogers: Courtship and Correspondence;
and Kandy Radzinski, The Twelve Cats of Christmas
1994, Deloss McGraw, Fish Story
1995, Mike Wimmer, All the Places to Love
1996, Kim Doner, Green Snake Ceremony
1997, Carol Haralson and Harvey Payne, Big Bluestem: A Journey into the Tall Grass
1998, Carol Haralson, Visions and Voices:
Native American Painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art
1999, David Fitzgerald, Bison: Monarch of the Plains
2000, Carol Haralson, Glory Days of Summer: The History of Baseball in Oklahoma
2001, Lane Smith, The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip
2002, Carl Brune, Woven Worlds: Basketry from the Clark Field Collection
2003, Murv Jacob, The Great Ball Game of the Birds and Animals
Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
1990, Daniel Boorstin—Librarian of Congress Emeritus—native of Tulsa
1991, Tony Hillerman—mystery writer—native of Sacred Heart
1992, Savoie Lottinville—Director of the University of Oklahoma Press for 30 years
1993, Harold Keith—Newbery Award winning children's author—Norman
1994, N. Scott Momaday—Pulitzer Prize winning Kiowa author—native of Lawton
1995, R.A. Lafferty—Hugo Award winning author—Tulsa
1996, John Hope Franklin—historian—native of Rentiesville
1997, S.E. Hinton—author of young adult novels—Tulsa
1998, Jack Bickham—novelist, teacher and journalist—Norman
1999, Michael Wallis—historian and biographer—Tulsa
2000, Bill Wallace—writer of novels for young people—Chickasha
2001, Joyce Carol Thomas—children and adult fiction author, and playwright—native of Ponca City
2002, World Literature Today—The University of Oklahoma, Norman
2003, Joy Harjo—poet and member of the Muscogee Nation—native of Tulsa
Non-Fiction
1990, Leonard Leff, Hitchcock & Selznick
1991, Carl Albert and Danney Goble, Little Giant
1992, David Morgan, Robert England, and
George Humphreys, Oklahoma Politics & Policies:
Governing the Sooner State
1993, Henry Bellmon and Pat Bellmon, The Life and Times
of Henry Bellmon; and Daniel Boorstin, The Creators
1994, J. Brent Clark, 3rd Down and Forever
1995, Dennis McAuliffe Jr., The Deaths of Sybil Bolton
1996, William Paul Winchester, A Very Small Farm
1997, Annick Smith, Big Bluestem: A Journey
Into the Tall Grass
1998, John Hope Franklin and John Whittington
Franklin, Editors; My Life and an Era: The
Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin
1999, Bob Burke, From Oklahoma to Eternity: The Life of
Wiley Post and the Winnie Mae
2000, Michael Wallis, The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch
and the Creation of the American West
2001, David LaVere, Contrary Neighbors: Southern Plains
and Removed Indians in Indian Territory
2002, Lydia L. Wyckoff, Editor, Woven Worlds: Basketry
from the Clark Field Collection
2003, Michael A. Mares, A Desert Calling: Life in a
Forbidding Landscape
Congratulations Carolyn
for winning the Oklahoma Center of the Book’s
Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award.
William Morrow is proud to be your publisher.
Project Highlights
The Oklahoma Center for the Book (OCB) in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and
the Friends of the Center for the Book have participated in several events in the past
twelve months, and have made commitments for events later this year.
National Book Festival—For the last two years, the Center has participated in the
National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. We hosted a booth promoting Oklahoma
and Oklahoma authors where we distributed literary maps, tourism guides, and
information on the State Summer Reading Program.
Letters About Literature—is a contest with the Center for the Book in the Library of
Congress, Target, and the Weekly Reader where a student writes a letter to an author,
living or dead, telling how a book has influenced his or her life. Prizes are awarded to
the winners.
Kid’s Caught Reading—is an annual activity of the Center, and is part of Oklahoma’s
Celebration of Reading. Friends of the Center will once again give $25 prizes to ten
students from across the state who are caught reading in their spare time. The prizes
will be presented at the Celebration of Reading on April 7, 2004.
Oklahoma Library Association—The Friends will once again sponsor a speaker at the
OLA annual conference in April.
Red Dirt Book Festival—The Center was proud to be a sponsor of the Red Dirt Book
Festival held last October in Shawnee.
Oklahoma Reads Oklahoma—The Center is proud to be a sponsor of this statewide
reading and discussion program. Billie Letts, author of the Oklahoma Reads Oklahoma
Book for 2004, is our guest tonight. Citizens selected Letts’s The Honk and Holler
Opening Soon. Information is available tonight about the second Oklahoma Reads
Oklahoma “six-pack” of books.
Information is available tonight on membership to the Friends of the Oklahoma
Center for the Book. The Oklahoma Center for the Book's website address is
www.odl.state.ok.us/ocb
UNIVERSITYof OKLAHOMA PRESS
oupre s s.com
 th Ave. NW
Norman, Oklahoma -
tel    · fax   
The Days We Danced
The Story of My Theatrical Family
From Florenz Ziegfeld to Arthur Murray and Beyond
By Doris Eaton Travis
With Joseph and Charles Eaton As Told to J.R. Morris
At age fourteen, she was a young Ziegfeld Follies dancer appearing with such legends as
Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice,Will Rogers, and Marilyn Miller. In a refreshingly wise voice,
Doris Eaton Travis recalls the accolades,as well as the poignant sorrows,of her theatrical fam-ily
during almost a century of turbulent change.Accompanied by unique period photos, her
memoir vividly reconstructs the life of a woman who never stopped dancing—even when
the curtain fell.
$27.95 Cloth · 0-8061-9950-4 · 264 pages, 8 color & 72 b&w illus.
Oklahoma Tough
My Father, King of the Tulsa Bootleggers
By Ron Padgett
Wayne Padgett was a charming and generous man. He was also one of Oklahoma’s most
elusive bootleggers and career criminals from the 1960s to the 1980s, a high-ranking mem-ber
of the Dixie Mafia. Poet Ron Padgett tells the inside story of his notorious father and
of how he earned his reputation as a Robin Hood “King of the Bootleggers.”
$29.95 Cloth · 0-8061-3509-3 · 288 pages, 21 b&w illus.
One Woman’s Political Journey
Kate Barnard and Social Reform, 1875–1930
By Lynn Musslewhite and Suzanne Jones Crawford
One Woman’s Political Journey details the life’s work, including the political successes and fail-ures,
of a complex and courageous woman who appreciated that she was on the cutting edge
of new and novel opportunities for women.
$34.95 Cloth · 0-8061-3563-8 · 256 pages, 19 b&w illus.
Taking Indian Lands
The Cherokee (Jerome) Commission, 1889–1893
By William T. Hagan
Authorized by Congress in 1889, the Cherokee Commission coerced the tribes in Indian
Territory to sell their fifteen million acres of allotted lands to white settlers to achieve what
reformers called “civilization,” and to speed their assimilation into American culture.
$39.95 Cloth · 0-8061-3513-1 · 288 pages, 24 b&w illus.
Nancy Berland—Oklahoma City
Bob Burke—Oklahoma City
Diane Canavan—Shawnee
Glenda Carlile—Oklahoma City
M. Scott Carter—Oklahoma City
David Clark—Norman
Kim Doner—Tulsa
Ann Hamilton—Edmond
Carol Hamilton—Midwest City
Gerald Hibbs—Oklahoma City
Joe Holmes—Oklahoma City
Julie Hovis—Edmond
Lynn McIntosh—Ardmore
Susan McVey—Oklahoma City
Teresa Miller—Tulsa
Raymond D. Munkres—Midwest City
Kitty Pittman—Oklahoma City
Marcia Preston—Edmond
Byron Price—Norman
Judy Randle—Tulsa
Diane Seebass—Tulsa
Alice Stanton—Norman
Sue Stees—Tulsa
Joanie Stephenson—Tulsa
Laurie Sundborg—Tulsa
Jane Taylor—Edmond
William R. Young—Oklahoma City
Friends of the Center
The Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book is a non-profit, 501-c-3 organization.
The Friends is a cultural and educational corporation to advance and promote the role
of the book and reading in Oklahoma. The Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
supports and further enhances the programs and projects of the Oklahoma Center for
the Book in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and the Center for the Book in the
Library of Congress. A volunteer board of directors from across the state governs the
Friends.
President­—
B.J. Williams—Oklahoma City
Vice-President—M.J. Van Deventer—Oklahoma City
Secretary—Julia Fresonke—Edmond
Treasurer—Bettie Estes-Rickner—Mustang
The Oklahoma Center for the Book
wishes to thank the judges
for the 2004 competition:
Keith Allen
Mary Ann Blochowiak
Kay Boies
M. Scott Carter
Evelyn Davis
Bettie Estes-Rickner
Kathryn Fanning
Mort Hamilton
Chris Hardy
Gerald Hibbs
Angie Jackson
Louisa McCune
Raymond D. Munkres
Donna Norvell
Dee Pierce
Kitty Pittman
Byron Price
Richard Roulliard
Diane Seebass
Carl Sennhenn
Dewayne Smoot
William R. Struby
Leah Taylor
Mary Waidner
The Center acknowledges the generous
contributions
of the following organizations
and individuals:
Barnes and Noble
Best of Books, Edmond
Bob Burke
Center for the Book in the Library of Congress
Friends of the Metropolitan Library System
Full Circle Books, Oklahoma City
Rodger Harris, Archives Division
of the Oklahoma Historical Society
Fred Marvel, Photographer
Metropolitan Library System
Oklahoma Department of Libraries
The Westin, Oklahoma City
Special thanks to...
Sue Stees, Ceremony Chair, and
committee members Julia Fresonke, Diane Seebass,
M.J. Van Deventer, B.J. Williams, and Bill Young
Public Information Office—Oklahoma Department of Libraries:
Glenda Carlile, Melanie Price,
Bill Petrie, Bill Struby, and Bill Young