Blind Faith

By

-

January 23, 2013

In half a sentence, a smooth alto voice with a hint of rasp gives away a robust sense of adventure, a deep appreciation for humor and the ability to command the respect and attention of an entire room.

Bliss Morris is the owner of First Financial Network, the nation’s first loan sales advisory firm. She started the company in 1989; she was in her late 20s with two small children and a new husband. She had no business plan, no major investment help, no college degree. Morris grew the company into a national leader that advises banks, insurance companies and the FDIC. CNBC has called her the toxic loan avenger.

Morris, now a mother of four and grandmother of one, avid traveler and civically engaged, squeezed in a chat with Oklahoma Magazine to talk about how she got where she is today.

Oklahoma Magazine: Where did you go to college?
Bliss Morris: I didn’t go to college. That surprises a lot of people. That must be why I’m such a strong believer in higher education and have not given my children any choice in the matter.

OM: When you were a little girl, what did you want to be when you grew up?
BM: I envisioned going to college and joining a sorority. I don’t think I had a picture of what I wanted to be. If I’d gone to college, I probably would have ended up in medicine. But I don’t have any regrets. I feel so fortunate to have made my way to the point I am without really expecting how it was going to unfold.

OM: What advice would you give to that little girl today?
BM: That it is very important for young women to be every bit as prepared as men. I think it’s important whatever you choose, women need to be prepared for the unexpected. A lot of people think I mean divorce, but that is not what I mean at all. My father passed away very unexpectedly when I was 14. (My mother) was 48 and was able to fall back on a career that she had left 14 or 15 years before and do very well in that career. That made a deep impression on me. The other thing would be really to have faith that things will work out. Even in dark times, keep the faith. There will always be a day when you can look back and gain a deeper understanding.

OM: Do you ever feel like your success is qualified by you being a woman? How do you feel about that?
BM: I think so. Moreso sometimes than I think. It will be sometime when someone says something to me and I think “Huh. I never really looked at it like that.” I realize that some people step back and look at me like that. I definitely think people think, “Gosh, you didn’t have a college education, how did you think of this?” People find that surprising.

I think it is really important to – and someday I really want to – mentor young girls and really let them know at the high school level or the college level that there is nothing you can’t do if you really want to, if you believe in yourself. I really believe that. It is hard sometimes, whether you are female or male. It’s one thing to say we won’t fail. It is another thing for it to not be in your being, for failure never even to occur to you. There were a lot of people who said, “Did you every worry about failing?” I didn’t even think about it. And there were probably a lot of times we were very close.

Cemeteries Are for the Living

By

Terry A. Hull

-

January 23, 2013

When a museum and a genealogy society in Durant, Okla., teamed up to host a “ghost stories” walking tour at Highland Cemetery, they never expected a Facebook-fueled fuss to force them to cancel the event, planned for last October.

Some local residents complained the event was disrespectful of the dead. Cathy Ambler, a Tulsa preservationist consultant who has visited many Oklahoma cemeteries, says she was unfamiliar with the Durant controversy. However, she says people should be encouraged to visit cemeteries and explore the rich history that is there.

“Cemeteries were designed for people to visit,” Ambler says. “In the Victorian era, people would take their families out (to cemeteries) to be in a green place and have a picnic lunch. (Cemeteries) were our first city parks.”

The canceled Durant event resembled the “Tombstone Tales” re-enactment featured each spring at Fort Reno Military Cemetery, west of Oklahoma City. Up to 3,000 people turn out to walk the cemetery and listen to costumed re-enactors portray people buried there, including a buffalo soldier, a stagecoach driver, an outlaw and a German prisoner of war. Bob Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, says Fort Reno is just one of many interesting cemeteries throughout the state.

Blackburn mentioned several “celebrity” gravesites. Geronimo’s grave is at Fort Sill National Cemetery, one of just two national cemeteries in Oklahoma. Before you go, do some research on the claim that Yale University alumni robbed Geronimo’s grave almost 100 years ago. Or visit Charley Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd, laid to rest at the Akins Cemetery near Sallisaw. Oklahoma’s first governor, C.N. Haskell, is buried under an impressive obelisk at the Greenhill Cemetery in Muskogee. Perhaps the most visited tomb in the state is that of Will Rogers, at the beautiful Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore.

Cemeteries close to home may or may not feature famous names, but they may reveal discoveries about one’s own family tree. Cemeteries are a popular destination for genealogists, Blackburn says, adding that “genealogy is the second most popular hobby in the country after fishing.”

Ambler notes that there is more to a cemetery than the people who are buried there. The design, the plotting and the landscaping all reflect a community’s values. For example, many cemeteries have separate sections for certain religions, fraternal organizations and even ethnicities. “Cemeteries actually represent American society very well,” she says.

Blackburn echoes the thought: “Cemeteries reflect the community’s values.”

Getting Started

Historical and genealogy societies sponsor occasional cemetery walking tours. However, you don’t have to wait for an official event to enjoy exploring a graveyard. Ambler recommends studying cemetery iconography and then searching for symbols on monuments and grave markers. Clasped hands, open gates, a finger pointing upward, lambs and doves – all are part of graveyard code.

Hundreds of cemeteries are scattered throughout Oklahoma’s 77 counties. Here are three among many intriguing destinations:
• Fort Gibson National Cemetery, east of Muskogee, is Oklahoma’s other national cemetery. Union soldiers of the Civil War who died in Indian Territory battles are interred there. The sprawling field, with uniform rows of white tombstones, is breathtaking.
• Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Hugo includes a section called “Showmen’s Rest” for circus performers and workers. A large monument with engravings of a performing elephant and a circus tent reads, “A tribute to all showmen under God’s big top.”
• Polson Cemetery in eastern Oklahoma is the final resting place of Confederate General Stand Watie. Watie was the only Native American to rise to the rank of brigadier general of the Confederacy

Fifty Years Of Celebrity

By

Brian Schwartz

-

January 23, 2013

You can always spot the first-timers. They’re the ones whose eyes go wide, faces soft with childlike innocence, as they gape at the pink velvet wonderland of plush chairs, carpet and mirrors spread before them, lavishly festooned with twinkling lights, big gold stars and red ribbons. For 50 years, Christmastime at Celebrity has never failed to delight. But now, just past twilight, there are no newbies at the bar. The bartender chats with a few early customers. They act as if they’ve known one another for years, and there’s a good chance they have. They seem like guests waiting for the host so the party can begin.

A few yards away, past a corridor lined with photos of the rich, famous and pampered crowd who has visited Celebrity over the decades, in a rather spartan office dominated by framed family snapshots, sits the man whom the Tulsa World once called the classiest host in Tulsa, if not the entire planet. Dapper in a smartly tailored dark suit, white shirt and bright yet tasteful tie with a Windsor knot, Mike Samara prepares, as he has nearly every day for the past 50 years, to welcome arriving diners. He’s famous for remembering every customer’s name.

There are a lot of names to remember, quite a few of them famous. Almost from the day Celebrity Club opened its doors back in 1963, the Oil Capital’s gilded elite adopted it as home. On any day of the week, there’d be a crowd of elegantly dressed men standing shoulder-to-shoulder by the bar. “The head of this one company,” Samara recalls (and he names one of the city’s largest firms) “used to spend so much time here that if he wasn’t home by supper his wife would send someone here to get him.” Another man from a prominent family “was sitting at the end of the bar the day I bought the place, and he stayed there for many years to come. He was a comical guy, but if you took his seat he’d throw you out. I used to say he spent more time here than I do.”

One guest made a lasting impression even though he visited only once. John and Joe Williams, the men responsible for making the Williams Companies rich, were frequent diners. One day they brought a guest, the ruler of one of those oil-soaked Emirates at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. “Mike,” Joe Williams told him, “the Sheikh wants rice!” “We don’t have rice,” replied Samara. “Mike, you don’t understand,” Williams urged, “He’s the KING, and he wants rice!” The kitchen staff managed to find rice; ever since, rice pilaf has been on the menu.

The menu is short, but every dish is memorable. Everyone who’s ever ordered a Caesar salad remembers its classic, authentic taste and spectacular tableside preparation. Samara used to prepare every one. Back in Tulsa’s oil boom days, desserts were prepared tableside, too, which took up to half an hour of intense work. On those halcyon evenings, as ladies in evening gowns and men in narrow-lapeled blazers exclaimed in delight as flames leapt forth from pans of Cherries Jubilee or Bananas Foster, Samara was always there, congratulating a table celebrating an anniversary, keeping an eye on the bar, and always ready to light a lady’s cigarette.

And all this from a man who has never touched alcohol or tobacco. “I’ve never been in a bar I didn’t own,” says Samara, which isn’t strictly true, since back in the 1950s he was Mickey Mantle’s designated driver. It was Mantle, a close friend, who gave Samara a start in the business, hiring him in 1957 to manage a Holiday Inn in Joplin. The hotel was a success, and a few years later Samara saw a tiny, rundown bar on a two-lane road “way the hell out of town.” The road was Yale Avenue, and the bar became the Celebrity Club.

Fifty years have gone by, and those laughing, elegant celebrities are now ghosts from a bygone era. New York’s fabled Stork Club, the only place with comparable cachet, was torn down years ago and is now a public park. But Celebrity is still going strong, and so is Mike Samara. He’s 89 now, nearly blind, but he still exercises every day. How did he manage to carry on so long? He smiles. “I believe to be in this business you better like people,” he observes, “and I did. And I thoroughly enjoyed my work every day.”

Education Guide

By

Staff

-

January 23, 2013

Angling For Success

Finding The Right Fit

Preparing For The Worst

Top Jobs Of 2013

Oklahoma Private School Guide

Trail Dance Film Festival

By

Staff

-

January 23, 2013

Friday, Jan. 25-Saturday, Jan.26

As film festivals go, the world may pay more attention to Cannes and Sundance, but Duncan’s Trail Dance Film Festival has become one of the industry’s brightest spots for new films and entertainment, not just in the southwest, but in the world. The 2013 Trail Dance Film Festival is set to shine again with nearly 100 independent films scheduled for screening at the annual event. Festival goers can spend all of Friday and Saturday (Jan. 25-26) watching comedies, dramas, thrillers, shorts and feature-length films at the Simmons Center, 800 Chisholm Trail Park, and at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, 1000 Chisholm Trail Parkway, both venues in Duncan. Those in the industry (or working to get there) can network and learn about film production and distribution. The weekend filled with film and musical entertainment closes with the Golden Drover Awards and the after party. Passes to the festival are $7 to see one film (or two hours). Passes for Friday are $20, while Saturday passes are $25. The weekend pass, $40, gets you in to all the films and events. For details, go to www.traildancefilmfestival.com.

Tulsa Boat, Sport & Travel Show at Expo Square

By

Staff

-

January 23, 2013

Monday, Jan. 28 – Sunday, Feb. 3

This time of year, the pleasure of a nice, warm day out on the water is often limited to one’s own imagination. But there’s good news for all of the boat and water lovers of Oklahoma. The 57th annual Tulsa Boat, Sport & Travel Show will take place this upcoming week in the Exchange Center of the Expo Square, 4145 E. 21st St. In addition to the various boats and other recreational vehicles that will be featured in this event, there will be a plethora of entertainment and even some celebrity sightings. Phil and Bob Soven, stars of the MTV reality series WakeBrothers, and Skipper Bivins and Trent Jackson of Animal Planet’s TV series Hillbilly Handfishin’ will make guest appearances. The first day of the show on Monday, Jan. 28, will take place from 5-9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, the event will last from noon to 9 p.m. Hours on Saturday, Feb. 2, are 10 a.m.-9 p.m. On the final show day hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tickets are $20 for Monday’s preview night, but $10 for adults Tuesday-Sunday. Children 12 and under are admitted free. For more, visit tulsaboatshow.com.

The Departed at Cain’s Ballroom

By

Staff

-

January 23, 2013

Friday, Jan. 25, at 7 p.m.

Whether or not Cody Canada’s name is stamped on the cover of the band’s new album, Adventus, music fans know a good thing when they hear it. Starting life as Cody Canada & the Departed, the band made an easy entrance onto the scene nearly two years ago with a red dirt album that placed the band into good standing with those who knew Canada from his Cross Canadian Ragweed Days. This is Indian Land was pure Okie heaven with a heavy helping of cowboy country. Adventus, however, takes the band, now known as simply The Departed, in the direction of rock. And, yes, Canada is still heading the crew. Hear the band at Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St., Tulsa, when its plays a 7 p.m. show on Friday, Jan. 25. Tickets are $12 to $22, available at www.cainsballroom.com.

Sacra Pagina: The Green Collection

By

Staff

-

January 23, 2013

Opens Wednesday, Jan. 30

The Green Collection contains some of the most rare artifacts and documents from early periods of the Jewish, Roman Catholic and Protestant faiths. Beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday (Jan. 30), a segment of texts and objects from the ever-growing collection will go on exhibit at Mabee Center, 7777 S. Lewis Ave. Titled Sacra Pagina, or The Sacred Page, the free exhibit of 50 pieces runs through only Feb. 2. On opening day, Jerry Pattengale, executive director of the Green Scholars Initiative, will lecture on biblical manuscripts and related history from 11:15 a.m.-noon. The Green Collection, which numbers more than 40,000 and is considered the largest in private hands, is named for the Oklahoma City family and founders of Hobby Lobby craft stores. For more about Sacra Pagina, go to www.mabeecenter.com.

The Music of Michael Jackson at OKC Civic Center Music Hall

By

Staff

-

January 23, 2013

Friday, Jan. 25 – Saturday, Jan. 26

Although Michael Jackson passed away nearly four years ago, the iconic King of Pop’s ageless music will be alive and vibrant this week. On Jan. 25-26, the Oklahoma Philharmonic will present The Music of Michael Jackson in the Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre inside the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. The event will feature a slew of Jackson’s hit songs, performed by Las Vegas and musical star James Delisco. While Jackson’s style, grace and originality could never be duplicated, fans agree that Delisco is a worthy imitator. Ultimately, you be the judge. The show will begin at 8 p.m. both nights, and tickets for the event are $15-$65. To purchase tickets, visit www.myticketoffice.com.

Photorealism Revisited

By

Staff

-

January 23, 2013

Opens Thursday, Jan. 24

Once upon a time artists despaired over the images captured by cameras. A permanent and realistic mirror image, photography soon found its own place in the creative world while portraiture and painting discovered another vision. The twain met in a bold way in the mid-20th century with the photorealism movement. Artists painted super real images from photographs to the delight of the curious beholder in all of its superb detail. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, exhibits the work of Robert Bechtle, Richard Estes, Don Eddy, Ralph Goings and many others from Jan. 24-April 21. Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, excepting Thursday (10 a.m.-9 p.m.) and Sunday (noon-5 p.m.). Visit www.okcmoa.com for a schedule of events related to this exhibit throughout its run.

Getting Started

Most popular

Editor's choice

918.744.6205