Authors: Alanna Nash
While everyone interviewed for the book contributed in ways he or she can’t imagine, several sources were indispensable and gave generously of their time and treasures, from photographs to
historical records. I will never be able to express my gratitude to Byron Raphael, Gabe Tucker, Sandra Polk Ross, Bob McCluskey, and Larry Geller. All were of such glorious help that I don’t
know if I could have done the book without them. Chick Crumpacker also deserves extra mention, not only for his written responses to questions and his phone interview, but for his dogged research
on my behalf in the RCA archives.
The following are some of the many people who helped in significant ways: Cindy Adams; Gaylen Adams; Steve Allen; Kathy Allmand; Chet Atkins; Marjorie (Mrs. Ollie) Atkins; Kevin Atkinson; M. R.
Avery, D.V.M.; Duke Bardwell; Georganne La Piere Bartylak; Armand and Marde Baum; Linda Bayens; John Berry; Frances Bevis; Sharon Bevis; Freddy Bienstock; Steve Binder; Barbara Boger; Frank Bogert;
Jenny Bohler; Charlie and Mary Lou Boyd; Don Bradley; Harold Bradley; Terry Bream; David Briggs; J. W. Brown; James L. Brown; Tony Brown; Don Burch; Bob Burris; Sam Bushman; Albert Buys; Noble
Case; June Carter Cash; Harriet Chalfant; Dick Clark; President William Jefferson Clinton and Daniel W. Burkhardt, Special Assistant to the President; Barry Coburn; Steven Cohen; Dick Contino; Al
Cooley; Janet Costner; Dr. Susan Cottler; Lance Cowan; John Craig; Mike Crowley; Marc Cummings; Susan Darnell; Larry Davis; Oscar Davis Jr.; Cartha “Deke” De-Loach; Bill Denny; Alice
Virginia Dodd; Ann Dodelin; John Dotson; Jackie Dowlen; Louise Draper; Tommy Durden; Al Dvorin; John Eastman; Alan Eichler; Allison Elbl; Joycelyn Engle; William Ervin; Sam Esgro; Donna Fargo; Art
Fein; Lamar Fike; Bob Finkel; Larry Fitzgerald; Tom Flagg, University of Nevada at Las Vegas; Ed Fleck; Kira Florita, Sandy Neese and Kevin Lane, Mercury Nashville; D. J. Fontana; Trude Forsher;
Richard H. Frank Sr.; Tillman Franks; Anne Fulchino; Joe Galante; Jan Gay and Judy Burkley; Robert Gregory Gibson; Holly Gleason; Paul Golden; Charlie Gouvenia; Scott Gray; Charles Grean; Tony
Greaves; Tom T. Hall; Maxine Hansen, Executive Assistant to Gene Autry; Buddy Harman; Summer Harman; Andrew Hearn; William Helfand; Sharon Henry; Leonard Hirshan; Randy Holmes; Sue Horn; Terry
Houck; Richard Hull; Nick Hunter; Janis Ian and Patricia Snyder; Tormod Lunde Idsø; Mel Ilberman; Clancy Imislund, Director of the Midnight Mission, Los Angeles, California; Joyce Jackson;
Ron Jacobs; Jackie Jett; Van Joyce; Norman Kaye; Frances Keanan; Lydia (Mrs. Pee Wee) King; Buddy Killen; Bill Kimbro; Otto Kitsinger; Dorothy Koenig; Bob Kotlowitz; Betsy Kronish; Marty Lacker;
Charlie Lamb; Dick Lane; Jane Lane; Bob Leoni of the Songwriters Hall of Fame; Pam Lewis; Horace Logan; Charlie Louvin; Sandy Lovejoy; A. C. Lyles; Peter Maas; William C. MacGregor; Diana Magrann;
Benny Martin; Kathy Mattea; Mary Matthews; Helen McCloud; Brad McCuen; Joyce McMakin; Hal and Vi Moldenhaur; Chips Moman; Bob Moody; Bob and Kittra Moore; Scotty Moore; Erin Morris; Joe Moscheo;
Bitsy Mott.
Also Nick Naff; Tracey Nathan; Ken Nelson; Tracy Nelson; George M. Newill; Hugh O’Brian; Brent Olson; Frank Page; Patti Page; Richard Palmer; Ben Payne; Federico Pollicina, M.D.; C. J.
Pressma; Mark Pucci; Norman Racusin; Bill Rains; Michael Ravnitzky; Jere Real; Raymond Richardson; Don Rickles; Libby Riggins; Steve Rinaldi Sr.; Jordan Ritchie; Dennis Roberts; Dale Robertson;
Cathy Hetzer Rogers; Dusty Rogers; Monsignor George W. Rohling; Robert Kenneth Ross; David Rothel; Ronna Rubin; Leon Russell; Tommy Sands; Karen Schoemer; Walter Seltzer; Joe Shane; Andrew
Shankman, M.D., Marva (Mrs. Lloyd) Shearer; Jim Sherraden of Hatch Show Print; Joan Shoofey; Evelyn Shriver; Clare Simpson; David Skepner; Todd Slaughter; Steve Small; Mary Smiley, the pride of
Toledo, Ohio; David C. Smith of the Southern California Miniature Horse Club; Jon Guyot Smith; Rosalie F. Sochinski, Executive Director, Variety Clubs International; Stan Soocher; Kathie Spehar;
Gordon Stoker; Lisa Stout of the Nashville Metro Medical Examiner’s Office; Tony Stuchbury; Joe Sullivan; John Szabanowicz; Preston Temple; E. Parry Thomas; Dr. and Mrs. John B. Thompson; Mel
Tillis; Pam Tillis; Anna Trainor; Justin Tubb; Tanya Tucker; Dana Tumpowsky; Jenifer van Deinse; Wes Vause; Ken Vrana; James Wade Jr.; Peter Wallace; Michael Wallis; Diane Warren; Dr. David Weide,
University of Nevada at Las Vegas; Cheryl Weinstein; Allan Weiss; Kay West; Christie Mullins Westmoreland; Kathy Westmoreland; Kay Wheeler; Roy Wiggins; Paul Wilborn; Dorothy Wilder; David Wilds;
Don Wilson; Amy Wimberly; Elaine Tubb Wingerter; Charles Winn of Spring Hill Cemetery and Mausoleum; Mac Wiseman; Irv Woolsey; Marvin Worth; Jules Wortman; Don Wrege; Mark Wright; Mary Yandell;
James Harvey Young.
Thanks also to John Agan, LouCeil Austin, Debbie Germany, Jackie Lawton, Tommy Overstreet, and Angela Snyder for help with the Gene Austin period.
The following also provided essential information:
For help with the presidential connections, Lynda Johnson Robb; George Reedy; Bill Moyers; Mike Parrish and Claudia Anderson, Archivists, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Austin, Texas; Lisa Vitt,
Archivist, Ronald Reagan Library, Simi Valley, California; Mary Finch, Warren Finch, and Sam McClure at the George Bush Library, College Station, Texas; Kathleen A. Struss and Bonnie Mulanax at the
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas; Raymond Teichman, Supervisory Archivist, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York; Dennis E. Bilger, Archivist, Harry S Truman Library,
Independence, Missouri; Albert Nason, Archivist, Jimmy Carter Library, Atlanta, Georgia; Geir Gundersen, Archivist, Gerald R. Ford Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan; the archivists of the John
Fitzgerald Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts; and Pat Anderson of the Nixon Presidential Materials staff of the National Archives.
In California, a number of people were instrumental in helping me trace the intricate business and personal relationship of Hal Wallis and Parker, beginning with the staff of the Margaret
Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Linda Mehr, Barbara Hall, Faye Thompson, Bonnie Daley, Marcelle Angelo, Eddie Baker, Sue Bulden,
Galen Wilkes, Andrea Battiste, Jonathan Wahl, Matt Poodiack, Scott Curtis, and Kristine Krueger of the library’s National Film Information Service. Larrian Gillespie not only worked alongside
me there, but offered room and board and showed me the sights of L.A. She was a true friend when I needed one.
And in Nashville, Kent Henderson, Ronnie Pugh, Alan Stoker, Paul Kingsbury, John Rumble, Dawn Oberg and Kyle Young of the Country Music Foundation gave aid and comfort at every turn, Kent going
on to pore though government documents outside the office.
Thanks additionally to David Millman, Nevada State Historical Society and Museum, and to Frank Gorrell for his expert tutelage in the art of gambling and his recollection of Parker’s
personal history in the Las Vegas casinos.
As usual on any project, my fellow journalists bolstered me with facts, interviews, and long-distance hand-holding. I’m especially indebted to Moira Bailey and Kristen Kelch of
People
magazine; Bill Bastone of
The Village Voice;
Ted Bridis, Ed Staats, Lisa Holewa, and James Derk of the Associated Press; Andrea Campbell; Bob Cannon; Roger Capettini; Floyd
Martin Clay; James P. Cole; Patsi Bale Cox; Don Cusic; Joe Delaney, Ruthe Deskin, Dee McConnell, and Merilyn Potters of
The Las Vegas Sun;
Jim Dickerson; Joe Elliott, WHAS Radio,
Louisville, Kentucky; Pat Embry of
The Nashville Banner;
Jim Emerson; Ralph Emery; Todd Everett; Chet Flippo of CMT.com; Stephen Fried; Peter Gilstrap; Vernell Hackett; Michael Hall of
Texas Monthly;
Stacy Harris; Leland Hawes of
The Tampa Tribune;
Jack Hurst; Chris Hutchins; Beth Johnson of
Entertainment Weekly;
Rich Kienzle; Deborah Evans Price,
Billboard
magazine; Danny Proctor; Tamara Saviano; Tom Scherberger of the
St. Petersburg Times;
Elizabeth Schlappi; Bob Schulman; Steve Simels; Panky Snow; Linda Upton; Bill
Willard; E. Bingo Wyer; and especially Beverly Keel, who turned her reportorial skills to my cause, and not just because her journalist father coined the term “Elvis the Pelvis.”
Thanks also to Marsha Mercer of Media General News Corp.; Margaret Schmidt of
The Jersey Journal,
Jersey City, New Jersey; the library staff of
The Louisville Courier-Journal;
David Valenzuela, Carolyn Marlin, and Anita Coursey of the library staff of
The Nashville Banner;
and Kyle Neiderpruem, Freedom of Information Committee, Society of Professional
Journalists.
Additionally, I am grateful to my tireless researchers: Jim Cole of the Mississippi Valley Collection, University of Memphis; Pam Courtney; Juliana Hoskinson; Art Nadler; Nancy Randle; Margaret
Shannon; and Lynn Waddell. Judy Raphael not only did research, but also introduced me to the book’s single best source, her brother, Byron. And Charlene Blevins accepted a records-checking
task that tested her both as a journalist and as a thespian, and proved her equally skilled at both.
Thanks also to the following, who helped with a myriad of special collections and archives: the staff of the American Film Institute; Manny Arocho, Librarian, Special Collections Department,
Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System; Art Bagely, Special Collections, University of Tampa; Carol Butler, Salvador Dali Museum; Dean DeBolt and Benita Fox, University Librarians, Special
Collections and West Florida Archives, John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida; William B. Eigelsbach, Manuscripts, University of Tennessee Libraries; Ed Frank, James
Montague, and Sharon Banker of the Mississippi Valley Collection, the University of Memphis; General Library and Museum of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center; Sharon Johnson, Special Collections
Librarian and Archivist, Autry Museum of Western Heritage; Ashley Koostra, Archivist, Mississippi Department of Archives and History; Lois Latimer of the Tampa Historical Society; Laura Lupole and
June Miller-Spaan of the Chautauqua Institute; Robert A. McCown, Special Collections Library, State University of Iowa; Sally McManus, Palm Springs Historical Society; the staff of Profnet, for
Internet search queries; Dr. Richard Ranta, the University of Memphis; Cheryl Rogers-Barnett, Director of the Roy Rogers–Dale Evans Museum; Ed Schreiber and Michelle T. Rogers, for copies of
letters Parker’s office sent to fans; Phyllis Stinson, for sharing her incredible archive of Parker memorabilia; Robert Vay and Paul S. Koda, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason
University, Fairfax, Virginia; Mark Weitzman of the Simon Weisenthal Center; and Travis Westly, Reference Specialist, the Library of Congress.
For help with the Albert Goldman archives, Jere Herzenberg, Carolyn Krupp, and Jane Krupp.
And for additional assistance with obtaining and interpreting information regarding Parker’s army years, thanks go to Colonel Gregory Belenky, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; J.
Earle Bowden, historian and former editor of
The Pensacola News-Journal;
Leah Dickstein, M.D., Director of the Division of Attitudinal and Behavioral Medicine, University of Louisville;
Thomas M. Fairfull, Chief, Museum Division, U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Donne Florence, University Relations, Media, and Publications, University of Hawaii; Judith A.
Bowman, Assistant Curator, U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii; Lt. Col. Allen Frenzel, U.S. Army, Professor of Military Science, University of Hawaii; Jerry Goodson, Reno Veterans Affairs Office; Susan
Heffner, Director of Library and Archives, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C.; Wendy Hollingsworth, Assistant Branch Chief in the Records Reconstruction Branch at the National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri; David J. Johnson, Museum Technician, the Casemate Museum, Fort Monroe, Virginia; Lt. Col. Richard S. Johnson; Earl Kilgus, for sharing memories of
Fort Shafter, and his grandson, Robert H. Egolf III, for the photograph of the 64th Coast Artillery; David P. Ogden; Al Reynolds, Reference Librarian of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
Library; David A. Ross, Curator of the Air Defense Artillery Museum in Fort Bliss, Texas; Bud Smyser of
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin;
Mr. and Mrs. Clifton E. Sprinkle Jr., Raymond Willis
Sprinkle, and Scott Sprinkle, for help with the Fort Barrancas years; and Dr. Sheila A. Schuster, both for help with interpretation of - Parker’s army papers and for the loan of an audiotape
transcriber.
For help with Parker’s early years in America, Allen “Slim” Binkley; Paul E. Mix; the Tom Mix Museum, Dewey, Oklahoma; Merle “Bud” Norris; Dr. Richard F.
Seiverling; and Debbie Taylor of the Tampa Bay Humane Society.
Parker’s immigration history and illegal alien status were especially difficult to track. My thanks to the following for assistance: Robert Ellis of the National Archive; Linda Kloss of
the FBI’s Freedom of Information Privacy Act Section, Washington, D.C.; Diane Biggs Korwin, Gary Baude, and Marian Smith of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; the Honorable Ron
Mazzoli; Margaret Roman of the U.S. State Department; Lily Talapessy of the Dutch Consolate, New York; and Blanchard E. Tual.
For insight into the carnival years, Jack Bennett; John Campi; Cheryl Collins; Fred Dahlinger Jr., Director, Collections and Research, Circus World Museum, Baraboo, Wisconsin; Larry Davis; Bruce
Feiler; James E. Foster, editor,
The White Tops;
Chappie Fox; Ken Fox, Magic Makers Costumes, Huntington, West Virginia; Dave Friedman; Bob Goldsack, publisher, Midway Museum Publications;
Ward Hall; Minnie Heth; Allan C. Hill; Joseph G. Hoffman; Bob Jarvis; Don Marcks of
The Circus Report;
Joe McKennon; Harley Newman; Fred D. Pfening Jr., editor,
Bandwagon
magazine; Maggie Riley; Judy “Rustie” Rock; Renee Storey of the Clyde Beatty/Cole Bros. Circus; Jeanie Tomaini; Hoxie Tucker; Ernie Wenzik; Bettie Siegel Whittaker; Safari Pete Wood.
And for foot-long hot dog research: Chris Brian, Bill Dryden, Rick McCarty, and Kenny Vincent.