The Kings of Big Spring
Page 35
New London School explosion from Texas State Historical Association website. Arthur Hahn beating and abandoning his family from interview with Doris Haynes, Oklahoma City, June 20, 2014.
Chapter 2
Clem as prayer warrior, Mr. Smith healing, and kids playing church taken from interviews with Norma Lee, Big Spring, Texas, October 3, 2012; Evelyn Bender, Big Spring, Texas, May 30, 2014; Doris Haynes, Veda White, Zelda Odom, and Homer Wilkerson, previously cited.
Frank Mack bio from interview with Runelda Mack Hunsicker, via telephone, April 3, 2014.
Chapter 3
Joshua Cosden in hospital from The New York Times, August 9, 1930. Cosden on the veranda, buying back his company from the Big Spring Herald, October 2, 1979. Cosden on his deathbed, his promise to doctors, and his death from the Big Spring Herald, July 18, 1954.
Cosden cremation details from the San Antonio Light, November 19, 1940.
Cosden interview with C. B. Glasscock from Then Came Oil, previously cited.
Raymond Tollett claiming Cosden’s body in El Paso from reporter Bob Lewis’s interview with Paul Meek (deceased), Fredericksburg, Texas, September 13, 2003.
Life of Raymond Tollett from the Big Spring Herald, various editions; the Cosden Copper, various editions, 1954–67; Federal Bureau of Investigation records, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act; multiple interviews with Ann Yanez, Big Spring, Texas, from February 2012 through June 2016; multiple interviews with Jason Blake Tollett, Austin, Texas, from February 2013 through January 2017; and interview with Raymond Tollett Jr., Dallas, Texas, December 7, 2015.
Tollett running the Big Spring refinery and accomplishments from the Big Spring Herald, various editions; interviews with Dan Krausse, via telephone, October 15, 2015; Bobby Fuller, via telephone, October 22, 2015; Frank Parker, via telephone, December 10, 2015; Katie Grimes, via telephone, December 5, 2015; Rene Brown, via telephone, December 16, 2015.
Chapter 4
Details on Kelly-Snyder field and Spraberry Trend from The Permian Basin: Petroleum Empire of the Southwest; Vol. 2, Era of Advancement: From the Depression to the Present by Samuel D. Myres (Permian Press, 1977) and Wildcatters: Texas Independent Oilmen by Roger M. Olien and Diana Davids Hinton (Texas A&M University Press, 2007).
Details on the 1950s drought from the Big Spring Herald, various editions, 1950–57; “When the Skies Ran Dry” by John Burnett, Texas Monthly, July 2012; interviews with Jimmie Taylor, Big Spring, Texas, May 1, 2014; John Currie, Big Spring, Texas, May 13, 2015; Wade Choate, Midland, Texas, April 10, 2014; Homer Wilkerson, previously cited; Carroll and Joyce Choate, Big Spring, Texas, October 29, 2015; Lorin S. McDowell III, previously cited.
Rowan Oil Company’s lawsuit taken from the Texas Railroad Commission’s website archives.
Major oil companies going overseas from Wildcatters by Roger M. Olien and Diana Davids Hinton, previously cited.
Davey Jones family history from interviews with Katie Jones Cathey and Wayne Jones, previously cited.
Bob Mealer getting into dirt business from interviews with Preston Mealer, Pearland, Texas, August 2, 2015; Bill White, Rodney Lee, Homer Wilkerson, Zelda Odom, Norma Lee, and Wayne Jones, all previously cited.
Herman and Homer Wilkerson’s cattle business, Homer driving trucks to California from interviews with Charles Miller, Big Spring, Texas, May 30, 2014; and Homer Wilkerson, previously cited.
Chapter 5
Cosden tapping into the petrochemical boom, plus Raymond Tollett’s role as president of the refinery and a civic leader from interviews with Dan Krausse, Rene Brown, Frank Parker, and Bobby Fuller, all previously cited. Other information from the Big Spring Herald, various editions, plus Raymond Tollett’s columns in the Cosden Copper, various editions.
Granville Hahn’s rise at Cosden from family interviews and from reporter Bob Lewis’s interview with Granville, Big Spring, Texas, (date unknown).
Raymond Tollett’s alcoholism from interview with Iris’s niece Judi Godowns, via telephone, January 20, 2016, in addition to extensive interviews with Ray and Jason Blake Tollett and Ann Yanez. Other information from John Currie, Katie Grimes, and former employees Dan Krausse, Rene Brown, Frank Parker, and Bobby Fuller, all previously cited.
Chapter 6
Most information in this chapter from extensive interviews with Frances M. Varner. Other information about Bob and Billy Jack Wills and the various incarnations of their bands from San Antonio Rose by Charles R. Townsend, previously cited.
Part 3
Chapter 1
Rain returning to Big Spring from the Big Spring Herald, various editions.
Decline of beef production in U.S. from “Beef, Veal Imports Growing as Production in U.S. Declines,” UPI, September 14, 1958.
Herman’s illness and new career as restaurateur from interviews with Homer Wilkerson, Evelyn Bender, and Charles Miller, all previously cited.
Bobby and Preston’s childhoods taken from interviews with Bobby Mealer, San Antonio, Texas, October 12, 2012 through January of 2017; and interviews with Preston Mealer, Norma Lee, and Zelda Odom, all previously cited.
Clem Wilkerson’s death from various family interviews.
Grady Cunningham’s childhood and stories about his parents taken from interviews with Selena Gould, New Braunfels, Texas, October 2, 2013; multiple interviews with Buddy Beach, Lubbock, Texas, February 23, 2013 and others via telephone through May 2016; plus interviews with Bobby Mealer, Ann Yanez, and Roe Fulgham, all previously cited.
The family’s time in Odessa, plus the death of Jack, taken from interviews with Bobby and Preston Mealer, Zelda Odom, Norma Lee, and Barbara Tyler, all previously cited.
Chapter 2
Expansion of Cosden refinery and its sale to W. R. Grace & Company and American Petrofina from the Big Spring Herald, various editions, and Tollett’s columns in the Cosden Copper, various editions.
Tollett’s philanthropy from interviews with Homer Wilkerson and former employees, preciously cited; the Big Spring Herald, various editions, and the Cosden Copper, various editions.
Tollett’s alcoholism and its damage, see notes to part 2, chapter 5.
Tollett checking into rehab facility from interviews with Jason Blake and Ray Tollett and Ann Yanez, previously cited.
Tollett’s death from the Big Spring Herald, October 28, 1969, and interviews with his children, previously cited,
Chapter 3
Summer 1967 details taken from the Big Spring Herald, various editions.
Details about Ronnie, plus Bobby and Marie’s relationship, from interviews with “Marie” (her name has been changed), via telephone, September 18, 2015; Merlee Dennis, Austin, Texas, September 25, 2015; and Bobby Mealer, previously cited.
Preston being drafted from interviews with Preston and Linda Mealer, previously cited.
Chapter 4
Most information from extensive interviews with Frances M. Varner, previously cited.
Barry Goldwater background from Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein (Nation Books, 2009).
Chapter 5
Bobby and Marie dating from interviews with “Marie” and Merlee Dennis, previously cited.
Opal’s involvement with Midnight Cowboy from interviews with Charles and Zelda Odom, previously cited.
Midnight Cowboy filming in Big Spring from a variety of sources: the Big Spring Herald, various editions during August 1968; transcripts of reporter Bob Lewis’s series of interviews with cast and crew, KBST radio, August 1968; and Movies and Magic Houses in a West Texas Whereabouts by James Johnston (James Johnston, 2015).
John Schlesinger’s panic attack from interview with Jon Voight, Esquire, August 2013.
Grady as a teenager from interviews with Bobby Mealer, Ann Yanez, and Selena Gould, previously cited.
Ike Robb family background from the Big Spring Herald, various editions; Movies and Magic Houses in a West Texas Whereabouts by James Johnston, pr
eviously cited; and interviews with Ann Yanez, previously cited.
Bobby’s drug use from extensive interviews with Bobby Mealer, previously cited.
Chapter 6
Bobby and Sharon’s courtship and marriage, birth of Bryan, from Bobby’s letters to Sharon and extensive interviews with Sharon Mealer, San Antonio, Texas, December 2015 to January 2017, and Bobby Mealer, previously cited.
Chapter 7
Grady’s relations with men and details about Big Spring’s gay culture from interview with unnamed source, via telephone, September 18, 2015.
Ann’s experience aboard cruise ships from interviews with Ann Yanez, previously cited.
Grady and Ann courtship and marriage from interviews with Ann Yanez, Selena Gould, and Bobby Mealer, all previously cited.
Chapter 8
Details of energy crisis from various newspaper accounts and the Big Spring Herald, various editions; Survive & Conquer: Texas in the ’80s: Money-Power-Tragedy … Hope by M. Ray Perryman (Taylor Publishing Company, 1990); and The Prize by Daniel Yergin, previously cited.
Texas cities running out of fuel from Survive & Conquer by M. Ray Perryman, previously cited.
Information about Big Spring refinery buying oil from Iraq from Joe Nocera’s interview with Sam Hunnicutt, Texas Monthly, January 1986.
Bobby’s DWI from interviews with Bobby Mealer, previously cited.
Chapter 9
Houston as boomtown, office space in demand, and stats about the “Texas miracle” from Survive & Conquer by M. Ray Perryman; other information from Gone to Texas by Randolph B. Campbell; both previously cited.
Rise in crime, addiction, and suicides in northern cities after recession from Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass by Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson (Dial Press, 1985).
Southfork Ranch overshadowing grassy knoll from the Big Spring Herald, October 25, 1981.
Kenny “the Snake” Stabler details from “When Ken Stabler was a Country-Music Lyric Come to Life,” by Pete Axthelm, Deadspin.com, July 10, 2015.
Mark Powell murdering mother-in-law and shooting rampage from the Big Spring Herald, June 9, 1980.
Chapter 10
Grady’s job title and history at the refinery from Cosden/American Petrofina personnel records kept at the Heritage Museum of Big Spring, and from interviews with Ann Yanez, Roe Fulgham, and Selena Gould, all previously cited.
Iris Tollett’s death from interviews with Ann Yanez, Judi Godowns, Jason Blake and Ray Tollett, all previously cited.
Cabot Corporation announces closure from the Big Spring Herald, August 8, 1979.
Cosden Oil and Chemical Company moves executives to Dallas from the Big Spring Herald, May 14, 1979.
One thousand empty houses in Big Spring following base closure from the Big Spring Herald, January 31, 1982.
Hotel Settles closure and details from the Big Spring Herald, various editions.
Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lottery information from “Good Ol’ Uncle Sam Runs Energy Lottery,” by Tom Tiede, Newspaper Enterprise Association, January 26, 1979; “Clear Pattern Seen in Oil-Lease Fraud,” Associated Press, April 6, 1980; and “Long-Shot Oil Lease Lottery a Bonus in Wyoming,” The New York Times, September 30, 1981.
Details of Grady winning the lottery from interview with Hugh Porter, Dallas, Texas, July 29, 2015; plus interviews with Ann Yanez, Buddy Beach, and Selena Gould, previously cited.
Bob Wilson and Orville Phelps information from interview with Bob Wilson, Midland, Texas, April 9, 2013.
Details of 1979 global oil panic from The Prize by Daniel Yergin, previously cited. Information on “stripper wells” from interview with Hugh Porter, previously cited, and Survive & Conquer by M. Ray Perryman, previously cited.
Midland banks reaping a billion in deposits from the Big Spring Herald, January 6, 1980.
Ike Robb death from the Big Spring Herald, April 10, 1980.
Grady calling Bobby about job opportunity from interviews with Bobby Mealer, previously cited.
Chapter 11
Details about Grady’s “boys” from interviews with Jacques Hyatt, Hugh Porter, Ann Yanez, Bobby Mealer, and Buddy Beach, all previously cited.
Torstein the pilot information, getting hired by Grady, Grady buying airplanes, and European vacation from interview with Torstein Faaberg, via telephone, October 28, 2015; and Linda Stegmeyer, via telephone, October 26, 2015. European vacation details also from interview with Robert Miller, Big Spring, Texas, May 29, 2014.
Ann visiting bookstore and the details of conversations from interview with Linda Stegmeyer, previously cited. Ann wanting kids from interviews with Ann Yanez, previously cited.
Bobby wrecking Sharon’s Lincoln, encountering Grady and his lover, from interviews with Bobby Mealer, previously cited.
Chapter 12
Details about the Guinn No. 1 well and all others drilled by Cunningham Oil Corporation from Texas Railroad Commission records, plus interviews with Hugh Porter, Buddy Beach, Jacques Hyatt, Bobby Mealer, and Bob Wilson, all previously cited.
Bachendorf’s information from company website and Dallas Morning News, July 13, 2010, plus interviews with Ann Yanez, Bobby and Sharon Mealer, Hugh Porter, and Buddy Beach, all previously cited.
Market analysts predicting eighty-five-dollar oil (“Eighty-five in ’85”) from Wildcatters by Roger M. Olien and Diana Davids Hinton and Going to Texas by Randolph B. Campbell, both previously cited.
Drug use in Big Spring and drug prices from the Big Spring Herald, December 20, 1981; “Elephant Hunt” parties and bowls of cocaine from the Big Spring Herald, June 15, 1984.
Grady’s escalating cocaine habit, scoring drugs at 2 a.m., Buddy driving, from interviews with Buddy Beach, previously cited.
Chapter 13
Details on President Reagan’s Economic Recovery Tax Act and its impact from PBS.org, “Reagan: The 1982 Recession.”
People using less gasoline, glut of oil from the Big Spring Herald, February 24, 1982.
Rig count falls to half from Survive & Conquer by M. Ray Perryman, previously cited.
Increase in homelessness in U.S. from “Homeless Crisscross U.S. Until Their Cars and Their Dreams Break Down,” by Iver Peterson, The New York Times, December 18, 1982.
Lines at Houston soup kitchens, police pulling over cars with northern plates, people riding the trains, from Journey to Nowhere by Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson, previously cited.
Hoboes in Fort Worth from “More Hobos Riding Rails,” Associated Press, September 21, 1981.
Loans up in Big Spring banks but deposits down from the Big Spring Herald, July 19, 1982. Unemployment in Big Spring highest since base closure from the Big Spring Herald, July 22, 1982.
Grady’s spending and purchases, relationship with Bill Read and Coahoma State Bank, from interviews with Selena Gould, Buddy Beach, Hugh Porter, Ann Yanez, and Bobby Mealer, all previously cited.
Cunningham Oilers information from the Big Spring Herald, various editions.
Grady’s hot check to football referee from interview with John Ferguson, Big Spring, Texas, November 1, 2012.
Grady and Ann’s lavish spending in Florida and Bahamas from interviews with Charles and Zelda Odom and Bobby Mealer, previously cited.
Grady’s wedding gift to Hugh Porter from interview with Hugh Porter, previously cited.
Chapter 14
Details of Penn Square Bank lending practices, failure, and impact on industry from Belly Up: The Collapse of Penn Square Bank by Phillip L. Zweig (Crown Publishers, 1985); “Penn Square’s Failed Concept,” The New York Times, August 16, 1982; “Key Figure in Penn Square Collapse Keeps Long Silence,” The Daily Oklahoman, July 12, 1992.
Continental Illinois bailout from FDIC.gov, “History of the Eighties.”
Metro Bank and National Bank of Odessa details from “A Texas Bank’s Ties to Oil,” The New York Times, October 14, 1983.
Collapse of First National Bank of Midland, caus
es and details of closure from “RepublicBank of Dallas Gets Midland,” The New York Times, October 15, 1983; “Bullish on the Bust,” Texas Monthly, November 1984.
Details about FNB’s community outreach from Midland Reporter-Telegram, October 15, 1983.
Thomas Procopio and FDIC’s role in the bust from “U.S. Helps Texans Survive Death of Bank,” The New York Times, October 14, 1984.
Jeff Brown details from Been There Done That: As I Remember! by Jeff L. Brown (Nortex Press, 2000).
Brass Nail throwing out lobsters from interview with Jacques Hyatt, previously cited.
Grady waving a revolver on Gregg Street from interview with Hugh Porter, previously cited.
Grady’s bankruptcy details from the Big Spring Herald, September 6, 1984; also from interviews with Ann Yanez and Buddy Beach, previously cited.
Also by Bryan Mealer
All Things Must Fight to Live
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Muck City
About the Author
Bryan Mealer is the author of Muck City and the New York Times bestseller The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind—written with William Kamkwamba—which has been translated into more than a dozen languages and will soon be released as a major motion picture. He’s also the author of All Things Must Fight to Live, which chronicled his time covering the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the Associated Press and Harper’s. His other work has appeared in Texas Monthly, Esquire, the Guardian, and the New York Times. Mealer and his family live in Austin. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents