What's a blog for if not to indulge in a little immodesty now and then?
I was pleased to see the Will Rogers Writers' Workshop mentioned in John McCaslin's "Inside the Beltway" (syndicated)
column in The Washington Times (although I'd rather he had written more about the workshop than about me):
Here's what John wrote:
"I was just a toddler when Will Rogers was killed in a plane crash in 1935, but I remember him coming through
the small town in Okalhoma where I lived," Robert Haught, longtime columnist for The Oklahoman, tells Inside
the Beltway.
Now, all of these years later, Mr. Haught, who is somewhat retired while still penning columns for the newspaper,
will see his "dream come true" when directing a Will Rogers Writers' Workshop in Oklahoma City for 300 columnists, editorialists
and humor writers who still might learn a thing or two from the cowboy philsopher and humorist who "kept America laughing
and thinking in the 1920s and '30s."
"I developed a strong interest in him when I was working in the (United Press International) bureau in Oklahoma
City and discovered a file of clippings about Will Rogers and Wiley Post," Mr. Haught continues. "I began collecting
information, visited the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma, and started a collection of his books. I now use
those to read his articles to residents at a local nursing home twice a month."
Articles that Mr. Haught discovered still ring true. Like the confused state of the Democratic Party
today: "I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!" Mr. Rogers observed.
Hosted by The Oklahoman, the workshop next spring is being sponsored by the National Society of
Newspaper Columnists, in partnership with the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop. The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism
Foundation is providing major funding.
Anyone who wants information about the workshop may write me at willrogersok@gmail.com.
