William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers, 1879-1935
to ask permission from mamas and papas." So Will moved on to another ranch, and then another. He did everything a ranch requires; he punched cattle and branded them, he herded them and repaired fences to keep them in. In each job, he entertained the ranch hands with his jokes and his rope. And finally he went home.
His father put him in charge of the entire Roger's ranch, with the aid of an overseer. The overseer did his job; Will built a stage and entertained the crews. Everyone who worked for him had fun, but the work didn't get done.
When he saw Colonel Zach Mulhall's traveling roping and riding show, Will quit the ranch and got a job with the show--the beginning of the rest of his life as a showman.
BOOKS
Johnson, Spencer, M.D., The Value of Humor: The Story of Will Rogers. La Jolla, CA: Value Communications, Inc., 1976. (A children's book.)
Ketchum, Richard M., Will Rogers, the Man and His Times. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1973.
Richards, Kenneth G., People of Destiny: Will Rogers. Chicago: Children's Press, 1968.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
WEB SITES
http://www.willrogers.org/ The Will Rogers Home Page (4 stars) Although this site is obviously commercial (inviting one to the various sites from Will Roger's life that are now "museums"), it has a brief, but good, biography, a great collection of quotations, and interesting information about the above mentioned sites.
http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/Feature... (3 stars) Will Rogers, Performer: An Illustrated Biography With a Filmography Although I generally do not include book promotions here, this site presents a pretty good biography of Will on line.
http://www.nationalaviation.org/enshrine... ROGERS, WILL - 1977 - Inductee into National Aviation Hall of Fame (3 stars) Short biography focusing on Roger's interaction with the flying industry.
http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/people/A0... Rogers, Will (2 stars) A one paragraph–a short one at that–biography of Will Rogers from the Learning Network.
http://www.bartleby.com/65/ro/Rogers-Wl.... Rogers, Will (2 stars) Another one paragraph biography, this one from Columbia Encyclopedia.
http://www.cmgww.com/historic/rogers/quo... Quotes (2 stars) A site of interesting quotes from Will Rogers, but nothing else.
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