Jimmy Day with Elvis, Hank Williams Sr. and my dad, Jake Willis.
Tag: Randy Willis
Jerry Kennedy & Johnny Horton
Read about Johnny Horton's premonitions and tragic death after playing the Skyline Club in Austin. And his friendship with Elvis, Hanks Williams, Jerry Kennedy and his best friend Johnny Cash.
Johnny Rodriguez and Lana Nelson: Tying the Knot
Johnny Rodriguez married Willie Nelson’s daughter, Lana Nelson, at Willie’s movie set within sight of Willie’s colossal log home on a hill overlooking Luck, Texas. I was Johnny’s best man. The date was January 10, 1995.
About Randy Willis
Master storyteller Randy Willis—books about adventure, family, and faith. Randy Willis draws on his family heritage of explorers, settlers, soldiers, cowboys, and pastors. He upholds the tradition of loving the outdoors. He shares this love in the adventures he creates for readers of his novels. He is the author of two biographies and his new memoir, To the Best of My Recollection. Randy Willis has written many books, including Destiny, Three Winds Blowing, and Beckoning Candle. He also wrote Twice a Slave, Texas Wind, Louisiana Wind, and The Apostle to the Opelousas. He also wrote The Story of Joseph Willis and To the Best of My Recollection, and many articles.
Joseph Willis: The Half-English, Half-Cherokee Pioneer
What race was my 4th Great-Grandfather Joseph Willis?
Randy Willis: Texas Wind
Randy Willis Sisterdale, Texas
Coach Darrell Royal, Johnny Rodriguez, Johnny Bench, and Randy Willis
Coach Darrell Royal, Johnny Rodriguez, Johnny Bench, and Randy Willis.
The Spanish Flu 1918 / Randy Willis
She was beautiful, charming, and graceful.
That would all fade within hours after exposure to the 1918 flu pandemic.
Randy Willis | Grandkids’ Eyes
I've learned much from seeing the world through the eyes of my grandchildren, for you know, the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. ~ Randy Willis
Randy Willis | George W Bush
Letter from George W. Bush (43rd president of the United States) to Randy Willis.
Randy Willis | Lady Bird Johnson
This inscription is on the inside cover of her book, Wildflowers Across America. She had it hand-delivered to me at my home in Austin.
Randy Willis |Steamboat Paul Jones | Destiny
June 1853
Steamboat Paul Jones
Two fathoms deep
Mississippi River, near Natchez
Huey P. Long | Destiny |#randywillis
This is the true story of my family's two encounters with Huey P. Long. The first clash with Long was when he was a young lawyer, in Leesville, Louisiana during a rape and murder trial. The second encounter with him was at the Boy Scout Camp, a mile from my family's home, near Longleaf, Louisiana. …
Randy Willis | The Road Not Taken
The Road Not Taken by Randy Willis
Randy Willis | One of my favorite novelist
One of my favorite novelist, Lewis Wallace, was inspired to write his second novel, in 1880, by an agnostic. The novel was conceived after sitting on a train, listening to Colonel Robert Ingersoll for two hours. Wallace wrote that Ingersoll poured out “a medley of argument, eloquence, wit, satire, audacity, irreverence, poetry, brilliant antitheses, and …
Randy Willis | No Sunshine?
The year was 1920. The son of a poor sharecropper from the now-ghost town of Beech Springs in north Louisiana decided he wanted to get an education. His family was so poor that he did not have a bed in which to sleep until he was nine years old. Upon graduation from high school, he …
Randy Willis | It’s No Secret
A "chance encounter" with an unknown preacher and a question from Hollywood's most famous movie star would change his life. ~ Randy Willis
Randy Willis |Trust & Respect
It took me a year to gain his trust. I named him Big Jake after my Dad. He arrived at sunrise (at my barn) this morning...
Randy Willis | Love
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always …
Randy Willis | A Chance Encounter
A "chance encounter" with an unknown preacher and a question from Hollywood's most famous movie star would change his life. ~ Randy Willis He was a huge star. And, the composer of many hit songs. The original manuscript of one of those songs is buried in the cornerstone of the Copyright Building of the Library of Congress, …
Randy Willis | The Ole Willis Home Place
Baptist love this story! It was inspired by the true story of my Great-Grandmother Julia Ann Graham Willis. After the death of her eight-year-old son Eugene from appendicitis, she almost lost her mind. She would lay on his grave, in the Graham Cemetery, weeping for hours at a time. One day she was overwhelmed with peace. Later she learned …
Randy Willis | Robert E. Lee
This horse reminds me of Robert E. Lee's horse Traveler. When Robert E. Lee was two years old, his dad went to debtor’s prison. After resigning from the U.S. Army, in 1861, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s 200-acre Arlington estate, where he had married his wife Mary, raised seven children, and lived for over 30 …
Without Louisiana College there might not have been “Sunshine.”
When I was a boy one of my heroes was the man standing to the right of President John F. Kennedy. I had a gracious letter that he had written to my mother after her first husband had prematurely died. When I entered the entertainment business there were only two famous people, in that world (there …
Continue reading Without Louisiana College there might not have been “Sunshine.”