Up by the Bootstraps - Jane Jorjan

The day Red was born, the trumpets sounded, the heavenly angels burst into song, and a voice from on high was heard saying, "LOOK OUT BELOW! Here comes Red, and you better be ready for him."

From the hills of the Kiamichi Mountains in southeast Oklahoma, a boy picked himself up by the bootstraps, brushed off the Oklahoma dust, and showed the world he was someone to reckon with. The only thing he knew was hard work. Deprived in more ways than one, he learned early in life to keep his mouth shut. But when he was on his own, he quickly made up for it and never stopped after that. He became a mouthpiece for all the cops in the state of Nevada, as well as nationwide. His grammar was less than perfect, yet no one misunderstood what he was bluntly saying. He got his point across immediately and didn't mince words.

This is a remarkable story of a boy who went from the cotton fields to the oil fields, from trucker to pilot, from cop to labor leader, from lobbyist to senator. At one point, he was either president or chairman of eleven different organizations at the same time. But his accomplishments didn't change him. As he always said, "I'm just a poor ol' country boy come to town trying to make good." And he certainly did.

This story shows that honesty, hard work, tenacity, and humor are still the best assets a person can possess. They opened doors that would normally have been slammed in his face, had he not had the foresight to stick his boot in the door ahead of time.