Introduction

It was in 1962 in Speech 101 class at David Lipscomb University in Nashville that I began collecting quotes and jokes. Back then I wanted to be a speech teacher and part-time preacher, and Dr. Carroll Ellis impressed upon me that a public speaker must develop a ready reservoir of jokes, quotes and stories with which to illustrate one's speeches or sermons.

That was over thirty years ago, and I am still collecting. My files now contain several thousand short items on 4" x 6" cards, and I have three four-drawer file cabinets stuffed to overflowing with articles on hundreds of topics. I'm sure one of these days I'll stop all this collecting, at least when they close the coffin lid on me. But until then, I am programmed to keep on clipping articles and shorter items. Dr. Ellis did his job well.

That is really how this web page began, many years before I ever touched a computer. A joke here, another there. All added to my collection. And then in 1987, while living out in Laverne, Oklahoma, I started pulling together the best jokes for my Oklahoma Joke Book.Some jokes already had an Oklahoma flavor, but I have added that flavor when such was missing. That's why you'll find each most of the jokes are placed in a specific setting, often with names of people who were born there or who still live there. If you don't enjoy that kind of thing, just ignore it and go for the heart of the joke. But if you're like me, with a love of Oklahoma and its history, you'll find that material adds extra spice to the jokes.

Then came my Texas Joke Book, while living in exile for six years on the wrong side of the Red River (Actually, we loved our years in Texas. That's why we really get mixed feelings when the OU vs. Texas football game rolls around.) I've always enjoyed telling jokes in sermons and in public speeches. When I did a morning talk show on KSNY radio in Snyder, Texas, I told many jokes each day, and I enjoyed the audience reaction. But it was when I got into writing and publicly reciting my cowboy poetry face-to-face, before live audiences that I was reminded of how good it makes a person feel to bring cheer into another person's heart. So I wrote my second joke book.

There is now scientific proof that laughter is truly good medicine. It helps to put our problems into proper perspective. It is a powerful reliever of stress and tension. It actually strengthens our body's immune system, defends us against sickness, and helps us recover faster from illnesses. So I am especially hopeful readers like you will recommend my "House of Humor" to a friend who may be depressed or sick. And I also recommend such books as Anatomy of an Illness, by Norman Cousins , and Laugh after Laugh: The Healing Power of Humor, by Dr. Raymond A. Moody, Jr., M.D..

Someone has said that a smile is a curve that can set a lot of things straight. I wish you many smiles.