Mr. Stone

Once when I was a kid, my Mom and our neighbor, Mrs. Green, took me along on a day trip with them. We drove to a little tiny town in Oklahoma called Locust Grove. We got out of the car and met a man named Mr. Stone.

Mr. Stone was a very nice man, from my recollection. What I remember of him was that he was soft-spoken, he had a Siamese kitten, and he was missing some fingers. We looked around at some things he had made - that he had carved and sculpted. This was a long time before my own Dad became a sculptor, so, while it was interesting and all, given my age, I think I was more intrigued by the Siamese kitten and the missing fingers.

Willard Stone was a renowned sculptor and wood carver. His works can be seen in the Gilcrease Museum, the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and possibly, the White House in Washington, D.C. I say possibly, because a few years ago I was reading book about sculpture in the White House, and it mentioned that Mr. Stone had a piece of sculpture in the Rose Garden. I don't know if it is still there. I do know that one of his pieces, called Lady of Spring, was in a White House exhibition about ten years ago, titled "Twentieth Century American Sculpture at The White House: Honoring Native America." It's a very pretty scuplture, in his Art Deco/Art Nouveau style.

So, I am grateful to my Mom and to Mrs. Green for hauling me around on their fun trips. It may take a little time for these "enrichment" jaunts to take root, but eventually, we kids "get it".

(As for the missing fingers? When he was 13, he picked up a blasting cap which exploded in his hand.)