Category: Voices From The Grave

Hear Gary James speak with Kemmons Wilson His name is Kemmons Wilson. You may not recognize his name, but you know the business that he founded and ran for many years. That business is the Holiday Inn. It was on a vacation with his family in 1951 that Kemmons Wilson decided to start a hotel chain. Just one year later the first Holiday Inn opened in Memphis, Tennessee. Now 83 years young, Mr. Wilson has penned his auto­biography for Hambleton-Hill Publishing titled “Half Luck And Half Brains”. Kemmons Wilson rise…

Read More

Hear Box Car Willie Speak with Gary James   He’s universally known as the “World’s Favorite Hobo.” He is Box Car Willie. Box Car Willie has 15 Gold and 4 Platinum albums to his credit. In 1981, he became the sixtieth member of the Grand Ole Opry. Not just limiting himself to music, Box Car made film appearances in the movie “Sweet Dreams” (based on the life of Patsy Cline) and the T.V. movie “Country Gold” with Loni Anderson. In 1987, Box Car Willie bought a theater in Branson, Missouri…

Read More

Hear Gary James speak with Morton Downey Jr. The biggest compliment you can ever give someone is to say they’re original. Morton Downey Jr. was an original. A singer. An actor. An author. And, oh yeah, a Talk Show Host. Morton Downey Jr. did it all. On March 12, 2001 Morton Downey Jr. died of Lung Cancer. He was 67 years old. Back on February 22, 1999 we spoke with Morton Downey Jr. about his career, his health, some of the people he knew over the years, and his time…

Read More

“Spy” Magazine has called him America’s most powerful movie reviewer. His partner Roger Ebert was right behind him. Of course by now, you know we’re talking about Gene Siskel. Each week millions of t.v. viewers tune in to see what the team of Siskel and Ebert have to say about the latest movie releases from Hollywood. Gene Siskel talked with us about his job, the movies, the show, and his partner Roger Ebert. Hear Gary James speak with Gene Siskel. Q – When did you know you wanted to be…

Read More

Dave Thomas, Founder of the Wendy’s Hamburger chain, is clearly one of the most famous American Entrepreneurs around today. He opened his first restaurant in 1969, naming it after one of his daughters, Melinda Lou, who was nicknamed “Wendy” by her brothers and sisters. In that first year of operation sales amounted to a little under $300,000. Today, with 5000 restaurants in the United States and 34 countries and territories, sales top the $5 billion dollar mark. More than 5 million customers are served each day in Wendy’s restaurants. Dave…

Read More