has anybody seen this book, it is really neat great pictures, its written by doug loudenback. My friend at work just got it for her christmas present from our boss, I never knew how big this park was. Wish it was still here

It's an incredible book - great job by Doug. I recommend it to anyone with nostalgia for OKC of old. The photos are a lot of fun.

It's now available on Amazon - I just added it to my wish list.

The reviews on the book are interesting (on the Amazon site).
Images of America:Springlake Amusement Park (http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0738561797/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1)

Two are favorable, one not so much. The critical review didn't even have all of the facts straight. I went to NE High School, class of '73 and we went to Springlake for our senior class party. The racial mix was fairly even then.

My blog article about the book is here: Doug Dawgz Blog: Springlake via Arcadia (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2008/04/springlake-via-arcadia.html). Many sample pages are included. A thread is around here somewhere as I solicited information from members and some forum members were very helpful.

Yes Doug did a great job on the book, and facts are precise,I worked there for 2 seasons and it was the best time in my teenage years.....brought back so many fond memories!

Thanks, grantgeneral. I did research really hard but, like anything, I'm sure that it could have been done better.

As for the criticism by A.McDonald at Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Springlake Amusement Park (Images of America: Oklahoma) (http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0738561797/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?_encoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1), I have no regret (and, in fact, am proud) for having tried to write the book from both a white and (as well as I was able, being a white guy) black point of view but without overly dwelling on the racial issue, and I'd do the same way again. Ditto my way of writing ... that's just me. Amazon limits their Images of America series to 127 pages (at present, page 128 is always an Arcadia ad) and the amount of words per page is also very restricted. I would have preferred to write more text but I stretched the boundaries quite a lot as it was. I wanted to do an index (I think every good book should have one) but Arcadia's series doesn't allow that.

I also got at least one fact wrong ... the Wild Maus ... it WAS built during Marvin Staton's tenure as was pointed out to me by a couple of people, and, as was pointed out in a nice Gazette review by Rod Lott (http://www.okgazette.com/p/12882/a/2367/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=LwBEAGUAZgBhAHUAbAB0AC4AYQB zAHAAeAAslashAHAAPQAxADIANwA0ADkA), I should have tried to locate a pic of the last fire's aftermath ... or better still, the last fire itself ... which, were I to do it over, I'd at least try to locate. There was a shorter review, also favorable, in the Oklahoman but I don't have a link to it.

It was a fun project and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to do it. Steve gave me lots of good research and writing tips and kindly proofed my text and made lots of suggestions, most of which I humbly accepted, a few of which I stubbornly refused!

And, by the way, thanks "KD" from Edmond for the kind words at the Amazon site ... could that be you, KarrieD? :woowoo:

I bought the book as a Christmas present for my mom. She thought it was pretty cool.

I have the book on my Amazon wish list, but no takers yet - guess I'll have to buy it myself!

Doug - as a white girl who spent hours at Springlake, it seems as though you covered the racial issues well judging from reviews and comments. I can't wait to get the book for myself!

I own it!

Great job, Doug.

Thanks, Pete! :)

I got it for Christmas along with the Oklahoma City Photo History book by Larry Johnson, the man that handles the Oklahoma Images Collection at the library. His book has some great old photos of Oklahoma City but the print job is horrible. The photos are washed out and look really poor. He deserved better.

Doug's Springlake book is excellent. I've already read it cover to cover. The text is really good and I liked his perspective very much. The photos are of exceptional quality as well. Great job Doug!

Thanks, Mike. I agree with your comments about Larry's book ... his publisher didn't handle its end as it should have. Still, it's a great book to have and Larry did a great job of assembling the photographs.

:wink:

Hey Doug . . . is it available at Full Circle?

Michael

Pray For World Peace . . . pass it on

Should be. That's where my book-signing was. Unless there has been an amazing crazed unexpected astonishing who-woulda-thunk-it rush to buy, Full Circle should still have copies!

Wish I had know about the signing. I'll pick one up at Full Circle, buy your lunch and you can signerup Doug . . . Happy New Year

Michael

Pray For World Peace . . . pass it on

Thanks, Michael. I accept! But, it's not that I didn't publicize the book signing ... both here and on my blog! Heck, I was begging, groveling, almost paying people to people to come on down! I only did one ... at Full Circle ... which was kinda funny, in a way. I arrived a bit early and there was this veritable horde of people coming into Full Circle ... for a few moments, I thought, "WOW! All these people coming to my book signing! Hoo-ahh!" As it turned out, there was an OU book readers club meeting of some type going on at the same time which is where most of those people were going! My venue got shifted from the intended coffee shop location to a small space near the mall entrance for a more intimate gathering. But, hey, What? Me Worry? Not a chance. I had a great evening and lots of good conversation with current and a few old friends I'd not seen for quite some time. It was a good time.

Steve is being much more proactive about his upcoming (January) Arcadia book on Bricktown ... he's planning several book signings, I think. I'm much more lethargic and one was just fine. I'm sure that he'll be saying more about that very shortly.

About that lunch ... how about Nonnas? :yourock:

(Just kidding ... McDonald's is fine.)

Hey Doug!

As I mentioned on the board awhile back, I am in the process of moving. In fact, I am in my new city now as I type. The movers are scheduled to move everything on January 15th. I hate moving. What a job!

But I checked the board earlier this evening and wanted to write but got a phone call from my wife back in OKC in the middle of reading and didn't. SO......I'm back.

I picked up your Springlake book and haven't finished it yet (but sneeked a peek at all the photos) and --- you did a marvelous job! Way to go and I hope it's maybe the first of many.

I noticed a few people on the forum wanted to know where we were moving and at first, I thought I would keep it private. But, there's no harm. We bought a condo (scaling down on stuff) in the Century City/Westwood area of Los Angeles. We have traveled here a lot and know the area well and we're really excited. In many ways, this feels as much like "home" as OKC.

love the century city area, have you been to the century city mall yet? great place, wish we had something like that here.

Thanks, solitude, and I wish you the best in your new environment and home. When I get around to doing that socialists-in-Oklahoma article, I guess I'll have to go it alone, though ... unless you're still interested in helping. If so, send me a PM. Glad you're liking the book.

love the century city area, have you been to the century city mall yet? great place, wish we had something like that here.

Jesseda, Westfield Century City has been fixed up and belies the fact it's nearly 50 years old. I have gone to the container store there several times. It comes in handy when organizing a new home! I'm here preparing before the moving truck shows up in a couple of weeks. Oh, the AMC there is very nice.

Thank you, Doug! We will love it. I had forgotten about the Socialists in Oklahoma article. The move away from OKC is meant to put Oklahoma behind us, but the one thing I will never forget is how Oklahoma led the nation in Socialist Party organizing in the early pary of the twentieth century. Fascinating history. Your book is sooo much fun!

I can't wait to get a look at it. I went there for family reunions though the '60s, nearly every summer at least once and to the arcade while it was still open in later years.

I'm curious where the photos came from? Any copyright ownership and/or model release concerns with what went in and what didn't?

eta: Okay, I answered part of that reading the acknowledgments on your blog.

Double Edge, as you've apparently now read, I was permitted use without charge for most (95-98% ?) all of the images by Norman Thompson who came into possession and/or ownership of them from Marvin Staton, son of the park's founder Roy Staton. All newspaper ads but one were from were from The Oklahoma News, a defunct Scripps-Howard Oklahoma City newspaper during 1906-1939, and one from the Oklahoma Journal, also defunct. I chose those papers so that I wouldn't have to deal with OPUBCO and its copyright claims and/or fees. One photo (the architectural rendering of the new ballroom) was an Oklahoma Historical Society photo and I had to pay a small fee for the use of that one. Vintage Rail Photos/Whistle Stop Trains consented that I use the trolley photo on page 14 without fee. A few of the of the images (pages 12-13, 126-127) I own. So, I was really really lucky about only having to pay one fee, and a small one, to the OHS for that one image.