SOURCE: "Writing a Contemporary Column in 'The Spirit of Will Rogers': An Exercise in Practical Criticism," in Journal of American Culture, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1991, pp. 59-68.

In the following essay, Rollins explains his attempt to revive the Will Rogers tradition in his own writing.

Will Rogers had an enormous impact on the people of his time, but sometimes I wonder if he realized the tyranny he would have over the lives of a small group of scholars long after his death. The Will Rogers writing habit can become a sickness leading to otherwise unaccountable behavior! For example, in 1935, Tulsa lawyer David Milsten published a book entitled An Appreciation of Will Rogers, a volume which took a regional slant on the national humorist. Lacking anything new to say, but still infected by Will Rogers enthusiasm, Milsten brought out the same book under the title The Cherokee Kid: Life of Will...