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The Hot 100

By Barry Friedman, Urban Tulsa Weekly, Thursday, January 15, 2004

Hot 100

The Hot 100. Or so. Our picks for Tulsa's Top Movers & Shakers

At their best, lists like these can showcase and reward worthwhile citizens or events; at their worst, they may serve as the catalyst for nasty inter-office battles about "How did that sleaze ball make it on the list?"

We know that for many, the head of Tulsa Opera, for example, isn't as important as the deli counter manager at Albertson's who remembers to stock the right brand of salami. So, what we have tried to do here is not so much bronze the following personages in a Vision 2025-funded statue in a renovated Bartlett Square, but rather highlight those local citizens who have added texture, color, and vitality to Oklahoma's second city. The following people have built it, entertained it, celebrated it, explained it, criticized it, reported on it and, mostly, given themselves to it.

Love them or hate them, know them or not, agree or disagree with their inclusion, those listed below have all had a hand in making Tulsa . . . Tulsa.

We have included politicians, painters, businessmen, crooks (often the same thing), coaches, musicians, community activists, directors, and even a casino and a body of water. We've even included members of the media and inanimate objects (again, often the same thing).

A word here about the order: there's nothing scientific about it.

Are there others who should be on the list? Definitely. Are there people here who should be left off? Just as certain.

Can we count. Yes.

What we have for you, then, during this often ridiculously cold winter is Tulsa's Hottest 'Hundred (or so) Movers and Shakers. If you find our list odd, incomplete, chummy, exclusive, illogical, stacked, maddeningly predictable, or self-congratulatory, then we've done our job.

As a famous lapel pin once said, "History is not made by the well-behaved." Or, it might be added, by those who don't know the value of good salami or fresh donuts. And like any good donut makers, we always give you more than you ask for.

But seriously, folks, if Tulsa is to ever become more than it is, we need more people like this. - Barry Friedman

THE HOT 100