King Creole

July 20: I have met Dean Loucks several times. The wild blond hair, red Puma Ferrari
tennis shoes and hip sunglasses help to give him an undeniable rock-star flair. Dean had
suggested he fly us in his customized Engstrom helicopter from the East Chicago
Marina to his shop, The Art of Design (TAOD), located in Elkhart, Indiana (about 90
miles by air). Dean worked as the pilot the previous day at the Chicago Poker Run,
and Sunday was the only day he could give us the ...

July 19: Unfortunately, this appeared to be a particularly bad day for the Chicago
Poker Run, as the dark storm clouds made good on their promise to unload an
ominous payload. The kids waited in the hotel lobby, even though I was sure
there would be no poker run today.



We drove to East Chicago Marina. Upon entering, we could see puddles of
water forming on the boats ...

July 16: I won’t pay for first-class airfare, although I wish I had
on this trip. I never recline my seat during the flight, and I always
pray the person in front will stay upright as well. My flight to
Chicago became insufferable when a heavyset Russian
woman spent the entire flight practically in my lap, using all
of her might to recline her seat to its full capacity. I was wearing
my CAM boot because of my broken foot and couldn’t manipulate my
...

July 8: While teaching our youngest son, Drew, how dangerous it was to climb up the side
of our waterfall, I fell, broke my toe, tore the bottom of my foot and sprained my
tendon — an accident that would cause me no end of grief over the following weeks.

July 10: I limped through the airport in Vegas to board a flight to St. Louis. I met up with
JW and Earl there and then drove to Wentzville, Mo., for our morning appointment
with MTI owner Randy Scism. Marci ...

June 27: Dawnette and I drove out to the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort to meet Jim Wilkes,
who had driven up to assist me in covering the Southern Califorinia Offshore Powerboat Elite (SCOPE)
event on Lake Mead.



He found us a ride with Kevin and Charmaine Laney in their all-silver 382 Formula. Kevin is a SCOPE
board member, and he and his wife are one of the nicest couples ...

June 20: I have often stereotyped all New Yorkers as obnoxious and pushy. However, after back-to-back trips
to this region for the NPBA New York Liberty Landing and NJPPC Atlantic City poker runs, I stand more than corrected.
All of the people we met at the event were friendly, cooperative and genuine — in many cases, more so than some
from the West Coast. Making generalizations and assumptions without much personal experience is irresponsible
and ignorant.
...

June 18: Earl, Blair and I were beginning to get tired. The previous days in New Jersey and Miami
had been exhilarating but exhausting. We flew to Raleigh-Durham Airport and drove three hours
to Washington, N.C. Dave Clark was drafted to give us the factory tour. However, when he found out
he was going to be on camera, he disappeared. I grabbed a broom and started to whack down
some brush called Pampas Grass that was blocking the Fountain signage. Dave found me halfway ...

June 16: We got up at 8 a.m. to film North Miami-based TNT Marine. We met with owner Johnny Tomlinson, who is world renowned for both his offshore racing career and the custom rigging that his partner Mike Thomas shores up. John is also one of the test team drivers for Powerboat Magazine.



He seemed half-surprised by our presence, even though Cindy had set an appointment the previous ...

June 12: Our middle son, Blair, decided to join me for my next trip, which I was thrilled about. He normally is too busy with school to join me. The flight to Newark, NJ, went without a glitch and we met up with Earl and Cherie. With the Big Apple within our line of sight, Blair and I wanted to take the crew to Famous Original Ray's Pizza. We went through the Holland Tunnel, which passes beneath the Hudson River. We were immediately lost in the big city. I stopped to ask a nurse for directions, ...

June 7: After getting only three hours sleep, I called Thunder on the Bay promoter Jeff Jennings to meet up with him for our ride. He explained that both he and all of the boats participating in the event were already 45 miles south of us — and had been there since the previous evening. Our own ride had been lined up and was about to take us down the Chesapeake Bay. I immediately called the girls, Earl and Andrew and told them, in the words of the King, "It’s Now or Never." Everyone agreed ...

June 4: I arrived at Las Vegas’s McCarran Airport late, cutting it closer than normal. Our models, Sophia and Kelly, who were accompanying me on the flight, were worried that I had forgotten about the trip.

We flew into Atlanta to meet up with Earl and Andrew. We arrived in Jacksonville, Florida, for the 7th annual Jacksonville Fire and Police River Rally Poker Run on the St. John’s River. We arrived at the Hyatt around 10 p.m., which was impeccable, and decided to get something to ...

May 28: I arranged a breakfast meeting with Bob Leach of Eliminator Boats in Southern California for tomorrow. I left Vegas at 8:30 p.m. and began the long, lonely drive down I-15. I have driven this freeway hundreds of times to California, but at the base of the Cajon Pass, I’ve always head westbound into Rancho Cucamonga. I have never taken the eastward split heading on the I-215 towards San Bernadino. There are some real rough patches along the 215 on the way to Perris, which is where the new ...