"He instinctively can find the shining greatness of our American culture and does a good job of highlighting it (although he also does have those rare lapses when he writes about hockey, but that is something caused by impurities in the Eastern waters or something)." Erik Keilholtz
Under the patronage of St. Tammany
Mark C. N. Sullivan is an editor at a Massachusetts university. He is married and the father of three children. Email
He was a particular favorite at the Louisiana Hayride during his tenure there from 1952 until his death. The Hayride was a fixture in the homes of countless country fans across the Mid-South and Southwest, beamed out every Saturday night at 50,000 watts from Shreveport’s KWKH. Every third Saturday, the Hayride went out nationally over the CBS radio network. In addition to its vast audience at home, the Hayride had a studio audience of some 3,800 who flocked each Saturday night to downtown Shreveport’s Municipal Auditorium to see the variety show’s star-studded lineup of regulars and guests. Popular though it was, however, the program was the number-two showcase in country music, behind Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. During the fifties, one Louisiana Hayride star after another left Shreveport for the Opry—Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves, Faron Young, Johnny Cash and others. But Johnny Horton stayed, and the Hayride fans loved him for it. "He was a genuinely nice guy too," remembers Hayride announcer Frank Page. "Never had any problems with him whatsoever. The only times I ever worried about Johnny was when he didn’t show up because he’d been fishing." #
![[SMMMHDH]](http://www.mgilleland.com/music/smmmhdh.png){kind=small}
