If he’s in there, I didn’t find him, bobbing in the sea of similarly old, white, bald guys. I’ve looked for Ike in photos of The 100, that group of commercial showmen who boarded a train headed east to tout the doin’s in boomtown Tulsa, for audiences in whatever cities would entertain them. “Uncle Ike is one of the most enthusiastic boosters Tulsa ever had,” reads a quote in his obit, attributed to “his nephews.” “He always was the first to defend Tulsa against any criticism.” Ike landed in Tulsa in 1907, the year of statehood, and found work in a restaurant he would own within a year. Ike Johnson, Famed as Chili Maker, Is Deadīody to Lie in State Today Burial in Texasįrom whence he came, a sweet spot not far over the Red River called Honey Grove. And in the Trib, with one less “L” in chili than earlier: Ike may not have been a front-page item, but he was still an institution and familiar enough in all of Tulsa’s small circles to go by his nickname. Man Who Gained Name of ‘Chili King’ in Tulsa Dies at 69 Both papers had it in their November 12 editions.

Stricken as He Started to Board Bus and Condition Critical Ike Johnson, 70, of Chilli Fame, Is Ill With Paralysis It also wrote its headlines in upper and lower case, another element of style: The Tulsa Tribune, a day earlier and with more vigor, put his demise on page 20, in its “Market News” section. Over his one-column and portrait are set the words, “Paralysis Victim,” as if Ike were its poster child. “Second Village Falls Prey to Devouring Lava.” In fact, Ike’s stroke made bigger headlines than his death. Front page news that day: the explosion of Etna. Ike, more proprietor than legend in ’28, did not merit front-page news. The key, as any good copy editor will tell you, is consistency.) (Editor’s note: Associated Press style would dictate the 10 follow the November, with a comma before the year, but I have always preferred Strunk and White’s suggestion. They reported his demise in the Tulsa Daily World on 10 November 1928. REPORTED IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER STROKE OF PARALYSIS. Or perhaps I just can’t see it any other way. Hear farmer Stephen Green discuss his mission to preserve an endangered species of livestock: A reading of the history of Ike Johnson’s chili legacy must be made through the ink-blurred window of the daily news. Like a paper, people seem to take less of it than they once did. Like a newspaper, a bowl of chili is a stew of unsavory, raw, ragged elements that boil down into a somewhat digestible, often delicious, whole.

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