The author grew up in Arkansas. He spent his first nine years living beside a dirt road in Waldron; the next eight years at an orphanage in Monticello. During the Vietnam War years, he completed a four year stint in the US Navy. Part of his tour was the Naval Communications Station on Guam, MI, a small island in the south Pacific, a US territory. The remainder of his tour was in California and Texas. The author's first real job came when a man in Arkansas, instead of hiring him, handed him a business card and challenged him to drive 300 miles to Dallas, Texas. There, he was hired on the spot by a man who later would ask him to move to Oklahoma, where he has lived since the fall of 1968. When the author graduated from Tulsa University a member of the EE National Honor Society, Etta Kappa Nu in 1977, it appeared that he had done very well, and he had. But, his time in college didn't begin with a bang. His counselor explained that he would not need to take the college entrance exam; that he was over twenty-five years old. "But, you will need to take an English test," she explained. Afterward, when the author failed the English test, she could have said, "Well, you don't appear to be University of Tulsa material " But she didn't. Instead, she picked up a flyer lying on her desk. "Why don't you go ahead and enroll and take this writing class." Sometime later, the instructor gave the class an assignment. "Write me a half-page, single-spaced article about something original," he said. That night the author labored over what to write and finally settled on a short story he titled, "The Greatest Work of Art." It described the creation of man from the author's point of view. A couple of days later, the instructor gave the papers back to the students. Across the top of the author's paper was written, A Very Good The author lost the paper in one of his many moves, but later resurrected the story in a poem; the title, you guessed it, "The Greates

They don't call it 'Crybaby Bridge' for nothing.
For decades, residents of this small town have talked of hearing a strange noise near the crossing of Pryor's Creek-a sound of a baby crying. But no one knew for sure what it could mean.
Enter Jake Foster. The retired computer geek thinks he's just signing up for a simple race, the 15K Tulsa Run. It's something to keep his days busy and his mind active, Foster thinks. Then he discovers a deep, dark secret along his training route, on the banks of Pryor's Creek. It's a horrifying secret that will change a town's history-and his own-forever.
What follows is a hair-raising journey into a past filled with mystery, dead ends, and plenty of detective work. As Jake uses every tool available to him, he reveals the surprising truth about lore that has remained hidden for more than half a century. It's an adventure that will make his fun run look like a walk in the park.
A Tall Order mixes small-town intrigue, old-fashioned mystery, and plenty of twists and turns for a page-turning experience that will leave you hungry for more.
Benjamin Cox, writing under the pen names Ben J Cox and Ben James, is an author, poet, orator, and humorist. He was born on a dirt street in Waldron, Arkansas, and developed an interest in writing while attending Tulsa University. Cox is an active member of Toastmasters International and writes every day. He and his wife, Betty, live in Pryor, Oklahoma.

To Mama, The Long Road Home
This is not a novel. However-if you've been poor, picked cotton, sold scrap iron from a red wagon, played Red Rover on top of a big sawdust pile, played marbles, played hooky, tasted moonshine, dipped snuff, survived a broken home, lived in an orphanage, kissed a girl, driven a tractor, been pursued by a pedophile, played football, driven a busload of kids to church, been railroaded, done a tour of duty in the Navy, graduated from college, made love to a woman, been hired, been fired, shot a game of craps or pool, been married, divorced, raised a child by yourself, written a poem, lost a parent, published a novel, managed people, owned a Rolex watch, or been drunk-then you might find something interesting or worthwhile on these pages.

The author grew up in Arkansas. He spent his first nine years living beside a dirt road in Waldron; the next eight years at an orphanage in Monticello. During the Vietnam War years, he completed a four year stint in the US Navy. Part of his tour was the Naval Communications Station on Guam, MI, a small island in the south Pacific, a US territory. The remainder of his tour was in California and Texas. The author's first real job came when a man in Arkansas, instead of hiring him, handed him a business card and challenged him to drive 300 miles to Dallas, Texas. There, he was hired on the spot by a man who later would ask him to move to Oklahoma, where he has lived since the fall of 1968. When the author graduated from Tulsa University a member of the EE National Honor Society, Etta Kappa Nu in 1977, it appeared that he had done very well, and he had. But, his time in college didn't begin with a bang. His counselor explained that he would not need to take the college entrance exam; that he was over twenty-five years old. "But, you will need to take an English test," she explained. Afterward, when the author failed the English test, she could have said, "Well, you don't appear to be University of Tulsa material " But she didn't. Instead, she picked up a flyer lying on her desk. "Why don't you go ahead and enroll and take this writing class." Sometime later, the instructor gave the class an assignment. "Write me a half-page, single-spaced article about something original," he said. That night the author labored over what to write and finally settled on a short story he titled, "The Greatest Work of Art." It described the creation of man from the author's point of view. A couple of days later, the instructor gave the papers back to the students. Across the top of the author's paper was written, A Very Good The author lost the paper in one of his many moves, but later resurrected the story in a poem; the title, you guessed it, "The Greates

They don't call it 'Crybaby Bridge' for nothing.
For decades, residents of this small town have talked of hearing a strange noise near the crossing of Pryor's Creek-a sound of a baby crying. But no one knew for sure what it could mean.
Enter Jake Foster. The retired computer geek thinks he's just signing up for a simple race, the 15K Tulsa Run. It's something to keep his days busy and his mind active, Foster thinks. Then he discovers a deep, dark secret along his training route, on the banks of Pryor's Creek. It's a horrifying secret that will change a town's history-and his own-forever.
What follows is a hair-raising journey into a past filled with mystery, dead ends, and plenty of detective work. As Jake uses every tool available to him, he reveals the surprising truth about lore that has remained hidden for more than half a century. It's an adventure that will make his fun run look like a walk in the park.
A Tall Order mixes small-town intrigue, old-fashioned mystery, and plenty of twists and turns for a page-turning experience that will leave you hungry for more.
Benjamin Cox, writing under the pen names Ben J Cox and Ben James, is an author, poet, orator, and humorist. He was born on a dirt street in Waldron, Arkansas, and developed an interest in writing while attending Tulsa University. Cox is an active member of Toastmasters International and writes every day. He and his wife, Betty, live in Pryor, Oklahoma.

To Mama, The Long Road Home
This is not a novel. However-if you've been poor, picked cotton, sold scrap iron from a red wagon, played Red Rover on top of a big sawdust pile, played marbles, played hooky, tasted moonshine, dipped snuff, survived a broken home, lived in an orphanage, kissed a girl, driven a tractor, been pursued by a pedophile, played football, driven a busload of kids to church, been railroaded, done a tour of duty in the Navy, graduated from college, made love to a woman, been hired, been fired, shot a game of craps or pool, been married, divorced, raised a child by yourself, written a poem, lost a parent, published a novel, managed people, owned a Rolex watch, or been drunk-then you might find something interesting or worthwhile on these pages.