Michael Wallis, best known for his bestselling “Route 66: The Mother Road,” will be inducted this spring with a Lifetime Achievement Award into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.
The induction will start at 11:30 a.m. on May 14 in the grand ballroom of the Nigh University Center at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.
A reception for the honorees will occur after the ceremony in the University Center’s Heritage Room.
This is what the Hall of Fame said about Wallis:
MICHAEL WALLIS {1945- ) is a best-selling author and award-winning reporter who has gained international notoriety as a speaker and voice talent. In 2006, his distinctive voice was heard in “CARS,” an animated feature film from Pixar Studios. Wallis is co-founder of the Route 66 Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of the Mother Road. In 2023, President Joe Biden appointed him to the Congressional Route 66 Centennial Commission. A storyteller who likes nothing better than transporting audiences across time and space, Wallis has published 20 books, including “Route 66: The Mother Road.” His work has appeared in hundreds of national and international magazines and newspapers, including Time, Life, People, Smithsonian, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Michael has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize and was also a nominee for the National Book Award. In 2016, he received an Emmy Award for his work in the documentary film, Boomtown.
As noted, Wallis has quite a list of credits. But “Route 66: The Mother Road,” published in 1990, was the big catalyst for Route 66’s revival.
A total of 12 honorees will become members of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame this year, which has inducted nearly 550 since its beginning more than 50 years ago.
They were chosen from nearly 100 nominations. They were first selected by a 15-member Finalist Committee, then a 12-member Selection Committee via a balloting process.
All on the committees are Hall of Fame members and representatives of diverse types of media and journalism organizations.
Invitations to the induction luncheon will be sent by the first of March, and reservations at $50 each must be made by April 10.
More information can be found by going to the Hall of Fame website.
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