Larada Horner-Miller

Marshall Flippo is the most recognized caller's name in the square dance world internationally. Marshall Doyle Flippo was born September 2, 1927 in Tuscola, Texas to Roy and Gus Flippo. He had two sisters; Helen and Onita. Flip (or Flippo is what we called him) enjoyed close ties with his family and his school. He joined the Navy at age seventeen and saw two years of active duty at the end of World War II. Then he played baseball for the DesPac league the reminder of his enlisted time. He returned to his family home in Abilene, Texas and married Neeca, and she encouraged him to take square dance lessons, and he was hooked. He started his calling career near Abilene, Texas in a chicken coop. Flip and Neeca joined three other couples to build a square dance hall in Abilene, the Wagon Wheel, which is still in operation today. He got his big break in the calling world by recording the popular tune in 1957, "The Auctioneer" with Blue Star Records, owned by Norman and Nadine Merrbach, and the rest is history. After several visits to Kirkwood Lodge in Osage Beach, Missouri, a square dance vacation resort, Bill Hagadorn, the owner, hired Flip to be the resident caller there. In doing this, Flippo and Neeca decided to give up their jobs in Abilene but not their home. He worked Kirkwood Lodge for six months out of the year and needed employment for the rest of the year. From the clientele at Kirkwood, his industrious wife, Neeca, put together an amazing six-month tour of interested dancers all across the United States, and he did this schedule for 42 years. During those six months of touring, he expanded internationally, visiting Germany, England, Spain and Japan. He had been stationed in Japan after the war, so he was familiar with the people, and his love affair with this country and its people continued until he died. Neeca and Flippo divorced in 1991 after 42 years of marriage, and he remarried but they divorced, so Flip lived out his life single. Neeca and he became close friends in their later years. He spent the last eighteen years of his career in Tucson, Arizona as the resident caller at Rincon West RV park during the winter and continued his tours in the summer. He died at the age of 91 on November 4, 2018 and has been missed across the world in the square dance community. Flippo never realized his place in the lineage of square dance history. He was a bridge between Lloyd "Pappy" Shaw, the caller who energized the activity in the 50's, and the transition to modern western square dancing. He was truly a humble legend. Flippo was consummate story tell, so a unique part of this book is his stories about other callers, cuers and dancers. Also included are stories by friends about him. It truly is a celebration of the man.

Just Another Square Dance Caller is more than a biography filled with the remembrances and stories of a 90-year-old man with 64 years' experience in the world of square dance. It's a unique and colorful retelling of the life and times of Marshall "Flip" Flippo; a legend in the world of square dance callers. Flippo was a Navy veteran, father, husband, and proud Texan who lived a life of passion and zest until his passing in 2018. With chapter titles like Three More Ships & Baseball, Burma Shave Jingles, North and Then East, South, & Home for Christmas, Four Special "Once Mores," and Callers Flippo Called With & Slept With, this biography will give readers an entertaining look at the long life and career of a man who claimed to have acquired his first big career break in a chicken coop. Flippo may have been considered a Renaissance man by many, but those who knew him best recognized him as a humble man who insisted that he was lucky and oftentimes "at the right place at the right time." He also maintained until his passing that he was "just another square dance caller" who had been blessed with the opportunity to turn his passion into a career. Just Another Square Dance Caller is truly a legacy to his body of work, humor, wisdom, and love of life.

When Larada Horner-Miller's father died in 1996, her mother told her, "Everyone grieves in their own way."AWARDS: 2018 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards "Finalist" in 2 categories: E-book Nonfiction and E-book Cover2018 Book Excellence Awards "Finalist" in the Memoir category2018 Independent Press Awards "Distinguished Favorites" in the Memoir category2017 New Apple Book Awards for Excellence in Independent Publishing "Official Selection" in the BiographyAutobiographyMemoir category.2017 New Mexico-Arizona book awards "Finalist" in 2 categories: Biography (Other) and E-book Nonfiction.Horner-Miller took these words to heart when her mother passed away in 2013. She discovered that writing poetry was the best way of working through her fresh grief. Eventually she penned dozens of intimate, heartfelt poems about her parents' lives and legacies and her deep sorrow and gradual recovery. Now she has gathered those verses into her first collection, A Time to Grow Up.Horner-Miller discusses the emotional challenges of caring for her parents at the end of their lives. Her words will strike a chord with any worried caretaker or child watching over ailing but fiercely independent loved ones.As Horner-Miller explores the nuances of bereavement through her poetry, she provides inspiration and comfort for readers coping with the same burdens. While many of her poems explore the depths of her anguish, others exude humor and warmth-a reminder that there is still always light in the world.In addition to her poems, Horner-Miller includes biographical sketches about her mother and her father, as well as appendices that provide coping tips, suggested activities, and resources for others dealing with intense bereavement.REVIEWS: The author's words are so descriptive that I felt her pain, her love and her loss as she described her experiences. I felt the deep bond between mother and daughter and how much a mother can influence a daughter's life. Gale AskrenReading Horner-Miller's book has helped me deal with my own grief over losing my parents. Her poems touched my heart and helped me realize that I'm not alone in my grief. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has just lost a parent (or both parents), or is the primary care giver for an ailing/dying parent. Horner-Miller put to words what I've been feeling in my heart. Kathleen PittThe author Larada Horner-Miller utilizes the power of poetry to share about the loss of her parents. She pours from her heart, and one can feel the love Larada has for her parents, and how they impacted her life. This was a beautiful experience to read this heartfelt book. T R WillHorner-Miller's prose is beautifully written. You get the feeling she is sitting right next to you talking to you. Her open sharing of her grief is inspiring. Mary JaneIf you are grieving the loss of a parent, LOOK INSIDE this book. It may help ease your pain

How did a young mail carrier from Oklahoma put together a ranch in southeastern Colorado during the depression when others were losing theirs?This delightful booklet tells the story of how my grandfather, Laurence Horner, put our family ranch together in southeastern Colorado during the depressions. Harold Horner, my dad begins the tale in Oklahoma and how the young Horner's ended up in a small ranching community in southeastern Colorado. Harold details the process of how my grandfather bought homestead near each other to build our family ranch. He shares about his family and beginning experience as a rancher.Take a step back in time and witness this family story unfold.

An Mexican immigrant family's life changed in one day This poignant historical novel takes you to the high plains of southeastern Colorado, where a Mexican-American girl grows up knowing that her father has been imprisoned for ten years for something he didn't do. Maria is taken back to her childhood home when she comes across a blue marble in her jewelry box. She remembers herself as an eight-year-old girl playing with the marble while waiting for her father to return to the rock-and-adobe homestead house her family had built with their own hands. Based on the tale of "the Philly Place" that author Larada Horner-Miller has heard her whole life, this novel imagines the life of the person who might have left that very same blue marble behind, to be discovered by Horner-Miller while exploring her family ranch many decades later. Through the fictitious daughter of a man named Philadelphia Gonzales, this novel relates the experiences of a Mexican-American community struggling to live the American dream while surrounded by often-hostile Anglos. Yet, amid the prejudice and injustice are many who are kind and welcoming. These characters, along with Maria's own determination and personal growth, create an inspiring, uplifting tale.REVIEWS: I couldn't put it down. Such a story of love, of injustice. You will need a hanky for sure. The pictures add a really good touch to make you see and feel what the homestead was like. Keep up the good work Larada. KATZA nostalgic tale of hardship and injustice, but unending family love, courage and determination. Could not stop reading - kept checking out the pictures and enjoyed being there. Feelings of heartbreak and happiness.Gale AskrenDelightful story of a Mexican family homestead in southern Colorado. Though they face the same trials as many who roughed the conditions on the plains, they faced racial prejudice too with dignity and grace. Memorable characters and beautiful descriptions of local places A quick but satisfying read for history lovers. Jennifer BrownI enjoyed this book and recommend it, especially for anyone who feels a certain nostalgia for "home" and enjoys learning the history of particular areas and people. This is an easy read which gives insight into painful emotions, healing, and the meaning of home. Cheryl A. LePlattStories our families tell us about their past reach a deep place in our hearts. This story is wonderful. We don't get to live on raches or in the wilderness. We don' t get to appreciate the magic of a lonely little girl making friends with a horny toad. But Larada is able to take us to these places and she does it with the warmth you feel when Harold's arms encircle Elva. Sherrie CrandalStroll over to "Look Inside" and decide for yourself

Ride a tumbleweed back in time to life in a small, southwestern community as seen through the eyes of a young girl during the fifties and sixties.AWARD: 2016 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards "Finalist" in one category: Biography (Other)Growing up as a member of a ranching family in Branson, a small town in southeastern Colorado, provided author Larada Horner-Miller a treasure-trove of stories, characters, and emotional moments that make up her touching memoir.This collection of poems and prose transports readers back to rural America during the fifties and sixties, to one idyllic, tight-knit community in particular. Each of the book's eight sections weaves a nostalgic, uplifting yarn that tells of playtimes with friends and neighbors, favorite hiding places, living without a telephone for the first eleven years of life, and the touching memories of growing up on a ranch community. Whether it is Saturday night dances or hot days working with 4-H at the county fair, the poems and pages roll along like a tumbleweed in search of a place to land. Readers will find themselves longing to go back to this very authentic time and place, whether they actually experienced it in their own lives or not.Read about this daddy's little girl and her adventures that mold and shape her formative years. Where will this tumbleweed land, and what kind of woman will she be when she finally arrives?