His Honor, Mayor Sneed

Really enjoyed your column, being one of the many thousands who had someone else’s name on my mailing label of the magazine, and especially your ending [“Prologue,” Winter 2010]. Your piece on Walter Neustadt was also first rate, I thought.

Interesting that Ann Sneed Schriber, in her letter chronicling her father Dean Sneed’s long career, neglected to mention that he was mayor of Norman for several years. That was during the two or three years I worked on the [Norman] Transcript.

The article on the Center for the Creation of Wealth may be one of the most important you have published in some time; for me, anyway, it is news and very gratifying.

A Man of Endless Service

Ann Sneed Schriber, daughter of Earl Sneed, made a very good point in her letter to you that she thought Dean Sneed’s legacy was a given and secure; however, his legacy was overlooked in the article, “A Long Look Back.” [Sooner Magazine, Fall 2009]

Dean Sneed was a unique person, not only a scholar, teacher and friend to students while dean of the OU Law School, but also served as mayor of Norman. He promulgated the “Sneed Plan” by which we Oklahomans now elect our judges following the Supreme Court scandal in 1959. You no doubt know his biography, but here are a few highlights of his service after he left the deanship: prominent Oklahoma City banker, supporter of fine and performing arts, chairman of the Oklahoma City Transit Authority and other activities too numerous to mention.

During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps (later the United States Air Force) from which he retired as a colonel. After his term as mayor of Norman, he seriously considered becoming a candidate for the office of governor of Oklahoma. Being an academic, he finally decided that the voters of Oklahoma would not vote for an “egg-head,” thus he did not run.

I took his class on corporations and was privileged to have graduated while he was dean. Later I had the experience of serving on the Norman City Commission, now City Council, while he was mayor of Norman. I got to know him well during that experience. We became friends during our service together and maintained a friendship thereafter until his untimely death at the Mayo Clinic, where he had gone for his annual physical. What a leader and visionary he was!

The Norman Chamber of Commerce sponsors the Earl Sneed Award to the person most exemplifying the leadership qualities possessed by Earl Sneed as voted on by his or her classmates of Leadership Norman.

No Sound Bites Here

Thank you for another great issue of the Sooner Magazine. It is a joy to read—good, clear stories, well-written, each page well-placed and uncluttered. The Sooner Magazine keeps us connected to OU and our pride in the University.

Thank you for your hard work and for knowing what we’ll enjoy reading. You recognize that we have attention spans which will last a whole article. The articles are not limited to bits and pieces of disconnected items. Unfortunately many magazines and newspapers have fallen into that design, perhaps to cater to those who never progressed beyond two-minute sound bites on TV. We’re delighted to able to continue to enjoy complete articles which explore a subject and increase our knowledge of that subject. Keep up the good work!

Not All about Basketball

I read a story about OU women’s basketball Coach Sherri Coale in the Sooner Magazine 10 years ago. She was a new college coach. She sat at the kitchen table crying and being comforted by her husband. I could tell from the concern she had for her team that she was going to be a great college coach.

Coach Sherri Coale hugs Amanda
Thompson during Senior Night
festivities following the March 7
victory over Oklahoma State.

Near the end of her 95 to 62 win over OSU on Senior Day in March 2010, she took Amanda Thompson out of the game. The TV camera showed her embracing Amanda. I thought, “Sherri has added another daughter to her family.”

I love OU. With an NROTC scholarship and a part-time job as a janitor at the telephone company in Norman from 1945 to 1950, I earned an engineering degree. This provided fulfilling work as an engineer for 50 years.

I enjoy watching OU win games, but I appreciate even more hearing and reading about the great character of so many student athletes.

I passed up bundling my TV with my AT&T phone and Internet to stay with Cox to see the OU women’s games and Sherri Coale’s show with Bob Carpenter aired in Tulsa. Her Sooner Snapshots are always fun.