I, like so many thousands of others, have strong memories of the Mayo Hotel.   I remember breakfast in the coffee shop, watching my Dad get a shine in the basement barbershop, and the occasional Sunday brunch in the Golden Flame.

As an actor and writer with the American Theatre Company (beginning in '75) the Mayo became my home away from home. We rehearsed all our regular season shows in the Emerald Room and staged various incarnations of our ongoing comedy and satirical review, Joyce Martel, on the roof of the parking garage (in the early days) and then in the Crystal Ballroom and the Crest Club.

In the Spring of '94 the Mayo's owners granted me entry to the cavernous structure that was once the glorious...always the famous hotel.

They literally locked me in, saddled with my photographic gear, for a full day of shooting. I hoofed my way from the lobby to the roof, shooting well over one hundred black and white images that pierced through the devastation which had been wrought and magically brought the past back into focus.

I have a passionate connection with the series of nine images here. They are hand-tinted to achieve an ethereal feel, with the exception of the Mayo Doorknob; the one mounted on each of the hotel's guest rooms. I discovered the blackened, corroded, copper and brass piece (which one of the owners graciously gave me as a souvenir), had it refinished to it's pristine state and knew at once it had to be preserved on Kodachrome.

The stunning shot from the Penthouse was made from a vantage point that afforded dignitaries and celebrities from all over the world an unobstructed view of Tulsa to the south. The view is now gone but for the distorted image of the famous Mayo sign reflected in the windows of the high rise across the street.

Even in its 1994 dismal state, the Crystal Ballroom remained the hotel's showpiece. The proscenium still intact, one could almost imagine performances on the stage. This room has the strongest emotional connection with the largest number of people because of the many extravagant, truly special events that were experienced there over many, many years.