BIOS ON CHAUTAUQUA PERFORMERS

WILLIAM WORLEY: is a historian, teacher and historical consultant. He has written five books, mostly on the history of the Kansas City region, the most recent of which is "Kansas City: Rise of a Regional Metropolis" published in 2003. His current historical work is connected with teaching at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and at Blue River Community College, Blue Springs, MO. He is also writing histories of Platte County, MO and Shawnee, KS. Other historical clients include Union Station/Kansas City Museum and the Francis Families Foundation. He has portrayed historical figures since 1993 when he started with Tom Pendergast, legendary KC political boss, for the Kansas Humanities Council. He currently presents four different characters with the Missouri and Kansas Humanities Councils, including Fred Harvey, William Clark, Dr. Samuel Crumbine & James Madison. Immediately after the Chautauquas in Enid and Tulsa, he will fly to Saipan to portray Harry Truman at the 60th Anniversary of the Battle of Saipan observance in that South Pacific locale.

NOEL PUGACH, Ph.D., born and raised in Brooklyn, New York went on to receive his masters and doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. Pugach began his teaching career at Kent State University and has been a Professor of History at the University of New Mexico for more than thirty-six years. He has authored several books and written countless articles and reviews. Pugach and his wife reside in Albuquerque.

DOUG MISHLER: has a Ph.D. in American cultural history from the University of Nevada, Reno. He has taught for over ten years at both Western Washington University and University of Nevada. He spent two years as a Program Coordinator for the Nevada Humanities Committee before being appointed as the Administrator for the Nevada State Division of Museums. Currently he is an independent consultant, university lecturer, and public speaker. He has made numerous presentations as William Lloyd Garrison, World War II journalist Ernie Pyle, explorer and statesman Capt. William Clark, and industrialist Andrew Carnegie.

DR. MICHAEL A. HUGHES: teaches art history and history at East Central University in Ada and also leads art and history tours for various organizations. He is the author of over forty articles on his subjects and is an editor in the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History project. He has previously appeared in Tulsa Chautauqua as Alexander Graham Bell, Orson Welles, and Ernie Pyle. In addition, he often performs for the OHC History Alive program as these characters and as Michelangelo. His wife is a professor of English at East Central University and a regional leader of Habitat for Humanity.

HANK FINCKEN: has toured the US for over twenty years performing his 5 original one-man plays in schools, parks, libraries, festivals, and universities throughout the United States. For the past seven years, he has performed in Chautauquas in five different states. His characters include: Thomas Edison, Johnny Appleseed, Francisco Pizarro, Christopher Columbus, and an 1849 Argonaut on The California Trail named J. G. Bruff. This is Hank's second time to perform as part of the Enid Summer Chautauqua series and he is very excited to be back. He has published some twenty plays and stories, ten essays, and one book: THREE MIDWEST HISTORY PLAYS AND THEN SOME. This will be his first time to perform as Henry Ford.