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Arkansas Business’ 25 Transplants (25th Anniversary)

12 min read

Those on this list weren’t born in Arkansas but ended up in the state. Some were children whose parents moved here. Others chose to make their lives in Arkansas as adults. Some we’re proud to claim; others, not so much. But one way or another, these transplants have made their mark on their adopted home in the past quarter century.

1. Tony Alamo
Did you know there are tunnels from the Vatican to every world capital? If so, you can probably thank Tony Alamo – or Bernie Lazar Hoffman, as his Missouri parents named him.

His wacky fliers and cult of personality made him a curiosity to many (this is a man who kept his dead wife’s body on display at his compound in Dyer in Crawford County), but he also alarmed many who saw something sinister brewing in his well-guarded compounds, including one in southwest Arkansas. Federal officials shut down his church for back taxes and sent Alamo to prison back in 1994.

After his release, he started a new congregation, but now Alamo has been indicted on child abuse charges. The fliers are still being handed out, but nobody seems to be laughing about Alamo now.

2. Jim Argue
Carthage, Texas, was the birthplace of one of the state Senate’s most influential members of recent times.

Argue – who, to his credit, did most of his growing up in Arkansas – forged a reputation as a staunch advocate of good education policy and fair funding for schools. This stand put him at odds, more often than not, with some of his colleagues and a fair chunk of the education establishment. He pushed higher standards of accountability and even suggested making all superintendents state employees, rankling many rural school districts. His crusade in the Legislature ended only when he was term limited last year.

3. Frank Broyles
More than one writer has called him an "icon," and that’s not too strong a word for the man who in many ways put Razorback sports on the national map, engendering both goodwill and bad feelings in the process.

A quarterback legend for his home state’s Georgia Tech, Broyles landed his dream job, Arkansas football coach, in 1958 and won the 1964 national championship.

As UA athletic director from 1974 to 2007, he came to wield enormous influence. The annual award for college football’s best assistant coach is named for him. But while hugely popular, he also heard criticism: He snubbed women’s sports, had too much sway with the board of trustees and more.

He survived every call for his ouster, and finally left on his own terms – if under pressure.

4. Gen. Wesley Clark
Even without his military accomplishments, Chicagoan Wesley Clark’s résumé is impressive: College valedictorian, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford University. Smart guy, clearly. And a smart guy can go far in the military, as far as four-star general, in Clark’s case.

Clark came to the state as a boy and came back again after his retirement from the Army.

He was heavily involved in the Balkan conflict and, as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, the Kosovo campaign. A brief run at the 2004 Democratic nomination for president saw him win only Oklahoma, and while his name was mentioned as 2008 neared, he never put his hat in that ring.

Still, the retired general doesn’t lack for honors, from knighthoods to the Presidential Medal of Freedom to a street named for him … in Dakovica, Kosovo.

5. H.E. "Bud" Cummins
A public official can become a household name, but most would rather it not happen the way it did for Bud Cummins. An Oklahoma product already known as a GOP political aspirant, the U.S. Attorney found himself on the national stage after he was forced out of his job during a round of appointments that came to be called Attorneygate. 

He was threatened with retaliation if he spoke out, but wound up testifying about that threat – and much more – before a congressional committee. He named names and implicated some of the Bush administration’s biggest movers. Plus, he got mentioned in a "Saturday Night Live" skit. Pop culture immortality!

6. John Daly
Professional golfer John Daly may seem like the best and worst of Arkansas all rolled up in one, but he was actually born near Sacramento, Calif., and moved to Dardanelle with his family when he was 5.

Daly will turn 43 next month, and the self-indulgent kid stuff isn’t as cute as it used to be. But a lot of Arkansans still treasure that August day in 1991 when the 25-year-old ninth alternate "bludgeoned a golf course into submission" (as Sports Illustrated put it) to win the PGA Championship. In 1995, he won the British Open.

7. Jack Fleck
Win the 1955 U.S. Open, you get $6,000. Win the 1955 Open by beating Ben Hogan, you become a PGA legend.

Fleck, an Iowan who was a rookie on the tour, pulled off the upset of all golf upsets in San Francisco that year. But though he notched a couple more Tour wins, his career never lived up to that moment. The loss of his first wife to suicide caused him to retreat from the PGA; a comeback on the Senior Tour was cut short by his second wife’s death.

Fleck used to operate a golf course at Magazine, but is now retired in Fort Smith. And any newbie who upsets a golf giant is still compared to Jack Fleck.

8. Ellen Gilchrist
Thank God for Mississippi: You gave us Ellen Gilchrist.

She studied writing under Eudora Welty at Millsaps College, and though Gilchrist is both a published poet and novelist, short stories have earned her the greatest acclaim. She had her first collection published by the then-fledgling University of Arkansas Press (she’d started an MFA in Fayetteville but never finished). Its success – 10,000 sold in 10 months – helped establish the Press. Her 1984 collection, "Victory Over Japan," won the National Book Award and cemented her reputation.

Known for a clear thematic style, her many recurring characters unify her works into a canon. The university apparently forgave her that unfinished degree; today she’s a member of its writing faculty.

9. Paul Greenberg
In 1969, Paul Greenberg won a Pulitzer Prize for his Pine Bluff Commercial columns telling Arkansans why they shouldn’t vote for segregationist George Wallace for president. Like any good newspaper editor, he knew he wasn’t engaged in a popularity contest.

Throughout his career – he’s in his 15th year with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Greenberg, originally from Shreveport, has embraced his role as observer and provocateur and never hesitates to take on topics that might prove unpopular to the majority. A devoted readership lauds him in letters to the editor; of course, some berate him, too. Such is the karma of the inky wretch!

10. E. Lynn Harris
Harris pulled off one of the most difficult tricks in publishing: from self to shelf. A product of Flint, Mich., and University of Arkansas grad, where he was the first black yearbook editor and first black male cheerleader, he couldn’t find a taker for his novel "Invisible Life." So he self-published in 1981 and flogged it everywhere he could. It caught the attention of Anchor Books and was released as a trade paperback in 1984. That led to more books from Harris, who’s now sold more than 4 million copies.

His Better Days Foundation assists new writers and artists, and he has been highlighted by several gay publications as someone to watch – and read.

11. Jacuzzi Family
When your family’s name is synonymous with something people want, that’s success.

Remo Jacuzzi, seventh son of one of the founders of Jacuzzi Brothers in California, came to Arkansas and led the state’s branch of the family business, which actually dealt in pumps and other goods rather than the spas and tubs known everywhere as "Jacuzzis."

A few years after Jacuzzi Brothers was sold, he founded Jason International, and with his sons, daughter and other relations, he has the family once again in the spa business.

12. Stephen LaFrance
Ever heard of Stephen L. LaFrance Pharmacy Inc.? Maybe not. But how about USA Drug, Super D, or Ike’s drug stores? They’re all part of the regional pharmacy chain that’s grown from LaFrance’s family pharmacy business.

The New Orleans native started USA Drug in Pine Bluff in 1984 – the corporation is still headquartered there – and over the years acquired half a dozen other drug store chains; it’s one of the state’s 20 largest private companies. Now his brainchild operates more than 170 stores in five mid-South states, competing head-to-head with the likes of Walgreens and Wal-Mart.

13. Dr. David Lipschitz
Baby Boomers, your doctor is in. Lipschitz – or Dr. David, as he’s popularly known – is at the center of a multimedia geriatric medicine blitz: He’s on TV; he’s on the radio; he’s in the newspaper; he blogs.

A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Lipschitz spent 30 years at UAMS, where he founded the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging, and his leadership was specifically cited when the center’s namesake foundation gave more than $18 million for geriatrics.

Now executive director of the Longevity Center at St. Vincent, he continues to find ways to keep folks over 50 healthier and more active. Who you callin’ old?

14. Gene Lyons
Liberals can be hard to come by in this state. But since 1994, New Jersey’s own Gene Lyons has freelanced a left-leaning column for the Democrat-Gazette’s editorial section.

Lyons, who followed an Arkansas girl home, has been an editor at Texas Monthly and Newsweek and a contributor to The Nation, Harpers, Esquire and Salon.com.

But what made his name here was his staunch defense of the Clinton presidency in many columns and two books. Often his was a lone pro-Clinton voice on the Voices page, winning him admirers and detractors.

15. Peter Miller
This Little Rock attorney’s smiling mug is one of the best-known faces in Arkansas. It has beamed down from billboards and up from phonebooks, and his voice (both on radio and TV) is a siren’s song to those who have been injured in an accident. Even the classic car that sits outside his Quapaw Quarter office has starred in one of his commercials.

He was once publisher of the Arkansas Sun at Heber Springs, where he discovered and rescued the photographic archive of Mike Disfarmer. Yet this Long Beach, N.Y., native has an even more impressive claim to fame: He is a cousin to playwright Arthur Miller, which means that when Peter Miller was 13 years old he was briefly related by marriage to … Marilyn Monroe.

16. Don Munro
During the 20th century, most American shoe manufacturing relocated overseas. But Don Munro stayed put in Arkansas.

The Bostonian founded Munro & Co. in Hot Springs in the 1960s, and it is still making shoes, although certainly not as many as it used to.

His ability to secure the company’s place in what has become a very hard business for America to compete in has earned him a spot in the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. If the shoe fits …

17. Sam Perroni
It’s not hard to figure out this defense lawyer’s favorite word: "Acquitted."

Colorado native Perroni has made his name defending white-collar clients against civil and criminal charges and has a reputation as the go-to guy when things get serious – like when federal law enforcement and indictments are involved. 

His clients have included a who’s who of the state’s highest-profile cases of recent years, and they’ve all received the same thing: a promise of unflinching, unrelenting advocacy.

At the same time, his reputation outside the courtroom is as a genuine Mr. Nice Guy, supporting causes like Ronald McDonald House. Nice motion, counselor.

18. Nolan Richardson
Even at the end of the 20th century, some Arkansans had trouble with the idea of a black coach for the basketball Razorbacks. Add a strong will and outspoken nature (and a slow start), and many fans called for one-and-done for the El Paso, Texas, native.

Once he got his own recruits in place and instituted Forty Minutes of Hell, the win-loss record started to turn around – and so did the Hog faithful. A national championship was his crowning achievement, but personality conflicts with legendary (and equally stubborn) AD Frank Broyles eventually led to his departure. But there’s still just one man who’s won the Big Dance for UA.

19. Winthrop Paul Rockefeller
His dad was governor, and one of those Rockefellers. But Win, as he was known, didn’t flaunt either fact – as down-home a billionaire as you were likely to meet.

When the New York City native took up public service hereabouts, the impression he gave was that he owed something to his adopted home state. And when he became lieutenant governor, many thought it was just a matter of time before he assumed his father’s mantle … and a weighty legacy. But he withdrew from the 2005 GOP primary, fighting cancer. Two unsuccessful bone marrow transplants later, he came home to die. The state mourned, but his good works will long be remembered.

20. Thomas Schueck
The American steel industry can’t compete? Don’t say that in front of Missouri native Tom Schueck.

The president and CEO of Lexicon Inc., a steel company in Little Rock, oversaw 127 percent growth there between 2004 and 2006, with $318 million in revenue for ’06. His roots in the business go way back. He started his own structural steel firm in 1968, just a few years out of college, and eventually acquired other companies.

His seat on the state Pollution Control & Ecology Commission rankles some critics who don’t trust him to protect the environment. But then, he has also served on the board of the Nature Conservancy. That sort of flexibility takes nerves of steel.

21. Vic Snyder
A medical residency brought Snyder to Arkansas from Oregon after a stint in the Marines, but apparently doctoring didn’t keep him busy enough so he went to law school.

That done, he proved a glutton for punishment by running for the state Legislature. Taking on the state’s anachronistic sodomy laws earned him the label of "liberal," and Snyder’s stayed true to that viewpoint during seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A bachelor until late in life, he and wife Rev. Betsey Singleton are making up for lost time with four sons, the youngest of which are triplets.

22. Grif Stockley
During his entire career, Memphis native Stockley has striven for civil rights causes in two venues: the courts and the written page.

His work as a lawyer at Arkansas Legal Services and then the state ACLU office focused on discrimination in many forms, including having the state’s juvenile justice system ruled unconstitutional. His early novels drew upon his civil law work, but Stockley’s writing took a different turn when he wrote an account of the Elaine Massacre, and he followed that up with a book on Daisy Bates and another on race relations in Arkansas.

Now he’s the Dee Brown Fellow at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, where his scholarly work continues.

23. Mark Stodola
For a fellow raised in Minnesota and Iowa, Stodola seems more focused on Little Rock than many city natives.

Six years as city attorney and six as county prosecutor helped build his bona fides, and in 2006 Stodola won a four-way race for mayor. In 2007, at his urging, voters approved more authority for the office.

His first two years as a "strong mayor," however, have seen challenges: county jail closures that necessitated renting cell space in Faulkner County and revenue shortfalls that required budget cuts, among others. But there’s also been a drop in violent crime and continued investment in the River Market District.

24. Jerry Van Dyke
He coulda been a contender … or, at least, he could’ve been Gilligan. Van Dyke turned down what would become an iconic TV character, but he didn’t fare so badly in his career.

The Danville, Ill., native appeared on many shows (including his brother Dick’s and Bob Newhart’s), but it was his role as the curmudgeonly goofball Luther Van Dam in "Coach" that cemented his comedic celebrity and earned him four Emmy nominations.

He retired to a Saline County ranch in the 1990s, and he bought and renovated an entire city block in Benton, including the Royal Theatre and a soda shop bearing his name. Good call, coach!                           

25. Townsend Wolfe
Arkansas Arts Center, thy name is Townsend Wolfe. From 1968 to 2002, the native South Carolinian was the museum’s director, during which time he developed collections with a stellar reputation and grew its buildings into state-of-the-art exhibit spaces.

Wolfe took bold steps with the institution, establishing the Children’s Theatre, expanding the Museum School and making the acquisition of noteworthy drawings a focus. Today, the drawings collection is world-renowned, the Children’s Theatre troupe a beloved tradition and the Museum School a crucible of creative education. There’s even a gallery named in Wolfe’s honor. 

(Click here to see all the stories in our anniversary edition. Or click here to flip through each page of the edition in this special free electronic version.) 

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