Will Rogers and the Power
of Laughter
WILL ROGERS WAS BORN about a hundred years ago on his
family’s ranch near the city of Claremont, Oklahoma. In those days that
part of Oklahoma was known as Indian
Territory. It had been settled by Cherokee
Indians, and Will’s mother and
father were part Cherokee Indian.
Will’s father , a hard working man, had one of the finest
ranches in the territory. Many visitors stayed at the family’s beautiful and
roomy house. Here young Will met many interesting people.
When Will was very young , he learned to use a lasso. The
rope was tied so that it formed a loop at the end. He would twirl the loop around
and than snap the rope so the loop flew out and settled around a fence post or
tree stump. When he pulled on the rope ,
the loop would tighten.
Soon he was catching, or ‘’roping’’ as cowboys say, everything in sight , indoors and out.
When he was five years old , he was given his first horse , and in no time he
became an expert horseman. For young Will Rogers, happiness was a horse, a
lasso, and the wide open range.
Then it came time for him to start school. He was never a
good student. When he was older he was sorry he had not worked hard at
getting a good education. He did not
like to study. Instead he liked to tell jokes and stories, dazzle people with
his rope tricks , and make people laugh.
Finally he left school and became a cowboy in Texas. For a
while he worked as a cowboy in Argentina
and South Africa.
Will Rogers liked being a cowboy, but his love of people and
laughter led him finally to become an entertainer. The tricks he could do with
the lasso got him jobs with shows in South Africa and Australia. Then he
brought his act to New York city. Audiences liked his rope tricks and his
wonderful way of telling jokes.
In a few years Will Rogers was appearing on
Broadway, but his act had changed. He learned that people liked his sense of
humor even more than rope tricks.
He talked about the events of the day, poking fun at just
about everyone and everything in gentle, good-natured way.
One time Will joked
about doctors: “ Personally, I have always felt that the best doctor in the world is the
veterinarian. He can’t ask his patients what is the matter-he’s got to just
know.
Another time he joked
about one of his favourite subjects, politics and politicians. “I could study
all my life and not think half amount of funny things they can think of in
one session of Congress”.
People everywhere came to know Will Roberts as the Cowboy
Philosopher. His funny remarks often seemed to reveal the truth about life.
Even as he made Americans laugh, he got them to think.
Once Will Rogers
said:” I never met a man I didn’t like.” He never tried to hurt anyone for a
laugh. He always treated laughter as a way to help people to understand one another better. He joked about president, politicians, and other important
people. But very few became angry. In fact, almost everybody considered Will
Rogers a friend.
When the Great
Depression came, millions of people lost their jobs. Life was hard for nearly
everyone. but Will Rogers helped cheer Americans. The laughter he brought into
their lives gave them courage to forget their troubles and keep working for a
happier future.
In 1935 Will Rogers
was killed while flying to Alaska with his friend Wiley Post. People everywhere
were sad about the loss of the man who brought so much laughter in the world.
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