Trucker's Connection - January 2020

By Bill Mack
By Bill Mack
editing in order to present
the contributors in
an oh-so-proper form.
When I read the
chapter where he quoted
me, I was a bit embarrassed
at my words,
but realized they had
been put to print exactly
as I had presented
them when I was interviewed
about Roger.
Roger Miller was
one of the most talented
individuals in all of entertainment. He
was also, unexpectedly, very hilarious
at times. The contributors, made up of
actors, songwriters, singers musicians,
music-publishers, etc., presented some
favorite stories about the man, many of
them I had never heard, although Rog
became a close friend back in the 50’s.
He was raised within 30 miles of my
hometown, shamrock, Texas. His first
wife was from Shamrock.
Roger, who was heavy into the “pill”
habit in the early 60’s, would spend
many nights at my place after his wife
locked him out of his house. It was a
common practice, and my wife at the
time, Jackie, was constantly in fear that
roger might overdose on the pills while
boarding out with us. I informed him
of this fact and he promised he would
never swallow another pill in my house.
He would “pop them before entering,”
he said.
One morning my wife knocked on
Roger’s bedroom door, asking him how
he wanted his eggs cooked. There was
no response. After knocking and calling
his name several times and receiving no
verbal reaction, she decided to walk into
the bedroom and awaken him. Nudging
him gently, she asked, “How do you
want your eggs, Roger?”
Dead silence. She also noticed Roger’s
forehead seemed cold, and one eye
was partially open, although motionless.
She ran into our bedroom where I was
still crashed out between the sheets and
screamed, “I can’t awaken Roger! My
God! I think he’s dead!”
Naturally, this caught my interest
and as I fumbled out of bed, Jackie ran
back to Roger’s bedroom where she
was about to call an ambulance. As she
picked up the phone, she heard a growl:
“Cook ‘em over easy.”
As mentioned, Roger had a very
unique sense of humor.
While working in San Antonio, I
booked a huge show into the municipal
auditorium. The cast included Patsy
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