About The Route 66 Sentinel
Beyond our award-winning staff, which includes the man who sparked the historic highway’s revival, we feature a cadre of seasoned writers, photographers, and artists.
Our editorial team includes:
- Rowena Mills
- Michael Wallis
- Ken Busby
- Suzanne Fitzgerald Wallis
- Steve Kirkpatrick
About Rowena Mills…
Rowena Mills, whose Missouri and Oklahoma family roots are intertwined with the beginnings of Route 66, enjoys a varied career as an editor and musician based in Tulsa. She has had extensive editing experience at newspapers, magazines, journals, book publishers, web-sites, and advertising and public rela- tions firms. Her specialties are Oklahoma and regional history, American Indian history and culture, petroleum geoscience, and music. She also has worked on a broad range of other subjects and in several genres, including biography, autobiography, nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and children’s literature.
Mills has edited more than 100 books and 33 periodical publications produced in Tulsa, Denver, and New York. She has written articles, essays, and reviews for several newspapers and periodicals and the award-winning “Oklahoma Indian Markings” issue of Nimrod international literary journal.
At the University of Tulsa, Mills earned a bachelor of science degree in news/editorial journalism, bachelor of music in flute, and master of arts in humanities. She also completed three TU certificate courses totaling 45 hours, in petroleum geology, well logging, and petroleum engineering.
About Michael Wallis…
It has been said, “Reading a Michael Wallis book is like dancing to a romantic ballad. He offers his hand and gently guides you across the floor, swaying to the song of the American West.”
A best-selling author and award-winning reporter, Wallis is a historian and biographer of the American West who also has gained international fame as a speaker and voice talent. In 2006, his distinctive voice was heard in Cars, an animated feature film from Pixar Studios.
A storyteller who likes nothing better than transporting audiences across time and space, Wallis has published 19 books, including Route 66: The Mother Road, the book credited with sparking the resurgence of interest in the highway. Wallis’ twentieth book, the biography of Belle Starr, was published in June 2025.
Wallis has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize and was also a nominee for the National Book Award. In 2016, he received an Emmy Award for his work in the documentary film Boomtown. In 2021, Wallis was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve on the National Route 66 Centennial Commission.
About Ken Busby…
Ken Busby is the Cultural Czar of Northeast Oklahoma and has served as executive director and CEO of the Route 66 Alliance*, the nonprofit organization founded by Michael Wallis, since 2015.
Busby is past chair of the Tulsa Route 66 Commission and was appointed by the governor to the Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Commission in 2020. He also serves on the Events and Celebrations Working Group of the U.S. Route 66 Centennial Commission.
Busby is a sought-after speaker and emcee, and in 2022, he was named to the inaugural class of 55 Over 55 Inspiring Oklahomans. A native of Tulsa, Busby holds a dual B.A. degree in communication and French from the University of Tulsa. He has an M.A. degree in journalism from Indiana University at Bloomington.
About Suzanne Fitzgerald Wallis…
Suzanne Fitzgerald Wallis was born in El Paso, Texas, and grew up in New Mexico. She received master’s degrees in Spanish and counseling at the University of Missouri in Columbia. After 13 years in the field of education, she moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1982 with her husband and closest friend, Michael Wallis.
In 1984, she and her husband, Michael, then a PR executive at Hood, Hope & Associates, joined with Joyce Gideon to form Wallis Gideon Wallis, a public relations firm. In 1992, Suzanne Wallis reorganized the agency as The Wallis Group, a public relations and advertising firm. National clients included United Technologies, Toyota Motor Sales, Inc., and the American Booksellers Association. In 2002, she closed The Wallis Group and devoted herself to writing.
Following publication of Michael Wallis’ best-selling Route 66: The Mother Road in 1990, Suzanne and Michael coedited Greetings from the Mother Road: Route 66 Postcards (St. Martin’s Press, 1993). They coauthored Songdog Diary: 66 Stories from the Road (Council Oak Books, 1996) and The Art of Cars (Chronicle Books, 2006). They worked together on The Wild West 365 (Abrams, 2011).
About Steve Kirkpatrick…
Steve Kirkpatrick was born and reared in Oklahoma City. He attended the University of Oklahoma, studying architecture. He pursued a successful career in architecture in Oklahoma City and beyond.
Kirkpatrick moved to Tulsa in 1991, and in 2007 became the website manager for TulsaPets Magazine, eventually aiding the publisher with the startup of OKC Pets Magazine and Oklahoma Horses Magazine. He went on to manage all three websites and sold advertising for the publications until they were sold in 2023.
