Here’s one of the oddest videos you’ll see on this website. We’ll let John Clanton, a Tulsa World photographer who made the clip, explain in an accompanying story:
By his count, King Richard LéRoy has 1,613 used bowling balls. That’s 6,823 short of his goal. His real name is Richard Branaman, but he prefers to be called King Richard LéRoy, or King Richard.
His dream is to build a tower on the traffic circle at the intersection of Admiral Boulevard and Mingo Road in east Tulsa using more than 8,000 balls. The World Peace Monument.
Right now he’s building the monument one ball at a time in the parking lot of Ashley’s Great American Flea Market, 9216 E. Admiral Place.
Here’s the clip:
King Richard LéRoy and The World Peace Monument from Tulsa World on Vimeo.
I’d heard about a car crashing into the monument, and feared it was no more. I’m glad to see one of the many quirky sights at the Great American Flea Market had returned.
I have no idea how King Richard plans to erect his monument at the traffic circle at Mingo Road and Admiral Place (aka Route 66), but would love to see it happen.
(Image of the World Peace Monument in 2009 by Kate, via Flickr)
I’ve always been so charmed by the World Peace Monument and was very devastated when it got wrecked a couple of years ago. I hope King Richard sees his dream come to fulfillment! He’s the epitome of the “aging hippie”.