The Tulsa Global Alliance last week honored residents Michael and Suzanne Wallis for their decades of work promoting and contributing to the preservation of Route 66.
The alliance’s Global Vision Awards event’s theme was “Route 66: Where the World Meets America.” The Wallises were lauded for their ‘outstanding contribution to Citizen Diplomacy.”
The author of 18 books, Michael Wallis is best known for writing the best-selling “Route 66: The Mother Road” during the early 1990s and voicing the Sheriff of Radiator Springs in 2006’s Disney-Pixar animated movie, “Cars.” (He also played a key role as a Route 66 consultant for the film, leading Pixar’s animators on a trip down the Mother Road.) Using his big, baritone voice, Wallis often is interviewed on film, television and radio about Route 66 and its history.
Wallis probably helped cement his status as a global Route 66 ambassador in 2003 by denouncing prejudice against Asian-American motel owners and urging Mother Road travelers to “take the high road.” Excerpts of the speech may be found here.
He also has been inducted into the Writers Hall of Fame of America, the Oklahoma Professional Writer’s Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame, the Tulsa Hall of Fame, and Oklahoma Route 66 Hall of Fame.
Wallis’ wife, Suzanne, plays a quieter, behind-the-scenes role in their marriage and partnership, but she also has co-authored “The Wild West: 365 Days,” “The Art of Cars” and “Songdog Diary: 66 Stories from the Road.”
(Image of Michael and Suzanne Wallis at the Global Vision Awards via Tulsa Global Alliance)