Ellis Moore didn't learn to read until he was in the 11th grade.

His reading teacher got him there by having him read classical comic books, such as “A Tale of Two Cities.”

But, it wasn’t in the cards for Moore to graduate. He dropped out of high school to join the Marines and go to Vietnam.

“I was an infantry foot soldier — a ground-pounder,” he said.

When he returned from Vietnam at age 23, he went back to high school in his hometown of Luther, a small town northeast of Oklahoma City.

Correspondence courses weren't his style, so he sat in the classroom with 18-year-olds and finished what he had started. The ex-marine was older than at least one of his teachers.

“To me, a GED didn't pay,” he said. “I could actually go to high school, which was more credible to me.”

And, like many young men, he was interested in the opposite sex.

He met his wife after being set up on a blind date with her.

Moore said he went to her house but missed her three times.

Each time, his future mother-in-law fixed him a meal and gave him a phone number.

“I figured after she fed me three times I should remember the number,” he said.

His persistence paid off, and he and his wife have been married 34 years and have three children and eight grandchildren.

Moore moved to Muskogee in 1976 following a construction job with OG&E; building substations.

When the construction moved on to Arkansas, he went to work for OG&E; as an electrician instead.

“My wife was pregnant, and we liked Muskogee,” he said. “And I wanted to spend more time with my family.”

In addition to the Marines, he spent six more years in the National Guard.

The guys in his unit encouraged him to “use Uncle Sam's money and go to college,” and he did.

Moore graduated from Connors State College with a business degree, but not until after he took remedial reading courses. That was when he found out that he was dyslexic.

He started out with third-grade reading comprehension at Connors and finished with the ability of a college freshman.

Today Moore is a published author of poems and short stories.



Poems, novels and short stories

Years ago, OG&E; sent Moore to a Dale Carnegie course on communication.

During one of the speeches he was required to give, he said, “The ghosts that walk within my mind” when talking about his time in Vietnam.

One of the instructors was so taken with the phrase that Moore wrote a poem for him.

“That's the first poem I ever wrote,” he said. “The Phoenix published it, my first publication.”

His second was in England.

“Thirteen Magazine” published his short story, “Home,” in a special 2005 Halloween edition.

Although he can be found most mornings forcing the waitresses at Paul's Diner to read his latest poem, Moore has moved on to writing novels as well.

He hasn't tried to publish his first science fiction novel, “Trackers,” because he's not sure it's good enough.

“Some people have read it and said it's good,” said Moore. “Others have said it's too ‘choppy’ — whatever that means.”



Learning the game of soccer

During a soccer match in 1985, Moore was asked to fill in as a referee for his son Timmy's team.

“They gave me a whistle,” he said. “So I thought I might need to learn the rules.”

Moore went to referee school in Tulsa to learn the ins and outs of the sport back when he still had to have a physical to qualify.

“I tried playing myself,” he said. “But all I got was hurt.”

Two years ago, he finally retired from refereeing because his knees just couldn’t take it anymore.

Moore doesn't watch much soccer anymore. He finds it too depressing.

“I just want to get out there and run up and down the field with those kids again,” he said.

Moore, his wife, and his daughter have all coached soccer in Muskogee as well.

“Soccer has been a pretty big part of my life,” he said.



Creativity expressed by a Jack-of-all Arts

Moore also paints, draws, and creates origami money sculptures.

He and his wife helped paint the playground mural at the Muskogee County Health Department.

“I'm not a fantastic artist,” he said. “I'm more like a Jack-of-all-art.”

Moore began practicing origami and started folding dollar bills for fun when he saw a turtle someone had created out of straws on the cash register at Paul's Diner on South Country Club Road.

“I thought I could do that with dollar bills,” he said. “So I did.”

Soon after creating a turtle, someone asked him for a spider, then a crab and a giraffe.

Moore now invents all kinds of unique designs.

He even folded $100 bills for Christmas gifts at a friend’s request last year.

Moore keeps photographs of his origami bills on his cell phone and is happy to show those to anyone who asks.

The diner has more than 20 of his sculptures on display in a glass case.

“I like to be creative,” Moore said. “I like to see what I can do with things.”



Ghost

The ghosts that walk within my mind

have walked there through endless time

In the shadows they hide and wait to spring

to remind me of so many things

They remind me too well

my life has been a living hell

Am I so very small

that I have to read the writing on the wall?

To find out that it was I

who placed the ghosts where they lie!



Q&A;

How did you come to be an Okie from Muskogee?

My work brought me up here to build substations for OG&E;, and I liked the place so I got them to hire me on at the power plant.



What do you do with your free time?

With three kids and eight grandkids running around, plus my work, who has free time? Did I mention bugging people at Golden Corral and Paul's Diner?



How do you make a living in Muskogee?

By working. I tried to get people to pay me for sitting at home, but I almost starved to death. No really, I still work at the power plant across the river.



What would make Muskogee a better place to live?

Cut a few trees along the city streets so people don't have to pull out into the street to see if cars are coming.



Is there an Okie from Muskogee who you admire?

Sure, there are a lot of them. Tommy Weston is one. (Weston has coffee with Moore at Paul's nearly every morning.)



What's the most memorable thing that has happened to you since you have lived in Muskogee?

My kids and grandkids. They're all Okies from Muskogee. I've had a great job too.





How would you sum up Muskogee in 25 words or less?

Asking me to say something in 25 words or less is like cutting my tongue out. I like Muskogee because it's not so big where nobody knows you, but not so small so everybody knows your business. You can't get that somewhere like Tulsa.



Meet Ellis W. Moore



NAME: Ellis W. Moore.

AGE: 59.

HOMETOWN: Old, Luther/New, Muskogee.

CAREER: OG&E.;

EDUCATION: Two years at Connors State College.

FAMILY: Married with two sons, daughter and eight grandkids.

HOBBIES: A lot of them off and on like soccer, oil paintings and computers. But right now they are writing, origami, computers and bugging people at Golden Corral and Paul's Diner.