Kokomo

Jack Purvis was an American jazz musician. Purvis was best known as a trumpet player and the composer of Dismal Dan and Down Georgia Way. He was one... of the earliest trumpeters to incorporate the innovations pioneered by Louis Armstrong in the late 1920s. He also played trombone and on occasion a number of other instruments professionally . John "Jack" Purvis was born in Kokomo, Indiana on December 11, 1906 to Sanford B. Purvis, a real estate agent and his wife Nettie Purvis. He has a living brother who lives in Hendersonville, North Carolina. The song "Poor Richard" was written for him. Jack's behavior became uncontrollable after his mother's death in 1912, and, as a result of many acts of petty larceny, he was sent to a reform school. While there, he discovered that he had an uncanny musical ability, and soon became proficient enough to play both the trombone and trumpet professionally. This also enabled him to leave the reformatory and continue his high school education, while he was playing paying gigs on the side. One of the earliest jobs he had as a musician was with a band led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
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Jane Randolph , was an American film actress. She was born in Youngstown, Ohio and died in Gstaad, Switzerland, from complications of a broken hip.... After growing up in Kokomo, Indiana, she moved to Hollywood in 1939 in an attempt to start a movie career. She was eventually picked up by Warner Bros. and appeared in bit movie roles in 1941. In 1942, RKO picked up the contract of the poised actress and she received a leading lady role in Highways by Night . She became known for her roles in film noir, which included Jealousy and Railroaded! , and in two of Val Lewton's now well regarded B-picture horror films, Cat People and The Curse of the Cat People . One of her last movies was Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein . In 1949, she married Jaime del Amo and retired to Spain and became a socialite. In later years she returned to Los Angeles periodically, but maintained a home in Gstaad.
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Steve Kroft is an American journalist and a longtime correspondent for 60 Minutes. His investigative reporting has garnered him much acclaim,... including three Peabody Awards and nine Emmy awards, one of which was an Emmy for Lifetime Achievement. Born on August 22, 1945 in Kokomo, Indiana, Kroft attended Syracuse University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1967. After his graduation, he was drafted into the United States Army and served in the Vietnam War. He was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in Cu Chi, where he was a reporter for the Armed Forces Network; he covered the Division's participation in the invasion of Cambodia. Kroft won several Army journalism awards for his work and a Bronze Star for Meritorius Achievement. When the Division was redeployed, he was reassigned to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes as a correspondent and photographer. Shortly after receiving an honorable discharge from the army in 1971, he began his broadcast journalism career as a reporter for WSYR-TV in Syracuse, New York.
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Sylvia Jane Kirby is an American country music and country pop singer and songwriter. More commonly known by the singular name Sylvia, she enjoyed... crossover music success with the song "Nobody" in 1982. Sylvia is best known for her hit "Nobody", which reached #15 Pop and #1 Country in 1982. The song earned her a gold record certification and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance . Although "Nobody" was Sylvia's only single to reach the Billboard pop charts, her other big country hits include "Drifter" , "Fallin' in Love", "Tumbleweed" and "Snapshot". In 1982, she was named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Academy of Country Music. She is also credited with making the first "concept" music video clip to air on Country Music Television , with "The Matador". Sylvia's musical journey began at age three when she was asked to sing at a small church near her hometown of Kokomo, Indiana. This set Sylvia on a course that eventually led her to Nashville on December 26, 1976.
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Selwyn Ward is an American actor best known for the role of Theodore Jay Jarvis Johnson in the Power Rangers universe. In Power Rangers: Turbo he... played the Red Turbo Ranger, his character being the first non-Caucasian Red Ranger in Power Rangers history . He later became the Blue Ranger in Power Rangers: In Space, a role he reprised in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy episodes "To the Tenth Power" and "The Power of Pink". His final appearance was in 2002, in the Power Rangers: Wild Force episode "Forever Red," as the Red Turbo Ranger. Ward made appearances at the 2009 Anime Expo and the 2010 Power Morphicon. At both events he reunited with his former Power Rangers co-stars Roger Velasco, Blake Foster, Patricia Ja Lee and Tracy Lynn Cruz . Selwyn Ward has also made appearances on the television show Moesha and the soap opera Passions. He appeared in the music videos "Don't Leave Me" by Blackstreet and "Man Ain't Supposed to Cry" by Public Announcement. Other movies and commercials include American History X and "Most Wanted".
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Anthony "Tony" Norris , better known by his ring name, Ahmed Johnson, is an American former professional wrestler. He is best known for his stint in... the World Wrestling Federation, where he was a one time Intercontinental Champion, and the first African American to ever to win a singles championship in the company. He is also the first winner of the company's Kuwait Cup. After a brief career as a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, Norris began training under Skandor Akbar, Scott Casey and Ivan Putski. After making his debut in 1989, he competed on the independent circuit for the next few years before debuting in the Global Wrestling Federation in 1994 as Moadib. Norris made his WWF debut as a face under the ring name Ahmed Johnson on the October 23, 1995 episode of Raw. Prior to his first televised match, he appeared at the end of a Raw taping by entering a post-match brawl and slamming Yokozuna. He made his pay-per-view debut at Survivor Series, as the team of Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, Owen Hart, and Dean Douglas took on the team of Johnson, Shawn Michaels, Sycho Sid, and The British Bulldog.
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Steve Kroft is an American journalist and a longtime correspondent for 60 Minutes. His investigative reporting has garnered him much acclaim,... including three Peabody Awards and nine Emmy awards, one of which was an Emmy for Lifetime Achievement. Born on August 22, 1945 in Kokomo, Indiana, Kroft attended Syracuse University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1967. After his graduation, he was drafted into the United States Army and served in the Vietnam War. He was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in Cu Chi, where he was a reporter for the Armed Forces Network; he covered the Division's participation in the invasion of Cambodia. Kroft won several Army journalism awards for his work and a Bronze Star for Meritorius Achievement. When the Division was redeployed, he was reassigned to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes as a correspondent and photographer. Shortly after receiving an honorable discharge from the army in 1971, he began his broadcast journalism career as a reporter for WSYR-TV in Syracuse, New York.
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Sylvia Jane Kirby is an American country music and country pop singer and songwriter. More commonly known by the singular name Sylvia, she enjoyed... crossover music success with the song "Nobody" in 1982. Sylvia is best known for her hit "Nobody", which reached #15 Pop and #1 Country in 1982. The song earned her a gold record certification and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance . Although "Nobody" was Sylvia's only single to reach the Billboard pop charts, her other big country hits include "Drifter" , "Fallin' in Love", "Tumbleweed" and "Snapshot". In 1982, she was named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Academy of Country Music. She is also credited with making the first "concept" music video clip to air on Country Music Television , with "The Matador". Sylvia's musical journey began at age three when she was asked to sing at a small church near her hometown of Kokomo, Indiana. This set Sylvia on a course that eventually led her to Nashville on December 26, 1976.
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Rod Kim is a singer-songwriter from Wilmington, DE most widely known for his song, "Tomorrow She's Mine" featured on the hit video game "Rock Band"... for Xbox 360., produced by Ritchie Rubini and "By Now - Radio Version", also produced by Rubini. He has also been showcased at many festivals and conferences including Dewey Beach Music Conference, Popfest, Millenium Music Conference, SS Capemay among many others and toured over 75,000 miles in 2010 on a year long tour across the USA, crossing the country three times. Made famous by the NPR radio show of the same name, World Cafe Live features major and up-and-coming musicians in its venue located in Philadelphia, PA. World Cafe Live has been very supportive of Rod Kim and his developing career. In January 2009, Rod Kim was announced the winner of week 2 at World Cafe Live's "New Songs For The New Year". He also was featured in the "beta hi-fi 2009" music festival. Rod Kim was sponsored by Vision4Music in his early tours.
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Paul Adams is an American musician, writer and musical instrument builder. Adams began his foray into the arts by making stringed musical... instruments such as guitars, banjos, basses, and dulcimers after he was introduced to the craft as an ethnomusicology student under Dr. Joel Maring at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Adams has been commissioned to build instruments by Daryl Hall, members of Stevie Wonder's band as well as other well known musicians. In the 1980s, Adams decided to start composing music and got a label deal with Nature Recordings/World Disc . His first album, Various Waves, was placed in the Top Five of the Year by the syndicated Radio Show Musical Starstreams in the 1990s. The Metro Silicon Valley stated that "Adams is perhaps the most important New Age musician since George Winston." Adams left the label after his first release in order to produce music in genres other than New Age. He spent some time working with John Golden of Centerfield Productions, whose main focus was the band jazz band Steps Ahead. Centerfield re-released Adams' second album, Wonder Dancing On Global Bop.
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