Trucker, writer finds inspiration on the road

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Driving across America, longtime truck driver Larry Morris of Campbell gets a lot of time to think. The sights and sounds he's taken in over the years have provided much inspiration.

"A lot of times, going down the road, things just come to me," Morris said.

He has parlayed that inspiration into countless poems and even recently began writing a novel about the experiences of a truck driver like himself, just with a mysterious, sci-fi twist.

Like most all authors, the lease owner/operator with Gregory Logistics hopes that project will one day be an award-winning best seller. That is, if he hasn't run out of room in his trophy case by then.

Recently, Morris was awarded a crystal "Outstanding Achievement Award in Poetry" statuette by the International Society of Poets. The award, given for his poem, "The Other Side of the Mountain," was announced by Tony Orlando at the society's 2006 convention in Las Vegas.

Coupled with the award, the poem was featured as the opening selection of the International Society of Poets published poetry anthology, "Twilight Musings." Morris added the poetry award to a list of credits that seems to get longer each year.

In 2001, he wrote a song he called "If I Had One More Day," about a romantic relationship gone awry. He decided to send the song in for publication. To his surprise, it caught the attention of musician David L. O'Connor, who produced and recorded the song. Hearing his lyrics on the radio and even on the Internet has been a surreal experience, Morris said.

"I thought to myself, that sounds pretty good. I can't believe I wrote that," he said about the first time he heard the song on the radio. "It was really interesting and pretty exciting."

Morris has always been a creative guy, he said. He's always written things down here and there, but didn't get serious about it until a few years ago, right around the time he became a published songwriter.

"I've always wrote a little bit, but never did much about it," he said. "Basically, in 2001, I just started trying to get something published. ... I started thinking, 'Maybe I'm good enough that I can do this.'"

He's always shared his poetry. And the interest people seem to have makes it worth the effort, Morris said.

"I like to share my poems with people," he said. "Because some of [the poems] are kind of inspiring. A lot of people read these poems. And that makes me feel great to know somebody enjoys something I wrote."

About as special to Morris as his writing and awards is the work he does with the Kenny Rogers Children's Center in Sikeston, Mo. He helps with the organization's yearly telethon by coordinating and hosting its silent auction.

Working with the center has allowed Morris to meet several country musicians that he has long admired, like Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, Tanya Tucker, Alabama and Charlie Daniels.

Morris' newest song, "The Love Thing" was recently put into production in Nashville.

He's unsure who will be recording the song, but having it chosen for production was honor enough, he said. According to Morris, his ultimate goal is to write a song that reaches No. 1 on the music charts.

"Ill always keep writing," he said. "Ill never stop until I've got a number one hit. That may never happen, but it gives me something to shoot for."