About the Author

LeFlore County Oklahoma

Explore Oklahoma with Eric Standridge as he shares fascinating stories, unique history, and interesting trivia about the state.

Eric Standridge is the owner of Oklahoma Traveler and works with several different organizations throughout the state to help promote tourism, economic development, and historic preservation.

His career in social and community service began August, 1996. That year, he began volunteering with the Olde Naples Downtown Redevelopment program. It is through this program that educated him on the importance of historical preservation and revitalization.

Since then, he has worked in with other downtown planning entities in places such as Ybor City outside Tampa, Chicago, Tulsa, and Okmulgee. In 2012, he began an ambitious program to revitalize the downtown district in Poteau, Oklahoma. This program was completed in 2017, at which time he went on to found The Poteau Improvement Project and the Mountain Gateway Community Alliance. He also founded the Poteau Artist Cooperative, which provides a place for art, music, and entertainment in Poteau, Oklahoma.

His writing career began in 2003 when he formed Oklahoma Traveler. Initially, he began taking on jobs as a freelance ghost writer. These jobs required him to travel to different towns across the state, research their history, and write articles for local publications. 

In 2010, Standridge moved to Poteau where he found much of the local lore to be lacking.  Determined to help document the areas history, he began interviewing many of the older residents.  During the course of his interviews, he discovered many unique and interesting stories of the area.  While many of the stories cannot be proven, they are still fascinating.  In 2012, he decided to take his research and put it into a book for everyone to enjoy, as well as to ensure that a good documentation of the history of Poteau existed.  He has published a total of six books on Oklahoma, however, two of them are no longer in print.

Standridge continues to do some freelance work, however, most of his work can be found online or in print media.

"I love being a writer, I just can't stand the paperwork."