I just watched Flash Point on Channel 4 Sunday Oct 21st which featured an interview with Devon Energy Chariman Larry Nichols. It was interesting & informative. I hope segments of the interview will be available this next week at Channel 4's Flash Point website:

Flashpoint | KFOR.com

From the Flash Point program: There were lots of contributions to OKC from Larry Nichols & Devon Energy which I wasn't aware such as his contributions to the Lyric Theatre, the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts. I disagree with him on renewable energy's future since I think (hope) that inexpensive solar energy will be available to homeowners within a decade. There is new technology that can coat the entire external facades & roofs of our homes & enable us to capture far more of the sun's energy than the solar panels of present-day technology. Of course, Mr. Nichols has a self interest & a stockholder's interest as Chairman of Devon to always promote oil & gas. I hope I'm right. A caveat: I expected inexpensive energy from fusion based reactors 50 years ago & I'm still waiting.

I've always assumed he was from Michigan since his law degree was from there. But Larry Nichols graduated from Casady School here in OKC before attending Princeton & majoring in Geology. When he couldn't find a job in the oil industry, he went to law school!

I’ve never met Mr. Nichols, but I admire all that he has contributed to OKC beyond Devon Energy and the Devon World Headquarters Tower. He is responsible for the overhaul of OKC's downtown with Project 180. The redesign of the Myriad Gardens is just fantastic! His opposition to the first rendition of Kevin Durant’s restaurant led to a new more open design - much more fitting to the ambiance of the Bricktown Canal. We should all appreciate his support and his company’s support of so many of OKC’s events like Opening Night, the Arts Festival, & the Christmas lights water parade on the Oklahoma River. He also is responsible for the transit/tour boats on the Oklahoma River and the beautiful Devon Boathouse.

Another Larry Nichols topic: I opposed the convention center's inclusion in Maps 3 in favor of sidewalks for my neighborhood which was left out of the 2008 General Bond issue. But a few months before the MAPS 3 election, I concluded the MAPS 3 projects were too important to oppose & I became an active proponent on OKC Talk and on the NewsOK websites. This year, after the Thunder reached the NBA finals, I realized the sooner we get a first class convention center built, the better for OKC's future.

The international recognition of OKC as a Big League City is now established. When I lived & traveled in Europe (1973-1975, 1991) before the OKC bombing, most Europeans knew of Oklahoma City, but primarily from tornado alley destruction. This year we impressed a WHOLE LOT of people both abroad & here in the U.S. by our NBA Thunder team's performance, the character of the team, the Chesapeake Arena venue, and OKC's potential. People are curious about OKC & want to come visit to see for themselves.

When I was in San Francisco at the Moscone Center 3 years ago, I met a woman from California who had just been to OKC & she couldn't say enough good things about us -- primarily Bricktown & the canal. This kind of promotion is the best kind of advertising. Our new convention center will multiply the number of affluent visitors to OKC, give us the chance to impress a lot more people, and beyond question bring many new high-end jobs here. I know the new convention center is a part of Larry Nichol's vision for OKC & I think he's right.

Larry Nichols: Thanks for everything you do for making Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, America & our world better places to live and work.

Devon Energy employees: Someone please expand Mr. Nichols' Wikipedia article. For someone so accomplished, there isn't much there! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Nichols

Everyone: There is a great oral interview that Mr. Nichols did with Voices of Oklahoma that is really fascinating to listen to here: http://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/larry_nichols.html

John Hite, retired, Oklahoma City