The Origins
A lineage of artists, writers, and characters whose stories shaped my own.
Michael Vollbracht
Artist | Fashion Designer
My great uncle, Michael Vollbracht, was a prolific fashion designer and illustrator in New York City during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. He created original designs worn by figures such as Joan Crawford, Joan Rivers, Oprah Winfrey, Laura Bush, and many others, and later became the lead designer for Bill Blass.
As a kid, I was fascinated by his career and artistic life in New York. I would sit and copy drawings from his book Nothing Sacred, dreaming about becoming an artist myself. His work and ambition left a lasting impression on me and played a large role in shaping my own creative path.
Katherine Hunter
Illustrator | Colliers Magazine 1920
My great-great aunt Katherine Hunter worked as an illustrator for Collier’s Magazine during the 1920s. She created illustrated postcards and commercial artwork during the golden age of American magazine illustration.
One of her surviving postcards humorously reads:
“Howdy ‘Big Boy’ – Lots of lovin’ Easter, that’s from a ‘Bad Egg.’”
It’s a small piece of family history that reminds me that creative personalities have always existed in our lineage.
BESSIE ANDERTON STANLEY
Author | Poet – “Live Laugh Love”
In 1904, my great-great-great aunt Bessie Anderton Stanley wrote a poem titled “What is Success?” for a writing contest held by Brown Book Magazine. The poem won first place and she received a prize of $250.
Over time, lines from this poem became widely quoted and eventually evolved into the well-known phrase “Live, Laugh, Love.”
What is Success?
He achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth’s beauty or failed to express it;
Who has left the world better than he found it,
Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; Whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.
Bessie A. Stanley – 1904
Guy Edmund Stanley
Business Developer – 1920s
My great-great grandfather Guy Edmund Stanley played a role in the early development of the Fairfax District in Kansas City during the early 20th century, around the time the Fairfax Airport was established.
He also served as Executive Assistant to the President of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Later in life, he purchased a 500-acre plot of land along the bluffs of the Kansas River near Bonner Springs — land that our family still enjoys today.
Jesse “Bud” Parnell
Rough Rider – 1898
My great-great grandfather Jesse “Bud” Parnell served as one of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War in 1898.
One of the only surviving photographs of him is a mugshot taken during a period he spent at the Leavenworth State Penitentiary — a reminder that family history, like history itself, is rarely simple.
He married Lucy No Wife, a Cherokee woman, and records list his occupation simply as:
Cowboy.
Kyle Stanley Art 