Steve Lackmeyer and Jack Money are award-winning book authors and journalists at The Oklahoman who covered much of the demise and rebirth of the Skirvin Hilton from the early 1990s through today.

As a youngster, Jack participated in musical competitions inside the hotel’s second-floor ballrooms and played on the hotel’s old elevators, irritating the hotel’s staff whenever he would pull the panic button and then run from the car downstairs into the lobby.

Steve, who’s family came to town in 1977 when his father built the Sheraton Century Center Hotel across the street, watched with interest as the Skirvin’s owners and operators enjoyed a last spark of glory during the 1980s before becoming overwhelmed by a collapsing oil market and the sleepy cocoon enveloping downtown.

Both wrote stories about the city’s frustration that the hotel remained closed and about early efforts to find a developer to get the Skirvin open once again. Steve covered the efforts that led to achieving that goal, and authored a special section for The Oklahoman celebrating the hotel’s reopening in 2007.

Together, the two wrote “OKC – A Second Time Around,” which entered a second printing in 2007 – just months after its initial release. The book was honored for best design in the 2007 Oklahoma Book Awards and the authors’ work was recognized with the B.H. Prasad Award by the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Jack earned a journalism degree from the University of Central Oklahoma, while Steve earned a journalism degree from Oklahoma Christian University. Jack, 46, is now a business writer at The Oklahoman. Steve, 41, covers downtown development and authors a weekly column, “Main Street,” for the paper’s business section.