Name/Title
Collections of The Gumbo Ranch by Preston LawsonEntry/Object ID
WTL007P0001Description
This is a biography of John Preston Lawson, Jr., born August 20, 1956, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He goes by his middle name, Preston.
Now retired, Preston’s career in telecommunications, took him around the country and the world working for South Central Bell in New Orleans, Bell Laboratories in Northglenn, CO and Holmdel, NJ, AT&T in Columbia and Charleston, SC, CSX Railroad as Sr. Director of Telecommunications Engineering in Jacksonville, FL, Digital Laser Systems and Sr. Director of Sales for Sprint/United Telephone in Jacksonville, FL. After his corporate career, Preston owned two restaurants – one in Aurora, CO, and the other on Johns Island, SC, to fulfill his passion for cooking. Moving west and making his home in San Antonio, TX, he formed The Gumbo Ranch, LLC, for his hunting ranch venture, cookbook publishing, and an online sales platform through eBay. Later, he was hired by H-E-B Grocery, where he developed an innovative sales strategy for their Cooking Connection and became a consultant of sorts, augmenting their wine sales with rare and fine wines from his years of positioning with people and properties around the country and the world. He retired for good on April 1, 2024.
Now, Preston spends his time hunting, fishing, cooking, and feeding his collecting habits of turkey calls (over 4,000), George Herron knives (more than 50), antique SC Dispensary bottles, wine (3,500 bottles), and Indian artifacts!
Most germane to this site is his Collections of The Gumbo Ranch cookbook which features 600 original recipes including a section on wild game. Preston wanted to meld his passion for cooking with his love of turkey calls. He decided to feature prominent call makers and his friends before each chapter with unique biographies and photos of their work in his collection. These included Mr. Billy J. Buice, Dave Constantine, Craig “Cornbread” Corbett, Neil D. Cost, Paul “Vic” Deibel, Reverend Zach Farmer, Ralph Permar, Albert Paul, Dennis Poeschel, Alan Sentell, Charlie Trotter, Danny Wells, and Jerry “Dad” White. First published by Morris Press of Kearney, Nebraska, in 2007, it has been reprinted twice more to support vigorous sales.Collection
Brent Rogers collectionCataloged By
Brent RogersCreate Date
May 17, 2026Update Date
May 17, 2026
