Mae Boren Axton was the sister of Oklahoma congressman Lyle Boren and the aunt of former governor and U. S. Senator David Boren. After graduating from East Central State College in Ada with a teaching degree, Mae Boren met and married John Axton. John Axton was serving in the Navy and eventually was stationed in Jacksonville, FL Mae Axton was teaching high school English in Jacksonville at Paxon High School and in her spare time writing songs and helping to promote local recording artists. Thus, in 1955, those two vocations came together. Mae had a program on a local radio station in Jacksonville and was promoting an appearance by country recording star Hank Snow. A young singer from Memphis was the opening act for that show. Mae interviewed that young, largely unknown, singer, Elvis Presley, on her radio show Heartbreak Hotel.

That interview in May 1955 led Mae to meeting Col. Tom Parker who had just signed on to manage Elvis. Parker hired Mae to help with publicity. At that point in her career Mae had already written songs for Perry Como and Ernest Tubb. Later that summer, Mae’s co-writer Tommy Durden read a story in a newspaper about a man who had taken his life. There was no identification on the body, just a hand written note that read ‘I walk a lonely street’. Mae and Durden were struck by that line, and Mae came up with the idea of a Heartbreak Hotel at the end of that lonely street. Mae played the song for Parker then Elvis. Elvis loved it and began using it in his live shows. On January 10, 1956, Elvis recorded ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ at the RCA Nashville studio.