Saturday, August 31, 2024
I started my newspaper column 38 years ago. This is column number 1,955. I started it because the editor and publisher of the Big Spring Herald came to my office and said: “You’ve got a lot of good information about Texas on your radio program, and you need to share it with our readers.” I told them I’d be glad to oblige and asked if it would be ok if I syndicated the column to other newspapers. They said that would be fine. So, I started my column. The first one was about a trip to see wildflowers down Highway 71 out of Brady.
Sometimes, the column expresses my thoughts, but mostly it’s about things I run across in Texas: history, folklore, small towns, unique events, characters, and storytellers, the same material I use for my radio program. August first marks a big anniversary for my radio program, The Sound of Texas. It’s the beginning of my 56th year of doing the daily radio show. I’ve done 14,301 episodes since August of 1969.
I started the program because I felt reporting on the real Texas was not being purposely ignored but just overlooked. I had a nine-year career in radio and television news working in Big Spring, Houston, Columbia, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa. I covered hard news and interviewed presidents and other influential people, but what I liked most was doing features about everyday people doing unusual or interesting things.
When I interviewed an 11-year-old blind girl, her enthusiasm and zest for life came through so beautifully on the interview that NBC radio wanted to air it on their weekend series called Monitor. That was the beginning of a six-year stint with NBC radio, sending features about cowboys, rattlesnake hunts, musicians, and characters. I got to wondering if Texans would enjoy hearing about themselves on a daily basis, so I got five three-minute programs ready and sent them to 65 west Texas radio stations inviting them to buy the series. One station replied. I was thrilled. I had a network, KHEM in Big Spring and KZZM in Littlefield. I quit my news job and hit the road selling my radio program to stations and doing interviews. It was a good time to start the series, the decade of the sixties had been rough, and I wanted to do something that made people feel good.
Initially, the program was called Tumbleweed, because it’s such a strong west Texas symbol. I went statewide with the program in 1970 and started using the name Tumbleweed Smith. Smith is my middle name. I appreciate the stations that air the series, the newspapers that carry the column, and especially listeners and readers who send me suggestions about interview topics. It still feels like I’m just getting started. Equipment and technology have changed, but the people have not. Texas is a big state with a lot of fun people, and I want to meet as many as possible.
Thanks for reading and listening!
