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      • 1 min read

    Neal on KOOP FM: 1.7.22

    Listen to Tom Zigal and me on the Rag Radio show KOOP.FM

    Interview with Thorne Dreyer

    The interview aired

    Friday, January 7, 2022

    Listen:

    Rag Radio 1-7-2022


    Thomas Zigal, is an accomplished author and collaborator for With the Bark Off. Tom's contributions to my memoir were immeasurable and greatly appreciated. He was a delight to work with and share stories with throughout the process!


    Tom Zigal, Neal Spelce, Thorne Dreyer & Tracey Schulz

    KOOP 91.7 FM


    Rag Radio is an hour-long news and public affairs program broadcast Fridays, 2-3 p.m. (CT) in Austin and rebroadcast by several other community radio stations.


    With roots in the Sixties underground press, Rag Radio features hour-long in-depth interviews with public figures, artists, musicians and writers, political and social activists, and historic figures in Austin and around the country. Rag Radio also features regular local and national news analysis.


    The show is loosely affiliated with The Rag Blog, the digital-age rebirth of Austin’s iconic Sixties underground newspaper, The Rag.


    #nealspelce #withthebarkoff #thomaszigal #koopfm

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    • Austin
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      • 1 min read

    Neal on Texas Standard: 12.16.21

    Updated: Dec 16, 2021

    Listen to my interview with David Brown on Texas Standard

    and listen to my interview with David Brown

    The interview aired

    Thursday, December 16, 2021

    Listen:

    https://bit.ly/NS_TxStandard


    Texas Standard Host, David Brown

    Texas Standard

    Texas Standard delivers timely, thoughtful coverage of politics, lifestyle, the environment, technology, and business from a uniquely Texas perspective.

    Hosted by award-winning journalist David Brown, Texas Standard features interviews and reporting that reflect the diversity of the Lone Star State. From fascinating innovations that reshape technology to shifting demographics that transform the nation, from political leaders to pop culture icons.


    Texas Standard is setting a new bar for broadcast news coverage, offering crisp, up-to-the-moment coverage of politics, lifestyle and culture, the environment, technology and innovation, and business and the economy. Texas Standard is also committed to uncovering stories as they happen and spotting the trends that will shape tomorrow’s headlines.

    The one-hour daily news magazine is grounded in the best traditions of American journalism: fact-based, independent and politically neutral reporting. In an era in which news outlets, politics and citizens are increasingly polarized, Texas Standard offers critical breadth, variety and integrity.

    Texas Standard is produced in the state capital in collaboration with KUT Austin, KERA North Texas, Houston Public Media and Texas Public Radio San Antonio, as well as news organizations across Texas, Mexico and the United States.


    #nealspelce #withthebarkoff #texasstandard #npr #kut

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    • Austin
      • 2 min read

    Darrell K Royal


    Photo: TSHA Online via Austin American-Statesman

    With football season kicking into high gear, readers of the sports pages – and even those following economic news – will see the University of Texas stadium name “Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium” pop up frequently.


    Photo: Darrell K Royal Research Fund

    What about this guy whose name is on a massive facility? Did he give mega-bucks to UT like those whose names you see on most of the buildings around the Austin campus and, in fact, on university campuses nationwide? Nope. Sports fans will tell you he was just a football coach. And they can recite his amazing record.


    But you need to understand Darrell to get the full meaning of the stadium name. First of all, he was a small-town country boy (in Oklahoma, of all places). He was “rescued” from Hollis, OK, because as a natural athlete, he earned an education while on a football scholarship at Oklahoma University. He excelled as a player and as a “learner” under one of the nation’s best coaches, Bud Wilkinson.


    He moved through mostly-minor coaching ranks as a young man, until one day in 1956 my KTBC-TV news director turned to me and said “Neal, who the hell is Darrell Royal?” I was a part-time reporter and asked “Why?” “Because UT just hired him as its football coach to take over after the Longhorns won only one game last year.”

    Turns out, I knew about Darrell Royal because he was in the same fraternity at OU, Delta Upsilon, that I was a member of at UT, and I followed his career in the frat quarterly magazine. That link became the linchpin to a lifelong relationship with Darrell and his wife, Edith, that I write about extensively in my memoir, With the Bark Off.


    But that’s another story. Back to the point. Darrell didn’t donate a buncha bucks to get his name on the stadium. His down-home, country-boy, witty personality helped him become enormously popular (signs popped up: “Darrell Royal for Governor”).

    So, when UT decided to make another major stadium expansion long after Darrell retired from coaching and was spending his days golfing, the fund-raisers contacted wealthy alums with a pitch like: “Everybody loves Darrell so let’s truly honor one of the greatest guys to impact UT and re-name the stadium in perpetuity for Darrell.” Bingo! The dollar floodgates opened. Darrell’s name was added to the existing Texas Memorial Stadium that honored veterans.


    By the way, that’s not a typo at the end of the first sentence. Darrell dropped the period after his middle initial. I don’t know why.



    I interviewed Coach Royal in 1969 when the installation of Astroturf was making news.


    To receive updates for With the Bark Off please Join My List.


    #nealspelce #darrellkroyal #ut



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