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      • 3 min read

    The Inspiration for a Book Title from Long Ago

    It was 51 years ago, actually May 22, 1971, when the title of my current memoir, “With The Bark Off,” was first uttered publicly, and on national television at that. It happened at an event unlike any other at the time, or since then, in Austin’s history. And the occasion has been rarely duplicated anywhere else in the US for that matter during the ensuing half century.


    Let me explain. The occasion was the official opening and dedication ceremony of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of the University of Texas. President Johnson and UT System Chair of the Board of Regents Frank Erwin had retained me six months prior to chair and manage the mammoth undertaking. (The university built the facility on UT land before turning it over to the National Archives to operate.)


    These were the words uttered by LBJ describing what was included in the Library and Museum:

    “It’s all here: the story of our time – with the bark off….I do not know how this period will be regarded in years to come. But that is not the point. This library will show the facts – not just the joy and triumphs, but the sorrow and failures, too.”

    So, decades later, as I wrote my memoir (that included fun and interesting facts about that event) it only seemed fitting to name the book, With The Bark Off, A Journalist’s Memories of LBJ and a Life in the News Media. Because I share true tidbits, including some embarrassing moments:

    --like when LBJ chewed my butt out

    --like when Chairman Erwin broke a state law by surprisingly serving mid-day alcoholic drinks to the guests (that he may have paid for personally or hid somewhere in the UT budget)

    --like when I lied to President Nixon

    --like when a miscalculation led to the VIP guests getting sprayed with a mist of water when we turned on the towering fountain.


    You get the picture. Speaking of pictures, let me share a picture of historical significance.


    The ceremony took place on an open platform outside during a time of Vietnam War protests. Four out of the top five officials in line to become president in case something happened to the president were side-by-side on the platform. Talk about security concerns! Look closely at this photo.


    The Dedication of the LBJ Library May 22, 1971

    With demonstrations being held nearby, in addition to President Nixon, “P”, four of the five presidential successors stood in the open on the platform. “1” first in line is Vice President Spiro Agnew (partially obscured by LBJ), “2” is Speaker of the House Carl Albert, “4” is Secretary of State William Rogers, and “5” is Treasury Secretary former Texas governor John Connally. The President Pro Tem of the Senate, #3 in succession, (not pictured) because he stayed in Washington.

    Luckily protests were peaceful and safely away from the stage. But we had national guard troops hidden beneath the stadium, and a cadre of Secret Service and ATF agents were out of sight in the nearby law school building, just in case.

    Oh yeah, one final example of how we really do share these memories "with the bark off" in our memoir: I recount how LBJ asked me to follow along as he read his dedication remarks to me. He led me into the men’s room, reading aloud, holding his speech in one hand and guiding his stream with the other.


    This Super-8 home movie of the dedication was filmed by HR Haldeman and Dwight Chapin via Jeff Kreines YouTube

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


    #nealspelce #withthebarkoff


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      • 1 min read

    Neal Spelce at Winedale: 2.22.22

    I'm happy to be the guest speaker at the Winedale Historical Site's monthly meeting. It will be held remotely, and will be accessible virtually

    via Zoom

    Join us on Tuesday, February 22 at noon for a special book talk with legendary newsman (and Briscoe Center advisory council member) @NealSpelce. He will discuss his recent memoir, “With the Bark Off,” and his time working with LBJ in the White House. Contact Tricia Blakistone at tricia.blakistone@austin.utexas.edu for a link to this talk. Neal’s book was published by the center and is distributed by @UniversityofTexasPress


    Winedale Historic Landmark

    Winedale

    A Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, State Antiquities Landmark, and on the National Register of Historic Places; Winedale is in northern Fayette County, and a division of the University of Texas at Austin's Briscoe Center for American History.



    Learn More Here: https://briscoecenter.org/winedale/


    #nealspelce #withthebarkoff #briscoecenterforamericanhistory #booktalk

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      • 2 min read

    Neal Spelce in Austin American Statesman

    Updated: Feb 7

    Excellent History Feature on Neal Spelce in the February 5, 2022 Austin American Statesman, interview with Michael Barnes.



    Neal's interview in Austin 360 On the Scene

    Excerpt from the interview:

    In one way or another, Neal Spelce has been involved in TV news almost since the birth of TV news.


    He started working for the family of future President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson at Austin's KTBC in 1956, just 16 years after Lowell Thomas hosted the first-ever, regularly scheduled news broadcast on television in 1940.


    The Johnson-owned KTBC, founded in 1952, remained the only VHF TV channel in Austin until 1965. Its program director, late humorist Cactus Pryor, cherry-picked the best shows from the national networks — CBS, ABC, NBC and, before 1956, the now-gone Dumont Television Network.


    Born in 1936, Spelce is perhaps best known as the newsman who broadcast live on the scene as Charles Whitman shot anyone who moved from his roost atop the University of Texas Tower on Aug. 1, 1966. His voice was heard across America as the first mass shooting on a college campus exploded all around him.Spelce also enjoyed a long career as a TV news anchor and a media consultant. Along the way, he met the famous and the infamous, sweetening each encounter with a bit of his Arkansas country charm.


    Tower Books, UT Press and the Briscoe Center for American History recently joined forces to publish his lively memoir, "With the Bark Off," a phrase that LBJ used when he opened the LBJ Presidential Library in 1971 as he promised a "warts and all" access to history.


    I interviewed Spelce as soon as I finished the last page of this intriguing set of yarns that is also filled with crucial Texas, Austin and American history.


    Read the entire article here:

    https://bit.ly/NS_Statesman2-22


    #michaelbarnes #austinamericanstatesman #nealspelce #withthebarkoff





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