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      • 2 min read

    Progress May Change Things, But It Can't Change Memories

    Updated: Mar 27

    For almost 100 years, well, since 1926 anyway, University of Texas students particularly and Austinites generally have enjoyed burgers, fries and shakes at Dirty Martin’s on the Drag at 2808 Guadalupe. Okay, Dirty Martin’s is not the real name. It is officially Martin’s Kumbak Place, but everybody calls it Dirty Martin’s or simply Dirty’s.

    It doesn’t appear to have changed since we first set foot there as a UT freshman in 1952 (or even maybe changed since 1926, but that was before we were born). However, this may be all about to change if Capital Metro’s Project Connect carries its plans forward. The proposed light rail Orange Line map shows the rail project slicing through part of Dirty’s property. Progress.

    Photo: Dirty Martin's

    Now just because something is 96 years old doesn’t make it historic or worth keeping in the name of historical preservation. But, memories? C’mon. I know, nobody has ever put a plaque on a memory. But memories are precious to you as an individual. And you can preserve those as long as you are able.

    Let me quickly share a Dirty’s newsmaking memory with you. One Sunday night in 1953 we were eating the Size Royal mexican food plate with a handful of fraternity brothers at the Night Hawk. Young, naïve, and mischievous that we late-teens were, we talked about how we could help the Texas football team beat the nation’s #3 team, Baylor, that was coming to town Saturday.


    “I got it. Let’s start holding pep rallies tomorrow, Monday.” So we all agreed to meet at 7 am (pretty rare time for college kids!) and write on every classroom chalkboard “Beat Baylor. Pep Rally tonight at 10 at Dirty’s.” We rounded up a few stray members of the Longhorn Band and climbed atop Dirty’s overhang. And proceeded to make a lotta racket.

    Photo: Dirty Martins. c. 1953 (that's me in the silly hat banging a snare drum)

    We repeated that exercise every night at Dirty’s. Crowds grew. Traffic stopped. Car horns honked. “Beat the pee out of #3” echoed throughout the neighborhood. It got so big, and almost out of hand, that we moved downtown, closing Congress Avenue. We led the crowd in cheers and music from the streetside balcony of the Stephen F. Austin Hotel.


    It didn’t stop there. We led the crowd into the Paramount Theater, interrupting a movie to lead cheers, from in front of the screen, to startled moviegoers. Ahh, youthful enthusiasm! Oh yeah, as we left the theater we led the mob to the Governor’s Mansion for a final rally.

    Photo: Twitter

    The crowd was electric at the UT/Baylor game. The student section stood the whole game. And, yes, the Texas Longhorns upset the favored Baylor Bears. And, it all started at Dirty Martin’s.

    Don’t know at this writing if progress will impact Dirty’s. But even if Dirty’s changes as it nears its 100th anniversary, those of us who chowed down on cheeseburgers there over the generations will relish our cherished memories.


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    #nealspelce #withthebarkoff


    • University of Texas
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    • Austin
      • 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

    Book Excerpt in UT's Life and Letters

    Updated: Dec 8, 2021


    With the Bark Off is available where books are sold.

    An excerpt from With the Bark Off has been published in The University of Texas College of Liberal Arts magazine, Life and Letters. (It was the College of Arts and Sciences back in the good ole days!)


    Here is an excerpt of the article:


    The following is an excerpt of With the Bark Off: A Journalist’s Memories of LBJ and a Life in the News Media by Neal Spelce and Thomas Zigal. Both authors are graduates of the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin, which was still the College of Arts and Sciences when Spelce received his bachelor’s degrees in 1958. Spelce enrolled in the Plan II Honors Program in 1952 as a 16-year-old freshman. The program grounded him for his additional degrees – also received in 1958 – in Journalism and Radio and Television. The book was published in September 2021 by The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin.

    A Page From Neal's 1958 University of Texas Yearbook & Today

    Both sides Journalism

    When Barry Goldwater was running against LBJ in 1964, the Republican presidential nominee booked a campaign stop in Austin, in the heart of LBJ country. Goldwater was a pilot, and he flew his own plane, a fairly large DC-3. We reporters headed out to the old Mueller airport in East Austin, and when Goldwater rolled to a stop on the landing strip, we were out there with our cameras. His supporters were there, too. He pushed open the pilot window and stuck his head out and waved to the crowd. “I’m glad to be here,” he said. “When I took off from Phoenix, they asked me if I’d ever been to Austin and if I knew where it was. I said, ‘No, I’ve never been to Austin, but I’m gonna fly east and when I get to a fairly good-sized city with only one TV tower, I’m going to land.’”


    Read the entire article here: https://bit.ly/NS_LifeLetters


    Many thanks to Tom Zigal, whose contribution to my memoir as well as this article was invaluable!


    #ut #lifeandletters #nealspelce #withthebarkoff #universityoftexas

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