J. Frank Dobie: Tribute to a Texan (1964)

Duration: 29:52:00

Year Published: 1964

Format: 16mm

Sound: sound

Description: In this tribute special produced by Austin’s KTBC-TV, reporter Neal Spelce honors author, folklorist, and Texan James Frank Dobie. Broadcast on September 20, 1964—two days after his death—the segment first looks back at KTBC interviews with Dobie in which he discusses his receipt of the Presidential Medal of Honor and his thoughts following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Later, Austin broadcast personality Cactus Pryor sits down with several of Dobie’s friends to discuss the late author. Members include humorist and Austinite John Henry Faulk; Frank Wardlaw, the director of the University of Texas Press; Joe Small, the publisher of True West Magazine; and Mody Boatright and Joe France, both professors at the Univesity of Texas at Austin. In the discussion, the gentlemen talk about Dobie’s life and legacy, reminiscing about his love of ranch living and his sense of justice. To conclude, Pryor reads an excerpt from Dobie’s last book, Cow People.