Rambling Boy from Marfa Public Radio

Bill Wittliff; the man who wrote three novels and innumerable screenplays, including Lonesome Dove, The Perfect Storm, and Barbarosa, to name only a few, died of a heart attack in Austin, on June 9, 2019 at the age of 79. Wittliff was one of the most creative people Lonn had ever met, and on this edition of The Rambling Boy, he looks back on the life and work of the Texas legend. Hosted by for KRTS

A few rambles Back, Lonn mentioned how in the early 1970, while director of the Winedale Historical Center at Round Top, Texas, he worked with the well known Houston Philanthropist Ima Hogg, who had donated the Winedale to the University of Texas. That Segment generated dozens of e-mail requests that he write more about Miss Hogg, which he was happy to do because she was one memorable Texan. On this edition of The Rambling Boy, Lonn looks back at good times spent with her. Hosted by for KRTS

In the 1970s, Lonn was the director of Winedale, a historic site in Central Texas that had been given to the University of Texas by the well-known Houston Philanthropist, Miss Ima Hogg. Windale is located near High Top, a Texas-German town with a population of about seventy German speaking people, most of whom were still doing things the same way they had been done a hundred years before Lonn's arrival. On this edition of The Rambling Boy, Lonn looks back on his time in Winedale and neighboring Round Top, from friendly faces and history-related expeditions, to jokes that don't translate as well to an english speaking audience. Hosted by for KRTS

Over the years, Memorial Day has evolved from a day to honor the war dead into a day to honor all who have served in the military. In preparation for Memorial Day 2019, Lonn wants to remember the life of a Marfa-born, WWII B-17 pilot, Edward Monroe Slack. After graduating from Marfa High School in 1935, attending Sul Ross and the University of Texas in Austin, Slack decided he wanted to fly, and later became a integral piece of the war effort, flying missions in nazi-oocupied France and later North Africa - including one harrowing mission that earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross. On this edition of The Rambling Boy, Lonn remembers Slack, a local and national hero. Hosted by for KRTS

Lonn may not have grown up in the theater, but he can certainly say he grew up with an awareness of it. On this edition of The Reambling Boy, Lonn tells of his experiences with the theater; including how his parents were both enthusiastic amateur actors and active in their participants in community theater groups whever the family was living at the time. Hosted by for KRTS

During last week's episode, Lonn mentioned a story about James Boone and a head of cattle that turned into pigs. He received so many requests to tell the whole story, that it's the main topic of discussion this week's edition of The Rambling Boy. Hosted by for KRTS

Recently, an Austin Filmmaker by the name of Anne Rapp, who is currently producing a documentary about  Horton Foote, visited the Taylor residence in Fort Davis. Foote, a Pulitzer prize-winning playwright and Screenwriter, based most of his plays and films off people who lived in Wharton, Texas - a sleepy, cotton-planting town on the Colorado River near Houston, that he called home. Wharton also just so happens to be the hometown of Lonn's grandmother ; On this edition of The Rambling Boy, Lonn explores Foote's tall tales of Wharton. Hosted by for KRTS

In 2018, independent folklorist Jens Lund shared an article from Eater Magazine with Lonn titled The Myth of Authenticity Is Killing Tex-Mex, and it inspired him so much he had to talk about it. On this edition of The Rambling Boy, Lonn, who's been a fan of Tex-Mex since first trying eating at Caro's in Fort Worth in 1956, explores the history and future of the cuisine Texans love so much. Hosted by for KRTS

Everyone loves a murder mystery, and even though this one is a century old, it has everything: forgeries; poison; a villainous butler; legal tangles; a hurricane; a chance encounter; and one of the wealthiest men in Texas history. On this edition of The Rambling Boy, Lonn explores the murder mystery of William Marsh Rice, and how it subsequently led to the founding of Rice University. Hosted by for KRTS

Lonn has recently been rambling through the past, with the help of some five-thousand 35mm ektachrome color slides his father took with a Leica III in Asia and Europe between 1947 and 1955. On this edition of The Rambling Boy, Lonn shares some of his favorites. Hosted by for KRTS