Podcasts about Tuffy

"As I stood about six feet away from him, looking at his beautiful little brown eyes, and Tuffy looked right back into my eyes and actually through my soul. And at that moment, I felt like it was quite emotional, and it really felt like he knew what was going on and understood everything that was going on." – Ana Paula Tavares   For decades, chimpanzees in the United States were used in biomedical research, sent into space, kept as pets, and made to perform for our entertainment. Many spent years, some most of their lives, in cages, separated from other chimpanzees, and denied almost everything that would have made their lives their own. Save the Chimps exist to give some of those lives back. On 150 acres in Florida, more than 200 rescued chimpanzees live in large family groups on island habitats. Some arrive knowing exactly what to do with grass and open sky. Others have spent so long on concrete and behind bars that it can take months or even years before they feel safe enough to step outside. Ana Paula Tavares is the CEO of Save the Chimps. She came to the sanctuary after a career that took her from studying dance in New York to working in conservation around the world. But until Save the Chimps, she had never even met a chimpanzee. In this conversation, we talk about Taffy, Tonka, Vanilla, and some of the other extraordinary chimpanzees at the sanctuary. What happens when an animal has spent decades in captivity and sees open sky or feels grass for the first time. And what chimpanzees can teach us about friendship, forgiveness, family, and second chances. As Ana Paula says, "for many of the chimpanzees at Save the Chimps, the greatest gift we can give them isn't the islands or the open space. It's each other."

Part 2 of this conversation is on Patreon.For 30 years, NC State baseball meant Elliott Avent. Now it's Chris Hart's program — and he just spoke to the media for the first time since taking over.Ethan and Greg break down what he said, and the answer that caught them both off guard. Asked what he'd do differently, Hart didn't talk about pulling pitchers or building a lineup. He talked about expectations — specifically about coming from Florida State, where getting to Omaha wasn't a goal you chased, it was the floor. He told a story about Texas beating the Seminoles and nobody celebrating the season, because Omaha had been the assumption all along. He wants that standard in Raleigh.Along the way: whether winning the ACC should be a real goal or an afterthought, why fans may have been souring on Avent after three decades, what playing to your personnel actually looks like for this roster, and the stolen base problem that drives Greg crazy. Rhett Johnson went 7-for-9 on the bases for USA Baseball this summer. He had 14 steals all season at NC State.Plus what it signals that NC State promoted from inside the building instead of hiring away from it.Part 2 is on Patreon — coaching staff roles, the roster, and where we think this team actually lands. $5 a month gets you that plus 11 more breakdowns:patreon.com/c/tuffytalkNew episodes every week — follow so you never miss one.Follow us:Twitter/X: @tuffytalknowGreg "The Leg" Haas: @PackFanInNOVAEthan Barry: @ncstatestats#NCState #GoPack #Wolfpack #TuffyTalk #NCStateBaseballSend us Fan MailSupport the showNew episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

NC State spent two weeks being told its defensive line was the scariest thing on the roster. Then a federal judge handed the Wolfpack its nose guard back, nineteen days before kickoff.KaTron Evans is eligible and practicing. The NCAA denied his waiver, denied his appeal, and had him off the roster on July 28, one day before camp opened. He went to federal court and won a temporary restraining order. The catch: a TRO is temporary by definition, and there is another hearing on August 18.Greg and I get into what Evans actually fixes on a defensive line that was leaning on a guy with 96 career snaps, Justin Gainey landing a kid NC State offered while he was completely unranked, Micah Handlogten and the portal-timing loophole, why nobody can stop Will Wilson on fourth down, and the tenth straight year NC State has put a player on the Freaks List.18 days until NC State at Virginia.Follow Tuffy Talk wherever you listen, and catch us live every Monday at 8:30 PM on YouTube.Support the show on Patreon, 12 members-only NC State breakdowns a month for $5: patreon.com/c/tuffytalk#ad Powered by Oconee Gold BBQ. Code TUFFYTALK for 15% off your entire order.#NCState #GoPack #Wolfpack #TuffyTalkSend us Fan MailSupport the showNew episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

We got asked to submit our top 5 NC State football players of all time. The list got rejected, because Philip Rivers wasn't on it.Layton stands by it anyway: Ted Brown, Torry Holt, Bradley Chubb, Mario Williams, Adrian Wilson. Greg argues you cannot build a top 5 without a quarterback, and brings his own list. Ethan watches the two of them go at it.Before that: a federal judge just granted an entire class of athletes a fifth year of eligibility, and three former Wolfpack basketball players are caught in the middle, with Ven-Allen Lubin looking like the most likely to return. Plus whether a player who transfers away still counts as one of ours, and a response to the writer who called NC State's defensive line the thinnest he can remember.25 days until NC State opens at Virginia.New episodes every week — follow so you never miss one.Support Tuffy Talk on Patreon: 12 members-only NC State breakdowns a month for $5 — patreon.com/c/tuffytalkFollow us:Twitter/X: @tuffytalknowGreg "The Leg" Haas: @PackFanInNOVAEthan Barry: @ncstatestats#NCState #GoPack #Wolfpack #TuffyTalkSend us Fan MailSupport the showNew episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

NC State's offense returns 62% of its production. The defense returns 46%. Layton and Ethan go position by position through the 2026 Wolfpack defense — every projected starter, all five defensive transfers, and whether a rebuilt unit is a downgrade or an upgrade.KaTron Evans is suing the NCAA after his waiver was denied a day before camp. Harvey Dyson arrives from Tulane to carry a pass rush that generated only 20 sacks last season — and Ethan digs into why that number should have been much higher. Josiah Victor has 96 career snaps and might be the most important player on the roster.By the end, the two of us flatly disagree on how good this defense can be.Part 2 of our 2026 preview series. Full season predictions coming next.New episodes every week — follow so you never miss one.Support Tuffy Talk on Patreon: 12 members-only NC State breakdowns a month for $5 — patreon.com/c/tuffytalkFollow us:Twitter/X: @tuffytalknowGreg "The Leg" Haas: @PackFanInNOVAEthan Barry: @ncstatestats#NCState #GoPack #Wolfpack #TuffyTalkSend us Fan MailSupport the showNew episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

Clarence Ford is joined Petco’s recycling value chain analyst, Boipelo Madonsela on their partnership with Tuffy x Myplas x Operation Smile South Africa x Sweethearts Foundation Views and News with Clarence Ford is the mid-morning show on CapeTalk. This 3-hour long programme shares and reflects a broad array of perspectives. It is inspirational, passionate and positive. Host Clarence Ford’s gentle curiosity and dapper demeanour leave listeners feeling motivated and empowered. Known for his love of jazz and golf, Clarrie covers a range of themes including relationships, heritage and philosophy. Popular segments include Barbs’ Wire at 9:30am (Mon-Thurs) and The Naked Scientist at 9:30 on Fridays. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Views & News with Clarence Ford Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays between 09:00 and 12:00 (SA Time) to Views and News with Clarence Ford broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/erjiQj2 or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/BdpaXRn Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We said Chris Dunn is the greatest kicker in NC State history, some of you were furious, so we settled a bigger question: at how many positions does NC State actually have an UNDISPUTED GOAT? Ethan, Greg, Macon and Layton go position by position — and only three names survive.Before the debate: Jacoby Brissett's new deal with Arizona, worth up to $21 million. UNC's general manager getting put on paid administrative leave five weeks before kickoff. And the three defensive transfers who could swing NC State's season.Then Ethan closes with the question nobody's ready for — with four-star Gunner Rivers, Philip's son, on the way, who's actually NC State's starting quarterback a year from now?The three undisputed GOATs, the one that got away, and a whole lot of arguing in between.New episodes every week — follow so you never miss one.Support Tuffy Talk on Patreon: 12 members-only NC State breakdowns a month for $5 — patreon.com/c/tuffytalkFollow us:Twitter/X: @tuffytalknowGreg "The Leg" Haas: @PackFanInNOVAEthan Barry: @ncstatestats#NCState #GoPack #Wolfpack #TuffyTalkSend us Fan MailSupport the showNew episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

NC State football averaged 30.2 points a game last season. It also scored seven points. Twice. Layton and Ethan break down every position group on the 2026 offense and try to work out which of those numbers is the real team.CJ Bailey enters year three after 3,105 yards, 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Ethan's verdict: they've gone all in on him, and it's his show now. Whether that works comes down to two things — and the hosts don't agree on which matters more.Also: why Doeren attempted only nine field goals all season, whether Duke Scott gets to 1,000 yards for the first time since 2018, who actually becomes Bailey's number one receiver, and why losing Jai'Lun Hampton on the offensive line hurts more than it first looked.Part one of six. Defense preview next week.New episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.Support Tuffy Talk on Patreon and get 12 members-only NC State breakdowns every month for just $5: patreon.com/c/tuffytalkFind Tuffy Talk on all major podcast platforms — Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart, and more. Search "Tuffy Talk" wherever you listen.Follow us everywhere:Twitter/X: @tuffytalknowGreg "The Leg" Haas: @PackFanInNOVAEthan Barry: @ncstatestats#NCState #GoPack #Wolfpack #TuffyTalkSend us Fan MailSupport the showNew episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

Dave Doeren said CJ Bailey could be one of the five best quarterbacks in the country. Ethan isn't buying it, and he brought the numbers.Layton, Greg, and Ethan react to everything out of ACC Kickoff 2026 for NC State football: Doeren's "sick of being second" comment and the version of him nobody has seen before, Bailey's claim that he's the alpha leader this team needs, Isaiah Shirley's national community honor, and Dabo Swinney's argument that stopping tampering will take an act of Congress.All three hosts lock in an X-factor for NC State to win the ACC title — on record, come back in December and hold them to it. Ethan's Stat Pack digs into how much offensive production is actually returning, and the number caught everyone off guard. Plus the UNC revenue figures that started a genuine argument on air, and the eligibility ruling that cost the Wolfpack an offensive tackle 40 days before kickoff.This episode was originally recorded live on July 20, 2026.New episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.Support Tuffy Talk on Patreon and get 12 members-only NC State breakdowns every month for just $5: patreon.com/c/tuffytalkFind Tuffy Talk on all major podcast platforms — Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart, and more. Search "Tuffy Talk" wherever you listen.Follow us everywhere:Twitter/X: @tuffytalknowGreg "The Leg" Haas: @PackFanInNOVAEthan Barry: @ncstatestats#NCState #GoPack #Wolfpack #TuffyTalkSend us Fan MailSupport the showNew episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

Greg and Ethan break down the most underrated and slept on NC State players across every sport, the athletes who outperformed their roster billing and gave the Wolfpack more than anyone expected in 2025-26.Football: was the offensive line NC State's most overlooked unit? CJ Bailey's value relative to his contract gets debated. Basketball: Quadir Copeland, now signed with the Houston Rockets on a two-way deal, leads the list, with Paul McNeil's loyalty and production right behind him. Does NC State basketball need NBA-level talent to compete in the ACC? Greg and Ethan go back and forth. Baseball: Rhett Johnson's 28-game hitting streak and historic freshman season make him the unanimous choice, with Sherman Johnson, Ty Head, and Chris McHugh rounding out the conversation.Plus: a closing debate on the NC State women's cross country dynasty and whether Laurie Henes can sustain it without Katelyn Tuohy.New episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

Seven NC State players drafted in the 2026 MLB Draft, Ty Head, Jacob Dudan, Ryan Marohn, Luke Nixon, Sherman Johnson, Cooper Consiglio, and Chris McHugh. Layton, Greg, and Ethan break down every pick, debate whether Ty Head or Jacob Dudan will reach the majors first, and Ethan's Stat Pack reveals how this draft class stacks up historically in total signing bonus money.Plus: the crew debates whether NC State was the highest bidder for CJ Bailey's return, reacts to ACC head referee Gary Patterson quitting mid-season, and discusses whether NC State basketball belongs higher than 21st all time. Heath Andrews signs with the Cleveland Guardians as an undrafted free agent to round out the full Pack pipeline story.New episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

Greg and Ethan draft their top three NC State sports moments of the 2025-2026 season, and debate whether this was a weak year for Wolfpack highlights overall.Ethan takes the men's soccer run to the national championship game behind Donavan Phillip, women's cross country's fourth title in five years without star runner Katelyn Tuohy, and the men's basketball win over UNC. Greg counters with the cross country dynasty argument, Isaac Trumble's NCAA heavyweight wrestling championship and his decision to enter military service, and the Gasparilla Bowl win over Memphis that helped NC State football get back on track under Dave Doeren.Honorable mentions include Elliott Avent's final win at Doak Field and NC State basketball's ACC road win streak — plus a closing debate on whether Will Wade leaving for LSU mid-season cost the Wolfpack a legitimate NCAA Tournament run.New episodes every week. Support the show on Patreon for extra NC State breakdowns: patreon.com/c/tuffytalkFollow on Twitter/X: @tuffytalknow | @PackFanInNOVA | @ncstatestatsSend us Fan MailSupport the showNew episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

Layton and Greg debate whether 2026 is finally Dave Doeren's year to break through in the ACC — then lock in their official NC State football breakout player predictions on record. Greg takes Duke Scott for 1,000 rushing yards, the first NC State back to hit that mark since Reggie Gillespie in 2018. Layton takes Jonathan Taylor, a former four-star prospect who's been waiting two years for his shot after a redshirt year and a season-ending knee injury.The crew also ranks the Top 5 NC State fall storylines across every sport: volleyball's European tour and breakthrough potential, women's cross country's bid for a fifth national title without Katelyn Tuohy, women's soccer building behind JJ Barlow, men's soccer facing life without Donavan Phillip after his national championship run, and NC State football as the clear #1 — experienced roster, favorable schedule, year 14 for Doeren.Tweet of the Week: Rhett Johnson makes the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and heads to Taiwan, Coach Elliott Avent honored by Team USA, Taylor Black returns to NC State baseball under Chris Hart, college football's new 21-practice rule and FCS scrimmage changes explained, the transfer portal window shrinking from 15 to 10 days, and a North Carolina sports betting revenue bill that could send up to $5.8 million annually to NC State athletics.New episodes every Monday. Support the show on Patreon for extra NC State breakdowns: patreon.com/c/tuffytalkFollow on Twitter/X: @tuffytalknow | @PackFanInNOVA | @ncstatestatsSend us Fan MailSupport the showNew episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

While the rest of the planet is glued to the World Cup, Layton, Greg, and Ethan are locked in on the Wolfpack. This week on Tuffy Talk, the crew breaks down VCU's coach calling out NC State for "ducking smoke" after the Wolfpack bought out their non-conference matchup — and unpacks the new game against UNC that's taking its place...The crew also reacts to NC State basketball's newly revealed jersey numbers for Justin Gainey's first full roster, debates Matt Abel's comments about leaving for a "higher level" program at USC, celebrates LuJames Groover's first MLB home run with the Diamondbacks, and Ethan reveals his Top 10 highest-paid NC State athletes for the upcoming season — including a surprising name at center. Plus: Tweet of the Week, a Texas transfer portal addition for NC State baseball, and a major offensive line recruiting commitment. Support the show on Patreon for extra weekly breakdowns: patreon.com/c/tuffytalk Follow on Twitter/X: @tuffytalknow #NCState #Wolfpack #GoPack #TuffyTalkSend us Fan MailSupport the showNew episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

Tuffy Talk Live finally returns after getting pushed back a night by a brutal storm that knocked out power lines across the Triangle and apparently took Ethan's AC down with it for good measure. Layton, Greg, and Ethan pick up right where they left off, and there's a lot to get to.It starts with Duke Scott. NC State just handed him the No. 1 jersey, the most prestigious number in the program, and the crew breaks down why it matters that he's the first offensive player to wear it since Stephen Louis back in 2018. Greg calls it a leadership distinction more than a production promise, though nobody on the show is shy about saying they expect a monster role for Scott regardless. From there, the conversation shifts to the number everyone's been asking about, NC State's win total, which opened at 6.5 with heavy juice on the over before eventually settling at 7.5. Greg makes the case for the over, Ethan plays the skeptic, and the group lands on an interesting historical parallel: last year's UNC team carried the exact same 7.5 win total and the exact same "this is a bet on the schedule, not the roster" framing — and it blew up spectacularly. Ethan isn't ready to call NC State the next UNC, but he's not dismissing the comparison either.Then Ethan's Stat Pack digs into a problem that's been quietly building for two years, NC State baseball's home run production has cratered, dropping from a real power threat just a few seasons ago to near the bottom of the ACC. Ethan and Greg trade guesses on just how far the power numbers fell, and the answer surprises both of them.The show also debuts a brand new segment — Pack Pro of the Week — kicking things off with honorable mentions for Garrett Pennington's promotion to Double-A and Saniya Rivers hitting 500 career points in the WNBA, before handing the main honor to Trent Hidlay for locking up his second straight U.S. Senior World Team berth, beating fellow Wolfpack legend Michael Macchiavello to do it.Tweet of the Week brings two of the biggest stories in all of college sports, the NCAA's new five-year, no-exceptions eligibility model that's about to eliminate redshirting as a concept entirely, and NC State basketball quietly buying out of its scheduled home-and-home with VCU, a decision that has Greg more frustrated than almost anything else discussed on the show. The crew closes out debating the best home environments in college football, with a Carter-Finley shoutout from an unlikely source, before Rod Brind'Amour's NC State hat strikes again, this time getting called out directly by the NC State baseball Twitter account.Tuffy Talk is NC State's home for sports talk, hot takes, and everything Wolfpack. New episodes every Monday at 8:30 PM ET on YouTube. Join the Patreon at patreon.com/c/tuffytalk for exclusive weekly NC State breakdowns from Ethan — $5/month.

Send us Fan MailThere's a number that explains almost every NC State football loss over the past two years, and it has nothing to do with talent, scheme, or who's lining up around him. Ethan Barry pulled it straight from his own Patreon breakdown: CJ Bailey is 10-1 in his career when he throws one interception or fewer. He's 3-10 when he throws multiple. Same quarterback. Same coaching staff. Completely different team.Layton and Ethan dig into exactly which losses that gap accounts for, the three-interception Duke game, the uncompetitive Notre Dame and Miami showings, the 2024 Georgia Tech heartbreaker decided by a single point. They also revisit the seasons before Bailey, back to Devin Leary and the quarterback carousel years, and the pattern holds up every time: when NC State protects the football, it doesn't matter who's behind center. When it doesn't, nothing else matters either.But this isn't just a look backward. Bailey is heading into a contract-year-sized spotlight in 2026 — bigger money, bigger expectations, and a receiving corps that lost Noah Rogers, Hollywood Smothers, and Justin Joly. Ethan makes the case for why the schedule actually sets Bailey up to succeed this time (no Clemson, no Miami, no Notre Dame on the slate), points to the Virginia Tech home loss as the one game last year he should have stolen and didn't, and closes by breaking down where he'd actually place a bet on Bailey's 2026 prop numbers — and it's not where you'd think.Tuffy Talk is NC State's home for sports talk, hot takes, and everything Wolfpack. New episodes every Monday at 8:30 PM ET on YouTube. Join the Patreon at patreon.com/c/tuffytalk for exclusive weekly NC State breakdowns from Ethan — $5/month.Support the show

Send us Fan MailThe Carolina Hurricanes are about to throw a parade twenty years in the making. Layton and Ethan open with the scale of it — over 100,000 fans expected in downtown Raleigh this Saturday, a city that's been partying nonstop since the Cup came home, and a fanbase that somehow manages to unite NC State, UNC, Duke, and Wake Forest fans under one roof at Lenovo Center. But this isn't really a hockey episode. It's an episode about why the Canes' championship run matters to the Wolfpack too.It starts with a number. Rod Brind'Amour — now the first player-turned-coach to win a title with the same franchise since 1956 — wears 17 for Carolina. Philip Rivers wore 17 for NC State. Neither connection was planned, but as Layton puts it, numbers have a funny way of working themselves out. From there, the episode digs into Justin Gainey's full-circle moment — the same man who scored the first basket ever in what's now Lenovo Center back in the late 90s is the one who rang the ceremonial siren before Game 1 of the Canes' first-round series, and is now NC State's head coach in that very building.Then the story turns to Carter-Finley Stadium, where the Canes hosted a Stadium Series outdoor game against Washington in 2023 — complete with the NC State marching band, Mr. and Mrs. Wolf, and Wolf hands thrown up mid-celebration. Ethan calls it one of the best live sporting events he's ever attended. Just days later, the Frozen Finley college hockey game drew over 25,000 fans, completely overwhelming the merchandise table.The episode closes on the practical stuff that actually matters for NC State's future — the $300 million Lenovo Center renovation now accelerating because of the Cup run, the $1 billion of development planned around the arena, and why playing home games in a real professional arena has quietly been one of NC State basketball's best recruiting tools for years. And finally, the big debate: would an NC State men's basketball national championship draw a parade anywhere close to the size of what the Canes are getting this weekend? Ethan isn't so sure — but he'd love to find out.Tuffy Talk is NC State's home for sports talk, hot takes, and everything Wolfpack. New episodes every Monday at 8:30 PM ET on YouTube. Join the Patreon at patreon.com/c/tuffytalk for exclusive weekly NC State breakdowns from Ethan — $5/month.

Send us Fan MailIt's Monday night and Tuffy Talk Live opens with breaking news before the show even hits its second segment, Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby and the university mutually part ways, ending the gambling injunction saga that had college football holding its breath for two weeks. Layton, Greg, and Ethan react in real time. Greg calls the NCAA "punked." Ethan says it feels like a PR move driven by Big 12 pressure. Layton ties it directly to the Will Wade situation, because if you want to talk about ethics in college athletics, you can't do it without talking about both.Then the Will Wade investigation. NC State is not letting this go quietly. The timeline is damning, LSU's season ended March 11, Wade resigned March 25, he was introduced at LSU March 26, and the buyout was set to drop from $5 million to $3 million on April 1. NC State Vice Chancellor Allison Newhart wrote that the school has reason to suspect LSU influenced efforts to avoid or delay notice of Wade's recruitment to save money on the buyout. LSU responded by asking NC State to sign a legal waiver. NC State refused. Wade's response to all of it? "They're pretty mad for a coach they didn't think was very good." Ethan calls it a Captain Obvious situation. Greg says you hold people accountable. And the conversation turns to the real question, does NC State have a case, and what are they actually going after?Then the new Report Card segment debuts, and Layton, Greg, and Ethan grade every one of Chris Hart's moves in his first two weeks as head coach. First up is a name we hadn't heard before, Mississippi State catcher Andrew Raymond, who chose NC State over multiple SEC schools specifically because of the program's catcher development history. All-Rookie A-10 as a freshman at George Mason before transferring to Mississippi State. Greg and Ethan both land at B-plus. Then Hunter Warren gets an A, Ethan makes the case that Warren has been better than Luke Nixon in Year 1 and Year 2 comparisons. Chet Lax gets a B-minus from Ethan, not a reflection on Lax himself but on where he slots in a rotation that still needs more arms. Jesse Gutierrez gets a B, Greg hears from a former San Jose State teammate that Gutierrez sits 89 to 91 as a starter and bumps to 92-93 out of the bullpen. McCall Biemiller gets a C from Ethan and an incomplete from Greg — 13 career innings is simply not enough data. Taylor Black as recruiting coordinator gets an A-minus from both, Ethan notes he stepped into exactly the job Hart vacated, the Florida pipeline stays open, and Bo Robinson and JT Jarrett keep their roles without having to be promoted past where they belong.Then NC State basketball, JUCO center Shah Hall official visit breakdown, the Auburn frontcourt target situation, and whether state even needs Hall if the roster fills out elsewhere. Jacob Burns and Amir Moore football commits, Greg says he can't get excited about three-star recruits even though he respects what they represent. Ethan ties it back to the bigger picture, you find your star players through the high school ranks and use the portal for depth, not the other way around. And the ACC power rankings debate, On3's Andy Staples has NC State 10th. Greg says 7 or 8. Ethan says Virginia is the most overrated team on the list and breaks down exactly why their nine-win season last year was smoke and mirrors. Plus shoutouts to Ty Head as a Gold Glove finalist and Rett Johnson earning Perfect Game second-team freshman All-American honors.Tuffy Talk is NC State's home for sports talk, hot takes, and everything Wolfpack. New episodes every Monday at 8:30 PM ET on YouTube. Join the Patreon at patreon.com/cw/ncstatestats for exclusive weekly NC State breakdowns from Ethan — $5/month.

Send us Fan MailNC State baseball's first transfer portal pitcher, Wright State LHP Chet Lax, joins Tuffy Talk for his first interview as a Wolfpack. Before Chet Lax ever set foot in Raleigh, he was already making the case for himself, seven shutout innings against Tennessee in a 6-0 Wright State win, and one run allowed in four innings against Georgia, a team that went to the College World Series. That's the arm Chris Hart made his first pitcher commit in the NC State baseball transfer portal.Layton sits down with Chet to talk through the full story. How NC State found him in the transfer portal through his Wright State coach who played at NC State. What his time at Wright State actually looked like, the highs, the rough stretches early in his career, and how stepping up when Sunday starter Warren Hartzell went down with an injury changed everything. What it felt like to toe the rubber at Tennessee knowing his family was in the stands. And what sold him on NC State the moment he stepped on campus and spent a full day with Coach Hart and Clint Chrysler.Chet also opens up about his roommate and fellow NC State baseball commit Hunter Warren, three years as roommates, two years as First Team All-Horizon League teammates, and now both heading to Raleigh together. He talks about his summer on the Cape Cod League with the Harwich Mariners, what he's working on before fall ball, why his mound mentality is his greatest strength as a pitcher, and his personal goals for the 2027 NC State baseball season.Then the rapid fire, favorite pitch to throw, strikeout looking or swinging, cookout tray order, favorite baseball movie (Million Dollar Arm — a first for this show), cheat meal of choice, what sport he'd play if it wasn't baseball (rodeo — his grandfather rode bulls at UT Martin), and the one thing Wolfpack fans should know about him before he arrives.Tuffy Talk is NC State's home for sports talk, hot takes, and everything Wolfpack. New content dropping all summer. Subscribe on YouTube and join the Patreon at patreon.com/cw/ncstatestats for exclusive weekly NC State breakdowns from Ethan — $5/month.

Send us Fan MailJustin Gainey is building one of the most interesting non-conference schedules in NC State basketball history, and Layton and Ethan are grading every game we know so far.They start with the marquee matchup. Tennessee at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on December 6. Twenty thousand seats. Rick Barnes on the other sideline. Gainey coaching against his mentor for the first time as a head coach. Ethan gives it an A-plus and makes the case that a win there would carry the same name recognition weight as beating Duke or UNC. Layton grades it slightly lower and explains why the mentor versus mentee spotlight, the unproven roster, and Tennessee's loaded portal additions all factor in.Then the Baha Mar Bahamas Championship, Wisconsin and Seton Hall confirmed, fourth team still unknown. Ethan lands at a B-minus. Two potential Quad 1 opportunities but too many unknowns to go higher. The Maui comparison comes up, and Ethan makes a point about the travel distance that most fans haven't considered.South Carolina at home for the ACC/SEC Challenge on December 1 gets a C. You should win it but you won't get much resume credit for it. Bart Torvik currently has South Carolina projected 89th in the country, and if that holds, this might not even be a Quad 2 game. Ethan doesn't love the quads system. He says so clearly.Ole Miss in Biloxi, Mississippi gets a B. Layton grades it a B. Ethan goes A-minus on the full two-year series. Then Ethan drops a fact that reframes the whole conversation Biloxi is five hours from Oxford. This isn't really a neutral site game.Then VCU on the road. Ethan's grade might be the most interesting take in the entire episode.Then the full ACC road schedule. No home games against Duke or UNC. Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, UNC, Stanford, Virginia, and Virginia Tech all as road games. Is this the toughest away ACC schedule NC State has had in recent memory? And does a road-heavy schedule actually help the NCAA Tournament resume more than it hurts it?Ethan closes with the overall non-conference grade, and his bold prediction on whether Gainey's Year 1 team is a tournament team. He doesn't think it's close.Tuffy Talk is NC State's home for sports talk, hot takes, and everything Wolfpack. New content dropping all summer. Subscribe on YouTube and join the Patreon at patreon.com/cw/ncstatestats for exclusive weekly NC State breakdowns from Ethan — $5/month.

This is a crossover episode with my friends Ben Montgomery and Wayne Fugate from Records Revisited! Records Revisited is a show that celebrates the magic of music. Each episode they have a distinguished guest - I emphasize distinguished as I have appeared seven (?) times - as of this writing. The group decides on an album to listen to and discuss and then rank the songs on the record from their favorite to least favorite. Then, they turn the mics on and go track by track to defend their rankings. I love those guys and their show so I jumped at the chance to record this episode with them.  The idea came from Ben's brain. Ron Pope is a songwriter from New York who now makes his home in Nashville. He has been a guest on both The Marinade and Records Revisited. We are all huge fans of his music and it was an honor to have this conversation. In June of 2025, Ron released a song called "Things Jesus Didn't Say," which inspired Ben to ask: What are our favorite protest songs? Each of us brought five songs to Ron's show at Tuffy's Music Box in Sanford, FL, earlier this year, sat down in the green room, turned on the mics, and made some magic. Listen on: Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Zn0LxMkENc0mdifCHV6IX?si=ea9e9cd463444dc0 Apple Podcasts- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-marinade-with-jason-earle/id1281080492?i=1000771864570 YouTube- https://youtu.be/InO1tpz8smc?si=wQyJl4NbFRwDAESN   Support Records Revisited on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RecordsRevisitedPodcast Support The Marinade on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/marinadepodcast Vote for The Marinade and Be Original Open Mic in Orlando Weekly's Best Of: https://2026-best-of-orlando-voting--orlandoweekly.contest.vote/local-music/best-open-mic https://2026-best-of-orlando-voting--orlandoweekly.contest.vote/local-notables/best-local-podcast

Send us Fan MailChris Hart didn't wait. In his first week as NC State's head coach, he landed two transfer portal commits from the same program — infielder Hunter Warren and left-handed pitcher Chet Lax, both from Wright State. Layton, Greg, and Ethan break down both additions in full, debate which one is the bigger get, and dig into what their numbers against SEC competition actually tell you about how they'll translate to the ACC.Warren hit .328 with a .831 OPS across 61 games in 2025, won Horizon League Freshman of the Year, and posted an .856 OPS in 23 plate appearances against Tennessee and Georgia. Lax went seven innings against Tennessee with a 0.82 ERA across 11 innings of SEC competition, showing the kind of stuff that projects as a legitimate weekend starter. Both were First Team All-Horizon League. Both are exactly the profile Hart and Avent have always targeted — proven smaller-school D1 talent that translates up.Then the full offseason rundown. The Brazil game is cancelled and moved to Charlottesville — NC State nets roughly $1.15 million after travel expenses, but is now a five and a half point underdog in what was supposed to be a neutral site opener. Rett Johnson earns NCBWA 2nd Team Freshman All-American honors. Colt Hauser commits to the 2027 football class — and yes, his dad is Cole Hauser, Rip Wheeler from Yellowstone. Alex Scott commits over Tennessee and Texas A&M. Gunnar Rivers visits Raleigh wearing Philip Rivers' retired number 17 — and the debate about whether he'll actually wear it if he commits is genuinely one of the most interesting conversations of the offseason. LuJames Groover gets called up to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Diana Schneider reaches the French Open semifinals as a top 25 player in the world. Jacob Smith officially drops football for baseball only.Ethan closes with the Stat Pack — Warren and Lax's numbers against SEC pitching and hitting broken down fully, what a 2.5 WAR Hunter Warren looks like in NC State's 2027 lineup, and the sacrifice bunt debate that may never get resolved.Tuffy Talk is NC State's home for sports talk, hot takes, and everything Wolfpack. New episodes every Monday at 8:30 PM ET on YouTube. Join the Patreon at patreon.com/cw/ncstatestats for exclusive weekly NC State breakdowns from Ethan — $5/month.

Send us Fan MailIn Part 1, Greg and Ethan tore apart the 2026 season — the schedule failures, the offensive identity crisis, the pitching injuries, and the analytics that tell the real story. In Part 2, they close the book on the Elliott Avent era, open the door on the Chris Hart era, and go through the entire roster player by player to figure out who's coming back, who's heading to the draft, and who's already gone.They start with Avent's real legacy. Not the wins — the man. Four baseball coaches at NC State since World War II. Twenty out of twenty-three seasons in the NCAA Tournament. Three trips to Omaha. But beyond the numbers — the 500 text messages he received the day he announced his retirement, the Chris Combs story that goes far beyond baseball, and what thirty years at one school actually means when the scoreboard stops mattering.Then it's Chris Hart. Forty-six years old. Twenty-four years as Avent's right hand. A five-year contract. Greg and Ethan debate whether Boo Corrigan called anyone else before settling on Hart, what Hart was actually responsible for day to day under Avent, and the uncomfortable question — was Avent a figurehead in his final years? Then the three things Hart must change immediately — the non-conference schedule, the pitching philosophy, and above everything else — NIL funding. NC State baseball is not competitive in the transfer portal market right now. That has to change in year one, not year three.Then the full roster. Every single player on the 2026 roster gets a verdict — Nixon, Sherman Johnson, Ty Head, Rett Johnson, Garino, Nance, McHugh, Hemric, Ragusa, Marone, Dudan, Collins Black, Devin Mitchell, and more. Who has leverage, who doesn't, who's gone, who's staying, and who could make the biggest leap in 2027.They close on the big question — is Nance, Ragusa, and Hemric enough as your weekend rotation to compete in the ACC? And what does Chris Hart actually need to go get this offseason to make NC State baseball dangerous again?This is Part 2 of 2. Watch Part 1 here → youtu.be/RzkFwG1UxLUTuffy Talk is NC State's home for sports talk, hot takes, and everything Wolfpack. New episodes every Monday at 8:30 PM ET on YouTube. Subscribe at patreon.com/cw/ncstatestats for exclusive weekly breakdowns from Ethan — $5/month.Support the show

Send us Fan MailThe 2026 NC State baseball season is over. 32-24. Fourteen wins in ACC play. Zero road series wins. A second straight early exit in the Auburn Regional.So what actually happened?In Part 1 of this two-part series, Greg and Ethan pull no punches on the full season breakdown. They start where every honest conversation has to start — did this team meet expectations? Coming in as a top-15 program with what looked like the most talented roster in years, the answer is complicated. And the reasons why are even more so.They dig into the offensive identity crisis that plagued this team all year — a roster built for speed that rarely ran, and supposedly built for power that finished second to last in the ACC in home runs. The DH carousel that went unsolved for the second straight season. The Brayden Freeman decision that lingered too long. The Andrew Wiggins debate, was he the problem or was he exactly what he was always going to be? And the Chris McHugh 74 wRC+ that nobody in the fanbase wants to talk about.Then there's the schedule. Greg and Ethan make the case that NC State went five years without playing a true power-conference non-conference opponent on a weekend, and why that has to change in the Chris Hart era. The Puerto Rico trip was fun. Lafayette and Princeton were not a schedule.They close Part 1 on the pitching staff, the injuries to Jacob Dudan and Ryan Marone that derailed the Omaha dream, the freshman pitchers thrown into the fire too early, the Consiglio versus Andrews rotation confusion that went two months too long, and why Anderson Nance being moved into the starting rotation felt like a panic move rather than a plan.Part 2 covers Elliott Avent's full legacy, the Chris Hart era, and everything coming in the offseason.Tuffy Talk is NC State's home for sports talk, hot takes, and everything Wolfpack. New episodes every Monday at 8:30 PM ET on YouTube. Subscribe at patreon.com/cw/ncstatestats for exclusive weekly breakdowns from Ethan — $5/month.Support the show

Send us Fan MailTonight is different.We're not just talking NC State sports. Tonight, Tuffy Talk Live looks and feels completely different, new brand, new look, new energy, and a major announcement that changes what this show is going forward.On the content side, NC State baseball's season is over and Elliott Avent's 30-year legacy deserves a proper send-off. We break down what he built, what Chris Hart inherits, and what the future of Pack baseball looks like. Then we shift to Justin Gainey's roster,NC State just landed New Hampshire guard transfer Comeh Emuobor, the frontcourt depth hunt continues, and summer workouts start next week. CJ Bailey is ranked No. 2 in CBS Sports' early 2026 preseason QB rankings — we talk about what that means for the football season. Plus the Friday night home opener is officially on the calendar.But the real reason to tune in tonight is the announcement. #GoPack #NCState #WolfpackNation #TuffyTalkLive #PackBaseball #AuburnRegional #ThankYou9

Send us Fan MailPack Nation — Elliott Avent gets one more shot. Tonight we break down everything you need to know before Friday.NC State heads to Auburn as the #3 seed for the third time as a regional site. First up — UCF at 6 PM on ESPN+ Friday. The Knights are 31-21 under third-year head coach Rich Wallace and earned one of six Big 12 at-large bids. Their ace Camden Wicker and senior outfielder DeAmez Ross are names to know. This is a very winnable game for the Pack — and one they have to win to extend Avent's career one more weekend.Beat UCF and NC State would face the winner of #4 national seed Auburn vs. Milwaukee Saturday. Last year in Auburn, the Pack went 2-2 and lost to the Tigers 11-1 in the regional final. Unfinished business.Then we talk about what this season meant. 32-22. Sneaking into the field as one of the last teams in. Rett Johnson's historic freshman season. The road struggles. The Miami series win. And what Elliott Avent's 30-year legacy actually looks like when you put it all together — 10 NCAA Regionals in the last 11 seasons, 1,103 wins, three College World Series trips.Chris Hart is ready. But first — at least one more weekend with the legend who built it.#GoPack #NCState #WolfpackNation #TuffyTalkLive #PackBaseball #AuburnRegional #ThankYou9

Send us Fan MailWolfpack Nation — tonight we're talking about everything on the line for NC State baseball in Charlotte this week.The Pack heads to the ACC Tournament as the #9 seed, opening against #16 Duke on Tuesday at 9 AM on ACC Network. NC State is 32-21 on the season and sitting squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble — one of the last four teams in the projected field. What does this team actually need to do to dance? How far do they have to go in Charlotte? And is this roster capable of it?We also give the UNC series an honest autopsy. Two losses at home. 17-7 in Game 2. What went wrong and what has to be fixed before Tuesday?Then we turn the page to something that felt great this week — Tommy Gantt made his UFC debut and finished his opponent by KO/TKO. NC State All-American. 11-0 as a pro. From the wrestling room in Raleigh to the Octagon in Las Vegas. We celebrate that one.And we close with the women's tennis season in full — back-to-back ACC Championships, seven straight Sweet 16s, an Elite 8 run against the reigning national champion. That program deserves its flowers.

Send us Fan MailWolfpack Nation — this might be the biggest week of the NC State sports calendar this spring, and we're breaking all of it down tonight.First up — women's tennis. NC State rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat #9 Texas in the Super Regional, with Victoria Osuigwe winning a three-set thriller to clinch it and Mia Slama dominating 7-5, 6-0. Now the Pack heads to Athens to face #1 seed Georgia — the host school and reigning national champion — in the Elite 8 on Friday. Can they pull off the biggest upset of the tournament?Then we turn to Doak Field. UNC comes to Raleigh on Thursday. The #2 team in the country. RPI 6. Eight straight series wins. NC State's NCAA Tournament hopes are very much on the line. We break down what the Pack needs to do, whether Rett Johnson's 22-game hit streak continues, and whether this team makes it to Omaha regardless of what happens this weekend.We also get into NC State football — CBS Sports is predicting double-digit wins in 2026. The season opens in Brazil against Virginia. New portal targets are reportedly emerging. Is this the year Doeren finally breaks through?And we close with Gainey's roster — now that the NCAA Tournament is expanding to 76 teams, what does Year 1 actually look like for this group?

Send us Fan MailPack Nation — we're back at 8:30 PM and tonight we're covering it all.We start with NC State women's tennis. ACC Champions. Seven straight Sweet 16s. This week they host the Super Regional at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center on May 8-9 with a trip to the Final Four in Athens on the line. We break down the matchup, the path, and whether this team can make a run at a national title.Then we shift to the men's basketball roster. Gainey has built something real — Hammond, Edmead, Evans, McNeil, Adams, Yalaho, Keene, and now Kingston Whitty as the first high school commit. But we're keeping it honest tonight. What's still missing? Is the frontcourt deep enough? Can Darius Adams bounce back from a rough freshman year? We're asking the hard questions.On the women's basketball side, Wes Moore is reloading fast. Khamil Pierre is back. Desiree Wooten just committed out of Colorado — 13.4 PPG, All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Khady Leye adds size. Two top-100 freshmen coming in. But Trygger and Jones are gone. Is this roster better, worse, or just different?And baseball heads to Stanford on Friday for the first regular season meeting ever between these programs — last time they played was the 2021 College World Series. NC State won that one 10-4. The road struggles are real this year though. Can this team finally win away from Doak when it matters?

Send us Fan MailPack Nation — we're back.Tonight we react to NC State women's tennis finding out their NCAA Tournament fate. ACC Champions. Beat the No. 1 team in the country in Cary. Mia Slama won MVP. Now they're heading to the Dance — and we break down the bracket, the seed, and how far this team can go.Then it's time to talk about the elephant in the room. Paul McNeil. Three coaching staffs. Two years of loyalty. One decision. Stay in Raleigh, chase the bag somewhere like Kentucky or Texas Tech, or take his shot at the pros. We break down every scenario and what it means for this program.Speaking of the program — Justin Gainey has built something real. Hammond. Edmead. Evans. Yalaho. Keene. Five commits with five different roles. We dig into what this roster looks like, what it still needs, and whether Gainey can build a tournament team in one portal window.We also get into the baseball road struggles — what's going wrong, what Rett Johnson is doing right, and whether the pitching can stabilize before it's too late.

Send us Fan MailThe Pack had a weekend. Let's break it all down.NC State women's tennis did something special in Cary on Sunday — the 3-seed took down No. 1 Virginia to win the ACC Championship. Second title in program history. First since 2023. Tonight we talk about how they got there, what it means, and what to expect when the NCAA Tournament bracket drops.Then we shift to the Gainey rebuild. Christian Hammond. Preston Edmead. Two commits in, nine guys out, and rumors swirling around Bishop Boswell. We're breaking down exactly what Gainey has, what he still needs, and whether he can actually build a tournament-caliber roster in one portal window.And we don't let the baseball weekend off the hook. 40 runs allowed in two games at Wake Forest is not a vibe. Rett Johnson went 5-for-5 in Game 3 to save the sweep, and Ryder Garino gave us a shutdown pen outing — but the Pack heads to Virginia Tech this week and things have to be tighter. We get into it.

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Send us Fan MailGet ready for a packed show as we break down everything happening around NC State Wolfpack!

Send us Fan MailJoin us LIVE on Tuffy Talk as we break down a massive week of news and storylines surrounding the NC State Wolfpack. There is a lot to discuss, and Wolfpack fans won't want to miss this conversation.

Columnist and film critic Richard Roeper joins Bob Sirott to talk about their memories of opening day for the Cubs and White sox, including Tuffy’s three home runs and Willie Smith’s walk-off. They also talk about the death of Valerie Perrine and the movies she starred in.

Send us Fan MailTune in to the latest episode of Tuffy Talk as we break down everything happening around NC State Wolfpack athletics!

Original Air Date: January 20, 1954Host: Andrew RhynesShow: Adventures of Wild Bill HickokPhone: (707) 98 OTRDW (6-8739) Stars:• Guy Madison (Hickok)• Andy Devine (Jingles) Special Guests:• Frank Gerstle• Fred Howard• Tom Holland Writer:• Larry Hayes Producer:• Paul Pierce Music:• Dick Aurandt For more great shows check out our site: https://www.otrwesterns.comExit music from: Roundup on the...

Send a textWe're going LIVE to break down everything happening in the world of NC State athletics! Join the conversation as we react to the NCAA Tournament seeding and path for both the NC State Men's and Women's Basketball teams, analyze what their road through March might look like, and discuss what it will take for the Pack to make a deep run.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history through his unique perspective on the mafia. In this episode of Gangland Wire, Gary Jenkins welcomes an unusual guest from the world of organized crime storytelling—cartoonist Brett Juliano, creator of the Dust Bunny Mafia comic series. Instead of traditional books or documentaries, Brett tells real Mafia stories through short, three-panel comics featuring his unique cartoon characters while staying grounded in historical research and documented sources. Brett explains how his lifelong interest in animation and storytelling evolved into a project that blends true crime history with visual humor and commentary. After moving to Chicago, he became fascinated with the city's underworld history and began transforming real mob stories into illustrated comic strips that challenge Hollywood myths and highlight lesser-known facts about organized crime. His work draws on true crime books, FBI files, court transcripts, and podcasts, including Gangland Wire itself. Each comic strip distills a real historical moment into a visual gag or ironic twist that reveals the strange reality behind mob legends. Gary and Brett discuss several Dust Bunny Mafia comics and the real events behind them: The “Sicilian Flu” Courtroom Act A humorous look at a tactic sometimes used by mob figures: appearing frail in court to gain sympathy or delay proceedings. Wiseguys who were partying the night before might suddenly appear in a wheelchair, wrapped in blankets or hooked to oxygen tanks when they walked into court. Lucky Luciano and the Myth of “Lucky” Brett examines the legendary story that Charles “Lucky” Luciano got his nickname after surviving a brutal kidnapping and beating. His comic plays with the idea that mobsters often exaggerated their own legends—especially when trying to impress people. The Kansas City Mob Search – Carl “Tuffy” DeLuna One comic comes directly from Gary Jenkins' own experience investigating the Kansas City mob. When police searched DeLuna's home in 1979, the mobster calmly offered coffee and eventually led investigators straight to the basement, where incriminating notes were stored. The scene shows how, sometimes, the truth of organized crime investigations is stranger than fiction. Bugsy Siegel in Rainy Portland Another comic explores the obscure story of Bugsy Siegel visiting Portland to meet local crime boss Al Winters, only to endure two straight weeks of rain—highlighting the contrast between Hollywood-style mob glamour and the less glamorous reality of underworld negotiations. A New Graphic Anthology on Kickstarter Brett is now launching a major new collection of his comics titled: “Family Business: An Offer You Can't Refuse.” The book will include: 130+ pages of full-color comics More than 230 true crime strips Historical commentary explaining the real story behind each comic Additional artwork parodying mob businesses and underworld culture The project will be funded through a Kickstarter campaign beginning March 24, with the finished book expected to ship later in the year once printing is completed. Click here for

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What happens when a childhood dream refuses to let go? In this episode, I sit down with cartoonist and Lum and Abner historian Donnie Pitchford to explore how old-time radio, comic strips, and a love for storytelling shaped his life. Donnie shares how he grew up inspired by classic radio shows like Lum and Abner, pursued art despite setbacks, and eventually brought the beloved Pine Ridge characters back to life through a modern comic strip and audio adaptations. We talk about creativity, persistence, radio history, and why imagination still matters in a visual world. If you care about classic radio, cartooning, or staying true to your calling, I believe you will find this conversation both inspiring and practical. Highlights: 00:10 Discover how a childhood love of Lum and Abner sparked a lifelong dream of becoming a cartoonist. 08:00 Hear how college radio and classic broadcasts deepened a passion for old time radio storytelling. 14:33 Understand how years of teaching broadcast journalism built the skills that later fueled creative success. 23:17 Learn how the Lum and Abner comic strip was revived with family approval and brought to modern audiences. 30:07 Explore how two actors created an entire town through voice and imagination alone. 1:00:16 Hear the vision for keeping Lum and Abner alive for new generations through comics and audio. Top of Form Bottom of Form About the Guest: Donnie Pitchford of Texas is a graduate of Kilgore College, Art Instruction Schools, Stephen F. Austin State University and the University of Texas at Tyler. He has worked in the graphic arts industry and in education, teaching at Hawkins High School, Panola College, and Carthage High School at which he spent 25 years directing CHS-TV, where student teams earned state honors, including state championships, for 20 consecutive years. In 2010, Donnie returned to the endeavor he began at age five: being a cartoonist! The weekly “Lum and Abner" comic strip began in 2011. It is available online and in print and includes an audio production for the blind which features the talents of actors and musicians who donate their time. Donnie has created comic book stories and art for Argo Press of Austin, illustrated children's books, written scripts for the "Dick Tracy" newspaper strip, and produced the science fiction comedy strip "Tib the Rocket Frog." He has collaborated with award-winning writers and cartoonists George Wildman, Nicola Cuti, John Rose, Mike Curtis, Joe Staton, and others. In 2017, Donnie began assisting renowned sculptor Bob Harness and currently sculpts the portraits for the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame plaques. Awards include the 1978 Kilgore College "Who's Who" in Art, an Outstanding Educator Award from the East Texas Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs in 1993, the CHS "Pine Burr" Dedicatee honor in 2010, and a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2018 from Spring Hill High School. In 2024, Donnie was inducted into the City of Carthage Main Street Arts Walk of Fame which included the placement of a bronze plaque in the sidewalk and the Key to the City. Donnie and his best friend/wife, Laura, are members of First Methodist Church Carthage, Texas. Donnie is a founding officer of the National Lum and Abner Society and a member of Texas Cartoonists, Ark-La-Tex Cartoonists, Christian Comic Arts Society, and the National Cartoonists Society. Ways to connect with Michaela**:** https://www.facebook.com/groups/220795254627542 https://lumandabnercomics.com/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson  01:21 Well, hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. I've been looking forward to this one for a while. We have Donny Pitchford as our guest today. You're probably going, who's Donnie Pitchford? Well, let me tell you. So years ago, I started collecting old radio shows. And one of the first shows that I got was a half hour episode of a show called Lum and Abner, which is about a couple of characters, if you will, in Pine Ridge, Arkansas. And I had only heard the half hour show sponsored by frigid air. But then in 1971 when ksi, out here in Los Angeles, the 50,000 watt Clear Channel station, started celebrating its 50 year history, they started broadcasting as part of what they did, 15 minute episodes of lemon Abner. And I became very riveted to listening to lemon Abner every night, and that went on for quite a while. And so I've kept up with the boys, as it were. Well, a several years ago, some people formed a new Lum and Abner society, and Donnie Pitchford is part of that. I met Donnie through radio enthusiast of Puget Sound, and yesterday, USA. And so we clearly being interested in old radio and all that, had to have Donnie come on and and talk with us. So Donnie, or whatever character you're representing today, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Donnie Pitchford  02:58 Huh? I'm glad to be here. Michael Hingson  03:00 He does that very well, doesn't he? It's a Donnie Pitchford  03:04 little tough sometimes. Well, I'm really glad to be here. Thank you. Michael Hingson  03:10 Well, I appreciate the audio parts of lemon Abner that you you all create every week, and just the whole society. It's great to keep that whole thing going it's kind of fun. We're glad that that it is. But let's, let's talk about you a little bit. Why don't you start by telling us about the early Donnie, growing up and all that. I'm assuming you were born, and so we won't worry about that. But beyond that, think so, yeah. Well, there you are. Tell us about tell us about you and growing up and all that, and we'll go from there. Donnie Pitchford  03:42 Well, I was born in East Texas and left for a little while. We lived in my family lived in Memphis, Tennessee for about seven years, and then moved back to Texas in 1970 but ever since I was a kid this I hear this from cartoonists everywhere. Most of them say I wanted to be a cartoonist when I was five years old. So that's in fact, I had to do a speech for the Texas cartoonist chapter of the National Cartoonist Society. And that was my start. I was going to say the same thing, and the President said, Whatever you do, don't do that old bit about wanting to be a cartoonist at age five. Everybody does that, so I left that part out, but that's really what I wanted to do as a kid. And I would see animated cartoons. I would read the Sunday comics in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and then at some point, my dad would talk about radio, and my mother would talk about listening to radio. We would have the reruns of the Lone Ranger television show and things like Sky King and other programs along those lines, and my parents would all. Way say, Well, I used to listen to that on the radio, or I would hear Superman on the radio, or Amos and Andy or whatever was being rerun at that time, and that fascinated me. And I had these vague memories of hearing what I thought were television programs coming over the radio when I was about two years old. I remember gunshots. I remember, you know, like a woman crying and just these little oddball things. I was about two years old, and I kept thinking, Well, why are we picking up television programs on my mother's radio? Turns out it was the dying gasps of what we now call old time radio. And so at least I remembered that. But when I was about, I guess eight or nine we were, my dad took me to lunch at alums restaurant in Memphis, and I saw that name, and I thought, What in the world? So what kind of name is that? And my dad told me about London Abner, and he said it reminds me. It reminded him of the Andy Griffith Show or the Beverly Hillbillies. I said, I'd love to hear that. He said, Ah, you'll never hear it. He said, those were live they don't exist, but years later, I got to hear them. So yeah, but that's how I grew up wanting to be a cartoonist and coming up with my own characters and drawing all the time and writing stories and that sort of thing. Michael Hingson  06:24 So when did you move back from Memphis to Texas? Donnie Pitchford  06:28 July 2, 1970 I just happened to look that up the other day. How old were you then? I was 12 when we came back. All right, so got into, I was in junior high, and trying to, I was trying to find an audience for these comic strips I was drawing on notebook paper. And finally, you know, some of the kids got into them, and I just continued with that goal. And I just, I knew that soon as possible, you know, I was going to start drawing comics professionally. So I thought, but kept, you know, I kept trying. Michael Hingson  07:06 So you, you went on into college. What did you do in college? Donnie Pitchford  07:11 Well, more of the same. I started listening to some old time radio shows even as far back as as high school. And I was interested in that went to college, first at a college called Kill Gore College, here in East Texas, and then to Stephen F Austin State University. And I was majoring in, first commercial art, and then art education. And I thought, well, if I can't go right into comics, you know, maybe I can just teach for a while. I thought I'll do that for a couple of years. I thought it wouldn't be that long. But while I was at Stephen F Austin State University, the campus radio station, I was so pleased to find out ran old time radio shows. This was in 1980 there was a professor named Dr Joe Oliver, who had a nightly program called theater of the air. And I would hear this voice come over the radio. He would run, he Well, one of the first, the very first 15 minute lemon Abner show I ever heard was played by Dr Oliver. He played Jack Benny. He played the whistler suspense, just a variety of them that he got from a syndicated package. And I would hear this voice afterwards, come on and say, It's jazz time. I'm Joe Oliver. And I thought, Where have I heard that voice? It was, it's just a magnificent radio voice. Years later, I found out, well, I heard that voice in Memphis when I was about 10 years old on W, R, E, C, radio and television. He was working there. He lived in Memphis about the same time we did. Heard him on the campus station at Nacogdoches, Texas. Didn't meet him in person until the late 90s, and it was just an amazing collection of coincidences. And now, of course, we're good friends. Now he's now the announcer for our audio comic strip. So it's amazing how all that came about. Well, I Michael Hingson  09:16 I remember listening to sort of the last few years of oval radio. I think it was, I don't remember the date now, whether it's 57 or 50 I think it's 57 the Kingston Trio had come out with the song Tom Dooley, and one day I was listening to K and X radio in Los Angeles. We lived in Palmdale, and I heard something about a show called suspense that was going to play the story of Tom Dooley. And I went, sounds interesting, and I wanted to know more about it, so I listened. And that started a weekly tradition with me every Sunday, listening to yours truly Johnny dollar and suspense, and they had a little bit of the FBI and peace and war. Then it's went into half and that that went off and Have Gun Will Travel came on, and then at 630 was Gun Smoke. So I listened to radio for a couple of hours every week, not every Sunday night, and thoroughly enjoyed it. And so that's how I really started getting interested in it. Then after radio went off the air a few stations out in California and on the LA area started playing old radio shows somebody started doing because they got the syndicated versions of the shadow and Sherlock Holmes with Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson. And I still maintain to this day that John Gielgud is the best Sherlock Holmes. No matter what people say about Basil Rathbone and I still think Sir John Gielgud was the best Sherlock Holmes. He was very, very good. Yeah, he was and so listen to those. But you know, radio offers so much. And even with, with, with what the whole lemon Abner shows today. My only problem with the lemon Abner shows today is they don't last nearly long enough. But that's another story. Donnie Pitchford  11:11 Are you talking about the comic strip adaptation? Okay, you know how long, how much art I would have to 11:21 do every week. Michael Hingson  11:25 Oh, I know, but they're, they're fun, and, you know, we, we enjoy them, but so you So you met Joe, and as you said, He's the announcer. Now, which is, which is great, but what were you doing then when you met him? What kind of work were you doing at the time? Donnie Pitchford  11:45 Well, of course, there was a gap there of about, I guess, 15 years after college, before I met him. And what ended up happening my first teaching job was an art job, a teaching art and graphic arts at a small high school in Hawkins, Texas, and that was a disaster. Wasn't a wasn't a very good year for me. And so I left that, and I had worked in the printing industry, I went back to that, and that was all during the time that the National London Abner society was being formed. And so I printed their earliest newsletters, which came out every other month. And we started having conventions in MENA, Arkansas and in the real Pine Ridge and the my fellow ossifers As we we call ourselves, and you hear these guys every week on the lemon Abner comic strip. Sam Brown, who lives in Illinois, Tim Hollis, from Alabama. Tim is now quite a published author who would might be a good guest for you one day, sure. And just two great guys. We had a third officer early on named Rex riffle, who had to leave due to various illnesses about 1991 but we started having our conventions every year, starting in 1985 we had some great guests. We brought in everybody we could find who worked with lemon Abner or who knew lemon Abner. We had their their head writer, Roswell Rogers. We had actors, I'm sure you've heard of Clarence Hartzell. He was Ben withers, of course, on the Old Vic and Sade show. He was Uncle Fletcher. We had Willard Waterman, parley Bayer, some of their announcers, Wendell Niles. And my memory is going to start failing me, because there were so many, but we had Bob's, Watson, Louise curry, who were in their first two movies. We had Kay Lineker, who was in their third movie. The list goes on and on, but we had some amazing when did Chester lock pass away? He passed away? Well, Tuffy passed away first, 1978, 78 and Chet died in 1980 sad. Neither of them, yeah, we didn't get to media. Yeah, we didn't meet either one of them. I've met Mrs. Lock I've met all of chet's children, several grandchildren. We spoke to Mrs. Goff on the phone a time or two, and also, tuffy's got toughie's daughter didn't get to meet them in person, but we met as many of the family as we could. Michael Hingson  14:32 Still quite an accomplishment all the way around. And so you you taught. You didn't have success. You felt really much at first, but then what you taught for quite a while, though, Donnie Pitchford  14:45 didn't you? Yes, I went back to the printing industry for about a year, and in the summer of 85 about two weeks before school started, I had got a call that they needed someone to teach Broadcast Journalism at. Carthage High School, and we had a department called CHS TV. I ran that for 25 years. I taught classes. We produced a weekly television program, weekly radio program. We did all kinds of broadcasts for the school district and promotional video. And then in the last I think it was the last 10 years or so that I worked there, we started an old time radio show, and we were trying to come up with a title for it, and just as a temporary placeholder, we called it the golden age of radio. Finally, we said, well, let's just use that, and I think it's been used by other people since, but, but that was the title we came up with. I think in 19 I think it was in 93 or 9495 somewhere in there. We started out. We just ran Old Time Radio, and the students, I would have them research and introduce, like, maybe 45 minutes of songs, of music, you know, from the 30s, 40s, maybe early 50s, big band and Sinatra and Judy Garland and you name it. Then, when the classes would change, we would always start some type of radio program that was pre recorded that would fill that time, so the next class could come in and get in place and and everybody participated, and they went out live over our cable television channel, and we would just run a graphic of a radio and maybe have some announcements or listing of what we were playing. And we did that for several years, usually maybe two or three times a year. And then in I think it was 2004 or so, we had an offer from a low power FM station, which was another another county over, and we started doing a Sunday night, one hour program each week. And I think we ended up doing close to 300 of those before I left. And so we got old time radio in there, one way or the other. Michael Hingson  17:03 Well, I remember. I remember, for me, I went to UC Irvine in the fall of 1968 and by the spring the last quarter of my freshman year, I had started getting some old radio shows. So started playing shows, and then in the fall, I started doing a three hour show on Sunday night called the Radio Hall of Fame, and we did radio every night. And what I didn't know until, actually, fairly recently, was our mutual friend Walden Hughes actually listened to my show on Sunday, and so did the gas means actually, but, but we had a low power station as well, but it made it up, and so people listened to it. And I've always been proud of the fact that during the fact that during the time I ran the Radio Hall of Fame, I'd heard of this show called 60 minutes with a guy named Mike Wallace, but never got to see it. And then it was only much later that I actually ended up starting to watch 60 Minutes. Course, I always loved to say I would have loved to have met, met Mike Wallace and never got to do it, but I always said he had criminal tendencies. I mean, my gosh, what do you think he was the announcer on radio for the Green Hornet, a criminal show, right? Sky King, a lot of criminals. Clearly the guy. Anyway, I would have been fun to meet him, but, Donnie Pitchford  18:31 and his name was Myron. Myron Wallach at the time. Wallach, you're right. I think that's right. Michael Hingson  18:37 But it was, it was fun and and so I've actually got some Sky King shows and green Hornets with him. So it's, it's kind of cool, but Right? You know, I still really do believe that the value of radio is it makes you imagine more. I've seen some movies that I really like for that the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers with Kevin McCarthy back in 1955 I thought was such a good movie because they didn't show the plants taking over the humans. It was all left to your imagination, which was so cool, and they changed all that in the later remake of it with Leonard Nimoy, which I didn't think was nearly as good, not nearly as suspenseful. But anyway, that's just my opinion. But radio, for me was always a and continues to be a part of what I like to do. And so I've been collecting shows and and enjoying and, of course, listening to lemon Abner, So what made you decide to finally end teaching? Donnie Pitchford  19:38 Well, you know, I could only do that so long. I was getting I was getting very tired, getting kind of burned out, and I had to have a change. There's something had to change. And I was able to take a few years early and retire, and I still the whole time I had a. That it was like a haunting feeling. I, you know, I wanted to be a cartoonist. I would pray, you know, you know, Lord, is there some way can I, can I get out of this? And can I do what I really want to do? And I had some mentors that was finally able to meet people that I would write letters to as a kid, a cartoonist and comic book editor named George Wildman was one of them. He was nice enough to answer my letters when I was a kid, and I'd send him drawings, and he would encourage me, or he would send little corrections on there, you know. And another one was a gentleman named high Eisemann, who passed away recently at age 98 on his birthday, but men like this inspired me, and that it kept at me through the years. I finally met George in 1994 at a convention of the the international Popeye fan club. And I'm I'm at high the same way, and also a writer named Nicola Cuddy, who wrote some Popeye comics. I met him the same way, same event, we all became friends, and I had a good friend named Michael Ambrose of Austin, Texas, who published a magazine devoted to the Charlton Comics company. Sadly, he's deceased now, but Mike and I were talking before I retired, and finally I got out of it. And he said, now that you're out of that job, how would you like to do some art? I said, That's what I want to do. So he gave me the opportunity to do my first published work, which was a portrait of artist George Wildman. It was on the cover of a magazine called Charlton spotlight, then I did some work for Ben Omar, who is bear Manor media publisher for some books that he was doing. One was Mel Blanc biography that Noel blank wrote, did some illustrations for that. This was all happening in 2010 and after that. So I was getting it was getting rolling, doing the kind of work I really wanted to do. And there's a gentleman named Ethan nobles in Benton, Arkansas, who wanted to interview me. I'd gotten, I don't know how he I forgot how he got in touch with me. Maybe he heard me on yesterday USA could be wanted to interview me about London Abner. And so he was starting a website called first Arkansas news. And somewhere in early 2011 we were talking, and I said, you know, you want this to be an online newspaper, right? He said, Yes. I said, What about comics? He said, I hadn't thought about that. So I said, Well, you know, you're a big Lum and Abner fan. What if we could we do a Lum and Abner comic strip? He said, Well, who would Where would I get? Who would do? And I said, Me. So I drew up some proposals, I drew some model sheets, and we did about four weeks of strips, and got approval from Chester lock Jr, and he suggested there's some things he didn't like. He said, The lum looks too sinister. He looks mean. Well, he's mad. He said he's mad at Abner. This won't happen every week. He said, Okay, I don't want LOM to be I said, Well, you know, they get mad at each other. That's part of the that's the conflict and the comedy Michael Hingson  23:30 at each other. Yeah. Donnie Pitchford  23:33 So we, we ironed it all out, and we came up with a financial agreement, and had to pay royalties and one thing and another, and we started publishing online in June 2011, and about six weeks later, the MENA newspaper, the MENA star in MENA, Arkansas, which was the birthplace of Lyman, Abner, Chet Locke and Norris Goff, they picked it up, and then we had a few other newspapers pick it up. And you know, we're not, we're not worldwide, syndicated in print, but we're getting it out there. And of course, we're always online, but and the first Arkansas news went under three or four years later, and so now we have our own website, which is Lum and Abner comics.com so that's where you can find us Michael Hingson  24:24 online. So where's Pine Ridge? Donnie Pitchford  24:28 Pine Ridge is about 18 miles from Mena, Arkansas. MENA is in western Arkansas, and Pine Ridge is about 18 miles east, I believe I'm trying to picture it in my mind, but it's it's down the road, and it actually exists. It was a little community originally named for a postmaster. It was named waters, waters, Arkansas, and in 1936 the real. At cuddleston. He was a real person who owned a store there in waters, and was friends with the locks and the golfs with their parents, as well as Chet and Tuffy. But he proposed a publicity stunt and an actual change of name to name the community Pine Ridge. So that's how that happened. Michael Hingson  25:24 Now, in the original 15 minute episodes, who is the narrator? Donnie Pitchford  25:28 Well, it depends what era their first one trying to remember. Now, Gene Hamilton was an early announcer in the Ford days, which was the early 30s. We don't have anything recorded before that. Charles Lyon was one of the early announcers, possibly for for Quaker Oats. I don't have any notes on this in front of me. I'm just going on memory here. Memory at the end of a long week. Gene Hamilton was their Ford announcer. Carlton brickert announced the Horlicks malt and milk did the commercials when they 1934 to 38 or so. Lou Crosby took over when they were sponsored by General Foods, by post them, the post them commercials, and Lou stayed with them on into the Alka Seltzer era. And his daughter, the celebrity daughter, is Kathie Lee Crosby, you may remember, right, and she and her sister Linda, Lou were a couple of our guests at the National lemon Avenue society convention in 1996 I think let's see. Crosby was Gene Baker came after Crosby, and then in the 30 minute days, was Wendell Niles. Wendell Niles, yeah, in the CBS the 30 minute series and Wendell. We also had him in Mina, super nice guy when it came, when it got into the later ones, 1953 54 I don't remember that announcer's name. That's when they got into the habit of having Dick Huddleston do the opening narration, which is why we now have Sam Brown as Dick Huddleston doing that every week. Michael Hingson  27:27 So was it actually Dick Huddleston? No, it Donnie Pitchford  27:30 was North golf, tough. He always played the part of Dick Huddleston. Okay, the only, the only time that, as far as I know, the only time the real dick Huddleston was on network radio, was at that ceremony in Little Rock Arkansas, when they changed the name of the town that the real dick Huddleston spoke at that event. And we actually, we discovered a recording of that. I was just gonna ask if there's a recording of that there is. Yeah, it's on 12 inch, 78 RPM discs. Wow. And they were probably the personal discs of lock and golf, and they weren't even labeled. And I remember spinning that thing when Sam Brown and I after we found it, it was down in Houston, and we brought them a batch of discs back, and I remember spinning that thing and hearing the theme song being played, I said, this sounds like a high school band. And suddenly we both got chills because we had heard that. I don't know if it was the Little Rock High School band or something, but it's like, Can this be? Yes, it was. It was. We thought it was long lost, but it was that ceremony. Wow. So that was a great find. Michael Hingson  28:45 Well, hopefully you'll, you'll play that sometime, or love to get a copy, but, Donnie Pitchford  28:50 yeah, we've, we have we played it on yesterday, USA. Oh, okay, so it's out there. Michael Hingson  28:57 Well, that's cool. Well, yeah, I wondered if Dick Huddleston actually ever was directly involved, but, but I can, can appreciate that. As you said, Tuffy Goff was the person who played him, which was, that's still that was pretty cool. They were very talented. Go ahead, Donnie Pitchford  29:19 I was gonna say that's basically tough. He's natural speaking voice, yeah, when you hear him as Dick Huddleston, Michael Hingson  29:24 they're very talented people. They played so many characters on the show. They did and and if you really listen, you could tell, but mostly the voices sounded enough different that they really sounded like different people all the time. Donnie Pitchford  29:41 Well, the fun thing are the episodes where, and it's carefully written, but they will, they will do an episode where there may be seven or eight people in the room and they get into an argument, or they're trying to all talk at the same time, and you completely forget that it's only two guys, because they will overlap. Those voices are just so perfectly overlapped and so different, and then you stop and you listen. So wait a minute, I'm only hearing two people at a time, but the effect is tremendous, the fact that they were able to pull that off and fool the audience. Michael Hingson  30:15 I don't know whether I'd say fool, but certainly entertained. Well, yeah, but they also did have other characters come on the show. I remember, yes, Diogenes was that was a lot of fun listening to those. Oh yeah, yeah, that was Frank Graham. Frank Graham, right, right, but, but definitely a lot of fun. So you eventually left teaching. You decided you accepted jobs, starting to do cartoons. What were some of the other or what, well, what were some of the first and early characters that you cartooned, or cartoons that you created, Donnie Pitchford  30:50 just, you mean, by myself or Well, or with people, either way, I did some things that were not published, you know, just just personal characters that I came up with it would mean nothing to anybody, but a little bit later on, I did a little bit of I did a cover for a Popeye comic book. Maybe 10 years ago, I finally got a chance to work with George Wildman, who was the fellow I talked about earlier, and it was some of the last work he did, and this was with Michael Ambrose of Argo press out of Austin, Texas. And we did some early characters that had been published by Charlton Comics. They had, they had characters, they were, they were rip offs. Let's be honest. You know Harvey had Casper the Friendly Ghost. Well, Charlton had Timmy, the timid ghost. There, there was Mighty Mouse. Well, Charlton Comics had atomic mouse, so and there was an atomic rabbit. And Warner Brothers had Porky Pig. Charlton had pudgy pig, but that was some of George's earliest work in the 1950s was drawing these characters, and George was just he was a master Bigfoot cartoonist. I mean, he was outstanding. And so Mike said, let's bring those characters back. They're public domain. We can use them. So I wrote the scripts. George did the pencil art. Well, he inked the first few, but Mike had me do hand lettering, which I don't do that much. So it was that was a challenge. And my friend high Iseman taught lettering for years and years, and so I was thinking, high is going to see this? This has to be good. So I probably re lettered it three times to get it right, but we did the very last story we did was atomic rabbit and pudgy pig was a guest star, and then George's character named brother George, who was a little monk who didn't speak, who lived, lived in a monastery, and did good deeds and all that sort of thing. He was in there, and this was the last thing we did together. And George said, you know, since I've got these other projects, he said, Do you think you can, you can ink this? So that was a great honor to actually apply the inks over George's pencil work. And I also did digital color, but those were some things I worked on, and, oh, at one point we even had Lum and Abner in the Dick Tracy Sunday comic strip, and that was because of a gentleman named Mike Curtis, who was the writer who lived in Arkansas, was very familiar with Lum and Abner, and he got in touch with me and asked, this was in 2014 said, Would it be possible for me to use Lum and Abner in a Sunday cameo? So I contacted the locks. First thing they first thing Chet said was how much I said, I don't think they're going to pay us. I felt like, Cedric, we hunt, no mom, you know. And I felt like he was squire skimp at the time, yeah, but I said, it's just going to be really good publicity. So he finally went for it, and Lum and Abner had a cameo in a Sunday Dick Tracy comic strip, and about four years later, they honored me. This was Mike Curtis, the writer, and Joe Staton, the artist, who was another guy that I grew up reading from as a teenager, just a tremendous artist, asked if they could base a character on me. And I thought, what kind of murderer is he going to be? You know, it was going to be idiot face or what's his name, you know. So no, he was going to be a cartoonist, and the name was Peter pitchblende. Off, and he was, he said his job was to illustrate a comic strip about a pair of old comedians. So, I mean, who couldn't be honored by that? Yeah, so I don't remember how long that story lasted, but it was an honor. I mean, it was just great fun. And then then I had a chance to write two weeks of Dick Tracy, which was fun. I wrote the scripts for it and and then there's some other things. I was able to work with John rose, a tremendously nice guy who is the current artist on Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. We did a story, a comic book story, on Barney Google on Snuffy Smith in a magazine called Charleton spotlight, and I did the colors, digital coloring for that. So just these are just great honors to me to get to work with people like that. And Nick Cuddy, I did some inking, lettering coloring on some of his work. So just great experience, and Michael Hingson  36:02 great people, going back to atomic rabbit and pudgy pig, no one ever got in trouble with, from Warner Brothers with that, huh? Donnie Pitchford  36:09 Well, not, not on atomic rabbit, however, pudgy pig created a problem because George was doing some art, and I think somebody from Warner Brothers said he looks too much like Porky, so the editor at the time said, make one of his ears hang down, make him look a little different. But pudgy didn't last long. Pudgy was only around maybe two or three issues of the comic book, so, but yeah, that's George. Said they did have some trouble with that. Michael Hingson  36:44 Oh, people, what do you do? Yeah, well, I know you sent us a bunch of photos, and we have some of the Dick Tracy ones and others that people can go see. But what? What finally got you all to start the whole lemon Abner society. Donnie Pitchford  37:07 Oh, well, that goes back to 1983 right, and I'll go back even farther than that. I told you that my dad had mentioned lemon Abner to me as a kid. Dr Joe Oliver played a 15 minute lemon Abner show on KSA you at Stephen F Austin State University. That got me. I was already into old time radio, but it was the next summer 1981 there's a radio station, an am station in Gilmer, Texas Christian radio station that started running Lum and Abner every day. First it was 530 in the evening, and then I think they switched it to 1215 or so. And I started listening, started setting up my recorder, recording it every day. And a friend of mine named David Miller, who was also a radio show collector, lived in the Dallas area, I would send them to him, and at first he wasn't impressed, but then suddenly he got hooked. And when he got hooked, he got enthusiastic. He started making phone calls. He called Mrs. Lock chet's widow and talked to her. He spoke to a fellow who had written a number of articles, George Lily, who was an early proponent or an early promoter of lemon Abner, as far as reruns in the 1960s and it was through George Lilly that I was put in touch with Sam Brown in Dongola, Illinois, and because he had contacted Mr. Lilly as well. And before long, we were talking, heard about this guy named Tim Hollis. Sam and I met in Pine Ridge for lemon Abner day in 1982 for the first time, and hit it off like long lost friends and became very good friends. And then in 84 I believe it was Sam and Tim and Rex riffle met again, or met for the first time together, I guess in Pine Ridge. And I wasn't there that time. But somehow, in all of that confusion, it was proposed to start the national lemon Abner society, and we started publishing the Jot them down journal in the summer of 1984 Michael Hingson  39:43 and for those who don't know the Jotham down journal, because the store that lemon Abner ran was the Jotham down store anyway, right? Donnie Pitchford  39:50 Go ahead, yes. And that was Tim's title. Tim created the title The Jotham down journal, and we started publishing and started seeking information. And it started as just a simple photocopy on paper publication. It became a very slick publication. In 1990 or 91 Sam started recording cassettes, reading the journals, because we were hearing from Blind fans that said, you know, I enjoy the journal. I have to have somebody read it to me. This is before screen readers. And of course, you know this technology better than I do, but before any type of technology was available, and Sam said, Well, I'll tell you. I'll just start reading it on tape and I'll make copies. Just started very simply, and from then on, until the last issue in in 2007 Sam would record a cassette every other month, or when we went quarterly, four times a year, and he would mail those to the the blind members, who would listen to those. And sometimes they would keep them, and sometimes they would return them for Sam to recycle. But incidentally, those are all online now, Michael Hingson  41:03 yeah, I've actually looked at a few of those. Those are kind of fun. So the London Avenue society got formed, and then you started having conventions. Donnie Pitchford  41:14 Yes, yes. First convention was in 1985 and we did a lot of things with we would do recreations. We would do a lot of new scripts, where, if we had someone that we got to the point where we would have people that hadn't worked with lemon Abner. So we would have lemon Abner meet the great Gildersleeve. Actually, Willard had worked on the lumen Abner half hour show at some point. I believe les Tremain had never worked directly with them, but he was well, he was in some Horlicks malted milk commercials in the 1930s and of course, the Lone Ranger was never on the London Abner show and vice versa, until we got hold of it. So we had Fred Foy in 1999 and he agreed to be the announcer, narrator and play the part of the Lone Ranger. So we did Lum and Abner meet the Lone Ranger, which was a lot of fun. We had parley bear, so Lum and Abner met Chester of Gun Smoke. And those were just a lot of fun to do. And Tim, Tim would write some of them, I would write some of them, or we would collaborate back and forth to come up with these scripts. Did love and amner, ever meet Superman? No, we never got to that. That would have been great. Yeah, if we could have come up with somebody who had played Superman, that would have been a lot of fun. We had lemon Abner meet Kathie Lee Crosby as herself. Yeah, they met Frank brazzi One time. That must be fun. It was a lot of fun. We had some people would recreate the characters. We had the lady who had played Abner's daughter, Mary Lee Rob replay. She played that character again, 50 years later, coming back home to see, you know, to see family. Several other things, we had London Abner meet Gumby one time. Of all things, we had Dow McKinnon as a guest. And we had Kay Lineker come back and reprise one of her roles, the role she played in the London Abner movie. Bob's Watson did that as well. Some years we didn't have a script, which I regret, but we had other things going on. We had anniversaries of London Abner movies that we would play. So whatever we did, we tailored it around our guest stars, like Dick Beals, Sam Edwards, Roby Lester, gee whiz. I know I'm leaving people out. Michael Hingson  43:52 Well, that's okay, but, but certainly a lot of fun. What? Yes, what? Cartoonist really influenced you as a child? Donnie Pitchford  44:01 Oh, wow. I would say the first thing I saw that got my attention was the Flintstones on on prime time television, you know, the Hanna Barbera prime time things certainly Walt Disney, the animation that they would run, that he would show, and the behind the scenes, things that would be on the Disney show, things like almost almost anything animated as a kid, got my attention. But Walter Lance, you know, on the Woody Woodpecker show used to have, he'd have little features about how animation was done, and that that inspired me, that that just thrilled me. And I read Fred lachel's Snuffy Smith Chester Gould's Dick Tracy. Tracy, which that was a that's why the Dick Tracy connection, later was such a big deal for me. Almost anything in the Sunday comics that was big. Foot. In other words, the cartoony, exaggerated characters are called, sometimes called Bigfoot, Bigfoot cartooning, or Bigfoot characters. Those were always the things I looked for, Bugs Bunny, any of the people that worked on those some were anonymous. And years later, I started learning the names of who drew Popeye, you know, like LZ seagar, the originator, or bud sagendorf or George Wildman, and later high eysman. But people like that were my heroes. Later on, I was interested in I would read the Batman comics, or I would see Tarzan in the newspaper. I admired the work of Russ Manning. Michael Hingson  45:49 Do you know the name Tom Hatton? Yes, I do. Yeah. Yes. Tom did Popeye shows on KTLA Channel Five when I was growing up, and he was famous for, as he described it, squiggles. He would make a squiggle and he would turn it into something. And he was right on TV, which was so much fun. Donnie Pitchford  46:09 We had a guy in Memphis who did the same thing. His name was, he's known as Captain Bill, C, A, P, you know, Captain Bill. And he did very much the same thing. He'd have a child come up, I think some, in some cases, they're called drools. Is one word for them. There was a yeah, in Tim hollis's area, there was cousin Cliff Holman who did that. And would he might have a kid draw a squiggle, and then he would create something from it right there on the spot, a very similar type of thing, or a letter of the alphabet, or your initials, that sort Michael Hingson  46:43 of thing. Yeah. Tom did that for years. It was fun. Of course, I couldn't see them, but he talked enough that I knew what was going on. It's kind of fun. My brother loved them, yeah? So later on, when you got to be a teenager and beyond what cartoonist maybe influenced you more? Donnie Pitchford  47:03 Well, I would have to say George, probably because I was corresponding with him, right? Also, I would see the work of Carl Barks, who created Uncle Scrooge McDuck and the Donald Duck comics and all that. His stuff was all in reprint at that time, he was still living, but I didn't know he could be contacted. I didn't try to write to it, right? Years later, years later, I did get an autograph, which was, was very nice. But those people, a lot of people, Neil Adams, who did Batman, the guys at Charlton Comics, Steve Ditko, who was the CO creator of spider man, but he had a disagreement with Stan Lee, and went back to Charlton Comics and just turned out 1000s of pages, but his work was was inspirational. Another was Joe Staton, who was working at Charleton comics, who I got to work with on several projects later on, and I would say just all of those guys that I was reading at the time. Pat Boyette was another Charlton artist. I tend to gravitate toward the Charlton company because their artists weren't contained in a house style. They were allowed to do their own style. They didn't pay as much. But a lot of them were either older guys that said, I'm tired of this, of the DC Marvel system. I want to just, you know, have creative freedom. Charlton said, come on. And so they would work there and less stress, less money, probably one guy named Don Newton started there and became a legend in the industry at other companies. So I found all of those guys inspiring, and I felt I could learn from all of them. Michael Hingson  48:59 Well, you always wanted to be a cartoonist. Did you have any other real career goals, like, was teaching a goal that you wanted to do, or was it just cartooning it? Donnie Pitchford  49:07 Well, it was just a secondary, you know, as I said, when I started, I thought, I'll just do that for a few years. You know, I didn't know it was going to be like 27 but I we had a lot of success. We had, I had some student groups that would enter video competitions. And for 20 straight years, we placed either first, second or third in state competition with one Summit, one entry, another or another every year. And that was notable. I mean, I give the kids the credit for that. But then about five or six of those years, we had what we call state championship wins, you know, we were like the number one project in the state of Texas. So, you know, we had some great success, I think, in that so a lot of years there, I really, you know, that was a blessing to me. Was that career, you. Well, it just, it just got to be too much time for change. After a while, Michael Hingson  50:05 was art just a talent that you had, and cartoon drawing a talent you had, or, I don't remember how much you said about did you have any real special training as such? Donnie Pitchford  50:14 Well, all of my training was, I just couldn't afford to go to a specialized school. You know, at one time, the Joe Kubert School opened just about the time I graduated high school, it was in New Jersey. I just couldn't make that happen, so I went to state colleges and universities and did the best I could. I took commercial art classes, drawing classes, design classes, even ceramics, which came in very handy when I did some sculpting here in the last eight or nine years and worked as an assistant to a sculptor named Bob harness who lives here in Carthage, but I never had any actual comic strip slash comic book training, so I learned as much of that as I could from guys like George wild. And then after I started the lemon Avenue comic strip, an artist named Joe, named Jim Amish, who worked for Marvel, did a lot of work for the Archie Comics. And tremendous anchor is his. He's really a tremendous anchor, and does a lot of ink work over other artists pencils. Jim would call and say, he said, I want to give you some advice. I'm like, okay, at 3am he's still giving me advice. So I'd go around for two or three days feeling like a failure, but then I would, I would think about all the lessons, you know, that he had told me. And so I learned a lot from Jim and tremendous, tremendous guy. And I would listen to what high, sometimes high would call up and say, Why did you use that purple beg your pardon. So it was fun. I mean, those fellows would share with me, and I learned a great deal from those guys. Michael Hingson  52:11 Are you in any way passing that knowledge on to others today? Donnie Pitchford  52:16 I don't know that I am. I've had an offer or two to do some teaching. I just don't know if I'm if I'm going to get back into that or not. Yeah, I'm so at this point, focused on, quote, unquote, being a cartoonist and trying to make that, that age five dream, a reality, that I'm not sure I'm ready to do that again. And you know, I'm not, I'm not 21 anymore. Michael Hingson  52:45 I didn't know whether you were giving advice to people and just sort of informally doing it, as opposed to doing formal teaching. Donnie Pitchford  52:51 Well, informally, yes, I mean, if anybody asks, you know, I'll be glad to share whatever I can. But yeah, I'm not teaching any classes at this point. Michael Hingson  53:01 Well, you have certainly taken lemon Abner to interesting places in New Heights. One, one thing that attracted me and we talked about it before, was in 2019, lemon Abner in Oz. That was fun. Donnie Pitchford  53:17 Well, the credit for that goes to Tim Hollis. Tim wrote that as a short story years ago when he was first interested in lemon Abner. And I don't know if he ever had that published through the International oz society or not. I don't remember, but Tim later turned that into a radio script when we had a batch of guests. This was in 2001 we had, let's see Sam Edwards, Dick Beals, Roby Lester and Rhoda Williams. And each of them had done something related to Oz, either the children's records or storybook records or animation or something. They were involved somewhere in some type of Oz adaptation. So Tim turned his short story into a radio script that we performed there at the convention. So that was a lot of fun. And then he suggested, Why don't I turn that into a comic strip story? So that's what we did. But that was fun, yeah, and we used the recordings of those people because they had given us permission, you know, to use a recording however we saw fit. The only problem is we had a mistake. The fellow that was running the sound had a dead mic and didn't know it. Oh, gosh. So some of them are bit Off mic in that audio, but we did the best. I did the best I could Michael Hingson  54:40 with it's it sounded good. I certainly have no complaints. 54:45 Thank you for that. Michael Hingson  54:47 I I said no complaints at all. I think it was really fun and very creative. And it's kind of really neat to see so much creativity in terms of all the stuff that that you do. As a cartoonist, me having never seen cartoons, but I learned intellectually to appreciate the talent that goes into it. And of course, you guys do put the scripts together every week, which is a lot of fun to be able to listen to them well. Donnie Pitchford  55:17 And that's what that was, the audience I hoped that we would would tap into right there and it, it was guys like you that would would talk to me and say, What am I going to do? You know, I can't see it. So that's why the audio idea came about. And it's taken on a life of its own, really. And we've got Mark Ridgway, who has created a lot of musical cues for us that we use and Michael Hingson  55:45 who plays the organ? Donnie Pitchford  55:47 That's Mark Ridgway. It is Mark, okay, yes, yes. And it's actually digital, I'm sure. I think it's a digital keyboard, Michael Hingson  55:55 yeah, but it is. It's a, it's a really good sounding one, though. Donnie Pitchford  55:59 Yes, yes. There are a few cues that I did, which probably are the ones that don't sound so good, like if we ever need really bad music. If you remember the story we did, and I don't remember the name of it, what do we call it anyway? Lum tries to start a soap opera. Think this was about a year ago. Yeah, and Cedric is going to play, I don't remember it was an organ or a piano, and I don't remember what he played, but whatever it was, I think was Mary Had Michael Hingson  56:32 a Little Lamb, Mary's, Mary Had a Little Lamb on the piano. Sort of kind played. Donnie Pitchford  56:35 It was played very badly, well that, yes, it was on purpose. When mom plays lum tries to play the saxophone. That was me, and I hadn't played this. I used to play the sax. In fact, I played in a swing orchestra here in Carthage, Texas for about five years back in from the early 90s. And so I had this idea, and I hadn't played the horn probably since, probably in 20 years, and his. So I got it out, and I thought, you know, it's gonna sound terrible because it needs maintenance, but it doesn't matter. It's lump playing it, so I got to play really badly. Michael Hingson  57:14 It was perfect. It was perfect, Donnie Pitchford  57:16 yeah, because it had to sound bad. Michael Hingson  57:19 How do y'all create all these different plots. I remember so many, like the buzzard, you know, and, oh yeah, that was fun. And so many. How do you come up with those? Donnie Pitchford  57:28 Well, I used to get some really good ideas while mowing the yard. Don't ask me, why? Or I get ideas. I get ideas in the weirdest thing, weirdest places. Sometimes I have ideas in the shower. You know, I said, I better write this down. Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, but there the ideas just come to me. Yeah? The buzzard was fun. I'd had that one. Pretty creative. Yeah, the one about, the one about, let me see. Oh, there was one we did, where wasn't the buzzard? What was that other one? I called the Whisper? Yeah, there was a strange voice that was coming lum thought it was coming from his radio. And he turns his radio off, and He still hears it, and it was a villain who had somehow hypnotized everyone so that they wouldn't see him and he would use his voice only. And then there's a character I came up with, and let me see Larry Gasman played it, and I called him Larry John Walden, and he was the only guy he was blind. He was the only guy that wasn't hypnotized because he couldn't see the you know, I use the old thing about the watch in front of the eyes. I mean, he was the only guy that wasn't hypnotized, so he wasn't fooled by the whisper, and he could track him, because his hearing was so acute that he was able to find him. In fact, I think he could hear his watch ticking or something like that. So he was the hero of that piece. But, well, I just, I just think up ideas and write them down. Tim Hollis has written some of the scripts, maybe three or four for me, I've adapted some scripts that London Abner did that were never broadcast or that were never recorded. Rather, I've adapted a few, written several, and I keep saying, Well, when I completely run out of ideas, I'll just have to quit. Michael Hingson  59:32 Well, hopefully that never happens. What? What are your future plans? Donnie Pitchford  59:38 Well, right now, there's nothing major in the works other than just maintaining the strip, trying to continue it, trying to make it entertaining, and hopefully doing a little work on the website and getting it into the hands of more people. And I'd like to increase. Least newspaper coverage, if at all possible. And because this thing doesn't, you know, it's got to pay for itself somehow. So you know, I'm not getting rich by any means. But you know, I want to keep it fun. I want to keep having fun with it. Hopefully people will enjoy it. Hopefully we can reach younger readers, listeners, and hopefully lemon Abner can appeal to even younger audiences yet, so that we can keep those characters going. Michael Hingson  1:00:29 Yeah, there's so much entertainment there. I hope that happens now in the the life of Donnie Pitchford. Is there a wife and kids? Donnie Pitchford  1:00:40 Yes, there's a wife of almost 40 years. We unfortunately don't have any children. We've almost feel like we adopted several children all the years we were teaching. We we've adopted several cats along the way. And so, you know, we've had cats as pets for almost ever, since we were married. But that's she's, she's great, you know, she's, she's been my best friend and supporter all these years. And we were members of first Methodist Church here in Carthage, Texas, and doing some volunteer work there, and helping to teach Sunday school, and very involved and active in that church. Michael Hingson  1:01:19 So I have a cat, and I hear her outside, not outside the house, but outside the the office here, she wants me to go feed her, and we, we shaved her yesterday because her hair gets long and Matt's very easily. So she got shaved yesterday. So she's probably seeking a little vengeance from that too, but, but my wife and I were married 40 years. She passed away in November of 2022 so it's me and stitch the cat and Alamo the dog, and Karen is monitoring us somewhere. And as I tell everyone, I've got to continue to be a good kid, because if I'm not, I'm going to hear about it. So I got to be good. But it's a lot of fun. Well, I want to thank you for being with us today. This has been a lot of fun. I've learned a lot, but it's just been great to have another podcast talking about old radio shows. And you said again, if people want to reach out, they can go to lemon Abner comics.com if people want to talk to you about doing any kind of cartooning or anything like that. What's the best way they can do that? Donnie Pitchford  1:02:24 Well, they can go to the London Abner dot lumen, Abner comics.com website, and there's a contact a link right there at the top of the page. So yeah, they can contact me through that. Probably that's the easiest way to do it. Michael Hingson  1:02:37 Okay, well, I want to thank you again for being here, and I want to thank all y'all out there. That's how they talk in Texas, right? It's all y'all for everybody. Donnie Pitchford  1:02:46 Well, some of them do, and some of them in Arkansas do too. Well, yeah. Michael Hingson  1:02:49 And then there's some who don't, yeah, y'all means everything, and it Speaker 1  1:02:54 don't, yeah, I don't think squire skimp says it that way. Michael Hingson  1:02:58 Well, Squire, you know, whatever it takes. But I want to thank you all for being here, and please give us a five star rating wherever you're listening or watching the podcast. Donnie would appreciate it. I would appreciate it, and also give us a review. We'd love to get your reviews, so please do that. If you can think of anyone else who ought to be a guest, and I think Donnie has already suggested a few. So Donnie as well, anyone else who ought to come on the podcast, we'd love it. Appreciate you introducing us, and you know, we'll go from there. And I know at some point in the future, the Michael hingson Group Inc is going to be a sponsor, because we've started that process for lemon. Abner, yes, thank you. Thank you. So I want to, I want to thank love and Squire for that 1:03:45 years. Well, it's been my pleasure. Michael Hingson  1:03:50 Well, thank you all and again, really, seriously, Donnie, I really appreciate you being here. This has been a lot of fun. So thank you for coming. Donnie Pitchford  1:03:58 Thank you. It's been a great honor. I've appreciated it very much. Michael Hingson  1:04:06 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

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