Join us on Thursday, June 2nd at 6 pm with author Neal Spelce. Neal and Cari will talk about Neal's new book:
WITH THE BARK OFF: A Journalist’s Memories of LBJ and a Life in the News Media“Neal Spelce is one of those rare people who can’t make a move without stepping into history, which is why his memoir is so fascinating and rewarding. He was on the scene when Lyndon Johnson got a very public enema, when he shouted ‘Yee-haw’ in the Taj Mahal, and finally when he was laid to rest on the Pedernales. In1966, Spelce was also the newsman who alerted the world, under fire and in real time, to the then-unimaginable horrors of a mass shooting. All that, and he also consulted on Ann Richards’ wardrobe at the 1988 Democratic convention, and may very well be the only living soul to know the meaning of the word ‘Thermostrockimortimer.’”
Happy Hour 6 pm - 6:30 pmThe conversation begins at 6:30 pm, followed by Q&A
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The tickets are $19 per person (+taxes) for the in-person event and include admission and light refreshments. Wine & beer will be available for purchase.
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Should you not have your Zoom link on the day of the event, please text: 1-339-234-0625 for help.
As I was preparing these thoughts about my remarkable mother, I was reminded of what I consider to be the very best Mother’s Day TV commercial. It was also the shortest and most powerful. The gruff, tough legendary football coach Bear Bryant looked straight into the camera and said:
“Have you called your Mama today?” /pause/swallowing/blinking back tears/
“I sure wish I could call mine.” /fade to black/end.
Fannie Lou Spelce
This story, though, is about an amazing woman born 114 years ago on a farm in a tiny Arkansas backwoods hamlet of around 300 people. Gumption? Fannie Lou Spelce showed it early when as a teenager she went to a nearby Big City to study to become a Registered Nurse. And upon getting her RN, she and a fellow nurse answered an ad for nurses in the biggest city of all, New York City. From all accounts, these two attractive southern ladies were “the belles of the ball.”
After a short stint in NYC, she moved back to her home state, married, and gave birth to two boys, Neal and Bennett. Her career as a nurse was amazing all by itself. If for no other reason, she excelled as a nurse while ultimately raising two boys as a single mom, and moving us to Texas.
Just how amazing was she as a nurse? As an Operating Room Nurse she assisted two of Texas’ most famous heart surgeons at the time Drs. Denton Cooley and Michael DeBakey pioneered Open Heart Surgery in Houston.
Fast forward. She moved to Austin as the school nurse at St. Stephens Episcopal School. She wanted to be near my brother and me who were attending the University of Texas. Saying she “always wanted to draw,” she started oil painting during her spare time. Now this is where Mother’s memories become the focal point of this story.
(Please note: To increase the volume in this 35-minute interview with Fannie Lou Spelce, click the speaker icon at the bottom of the video in the footer.)
“I want to paint Momma and Daddy, Neal and Bennett, the Home Place farm where I grew up and the Arkansas town where I raised my two sons,” she told us. And her very first paintings, without lessons, were widely acclaimed.
Let me show you what I mean. Art critics have called her work Folk Art, or Primitive, or Naïve. She’s compared to Grandma Moses. But I think the best description is Memory Painter.
Fannie Lou Spelce Mother and Child Self Portrait
This is a self-portrait. Mother holding me as her first-born baby. How important is this painting? It was chosen as the cover for the catalog for her major “discovery” exhibit at this nation’s foremost gallery for American artists, the Kennedy Galleries in New York City. What an accomplishment for a self-taught artist. And to be recognized in the best city in the US for art and artists.
Fannie Lou Spelce Peach Season
Even before she gained national acclaim in NYC she had this painting, Arkansas Peach Season, selected by a jury for inclusion in an exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Fine Art. It was also shown at UT’s Blanton Museum of Art. And exhibited in many other museums. Quite an honor.
But, for me, this painting is a “historical record,” in effect, of our growing-up years. Take a look at the lower left. You can see Mother teaching me a life lesson. There she is standing over me as I am leaning over placing peanuts back in the burlap bag where I had sneaked a handful to take home and eat. And she had me go into the general store and tell Mr. Fancher that I “stole” some of his peanuts. Talk about learning right from wrong!
Other scenes: on the upper left is where she placed Bennett and me in a one-room Catholic school so the nuns would “baby sit” us after school until she got off work and walked us home (we didn’t have a car). Mother, Bennett and I are all through this painting. The background shows the peach orchards in the area and on the right is a peach shed where we would get peaches that were too ripe to ship. By the way, this painting is featured with the largest image of any work in the Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century American Folk Art and Artists published by the Museum of American Folk Art.
Fannie Lou Spelce Haunted House
Little did my brother and I know that the stories we used to tell Mother about what we thought we saw when we walked by a nearby vacant house (that we swore was a real haunted house) would end up in one of her paintings. She captured how we were so scared we held hands as we walked by. Ah, youth.
Fannie Lou Spelce Bare Bottom Boys
Why is it that mothers are so fascinated by the bare bottoms of babies? How many family albums contain variations of such images? I guess it’s because mothers were continually patting (or was it, paddling?) those bottoms. Thank goodness Bennett and I were adults when she decided to reveal our bottoms in a painting that will last forever. By then we were beyond embarrassment.
So, Mother, we forgive you for the bare bottoms, at the same time we forget all the deserved paddlings we got.
And to you, as you recall your memories, Happy Mother’s Day.
Excellent History Feature on Neal Spelce in the February 5, 2022 Austin American Statesman, interview with Michael Barnes.
From the San Marcos Daily Record:
Renowned Texas newsman and author Neal Spelce will highlight the LBJ Museum’s Spring Lecture.
The museum recently announced its feature speaker for its annual lecture, which is set to take place Wednesday, Feb. 23. The event will open with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by the lecture at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, the museum said.
“Our lecture will be February 23rd and will feature renowned Texas newsman and author of With the Bark Off: A Journalist’s Memories of LBJ and a Life in the News Media, Neal Spelce, he should be wonderful,” Wayne Kraemer, LBJ Museum Board of Directors President, said during the museum’s 15th anniversary gala on Jan. 22.
As an award-winning political journalist, Spelce covered presidents from Harry Truman to George W. Bush. The museum, however, said his most famous association was with President Lyndon B. Johnson. Spelce’s book “With the Bark Off, A Journalist’s Memories of LBJ and a Life in the News Media,” highlights his experiences with LBJ and other moments from his career in journalism.
During his 60-year-career, Spelce worked in radio, television, journalism, marketing, advertising, public relations, broadcast program syndication, public speaking and consulting. Spelce served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Sen. John McCain during his 2008 presidential campaign. Additionally, Spelce served as a communications consultant to Texas Gov. Ann Richards and New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
Spelce was also CEO of a company that created, produced, and syndicated An American Moment with Charles Kuralt and An American Moment with James Earl Jones — internationally-acclaimed TV news programs that were featured in more than 100 U.S. markets.
Spelce has received top award for radio news reporting from the national Society of Professional Journalists and the National Headliners Club’s highest award for “consistently outstanding television news coverage in the United States.” The museum said he’s been “cited for his bravery, and for saving countless lives, while reporting under fire, and in real-time,” the University of Texas tower shooting that left 15 people dead and wounded 31 others.
Spelce holds three communications degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. He was named an Outstanding Alumnus of UT’s Moody College of Communication. Spelce was also honored when the college of communication permanently named The Neal Spelce Broadcast Journalism Studio in his honor.
The LBJ Museum said its spring lecture is free and open to the public. The museum, however, is asking that all attendees sign up for the event either by calling the museum at 512-353-3300, emailing director@lbjmuseum.com or visiting the museum’s website at https://lbjmuseum.com/events/
