WAS BROADCAST NATIONALLY MARCH 2001 ON Nearly 200 NPR STATIONS To hear a sample of this program, click on one of the links below: HIGH QUALITY (cable modem/network) LOW QUALITY (28.8 modem) You must have the latest RealPlayer to listen. ALL THE GREAT PEOPLE JOE MEET WORKING ON THIS DOCUMENTARY (click to see larger) JOE & LIZ CARPENTER LADY BIRD's PRESS SECRETARY JOE & NASH CASTRO FORMER NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE HEAD JOE & BESS ABLE LADY BIRD's SOCIAL SECRETARY JOE & ROBERT BREUNIG DIRECTOR OF THE LADY BIRD JOHNSON WILDFLOWER CENTER JOE RECORDING AT THE LADY BIRD WILDFLOWER CENTER TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO IS TALLER- JOE OR GEORGE ? JOE IN DC HUNTING DOWN INTERVIEWS SHOT OF LADY BIRDS WHISTLE STOP TOUR '64

DESCRIPTION: "The Constitution of the United States doesnot mention the first lady. She is elected by one man only. The statute books assign her no duties; and yet, when she getsthe job, a podium is there if she cares to use it. I did." --Lady Bird Johnson

KUT Radio in Austin, Texas presents LADY BIRD JOHNSON: LEGACYOF A FIRST LADY. The new one-hour radio documentary examinesthe challenges and achievements of this extraordinary woman.

KUT Director Stewart Vanderwilt says, "When you make ashort list of U.S. First Ladies who have had the most significantand lasting impact on our country and the world, Lady Bird Johnsonis always on the list. This thoughtful and artfully producedprogram documents why."

The program combines never-before-released archive audio, gleanedfrom thousands of hours of recordings housed at the Lyndon BainesJohnson Library and Museum, period news broadcasts, private conversationswith Lyndon Baines Johnson, and the words of Lady Bird Johnsonfrom an interview that have never before been released to thepublic.

Producer Joe Bevilacqua spent nearly five months listeningto the rare tapes and traveled to Washington, D.C. to interviewMrs. Johnson's colleagues and friends. The program features LyndonJohnson Administration staffers Liz Carpenter, Bess Abell, andNash Castro, Washington Post owner Katherine Graham, Lyndon BainesJohnson Library and Museum Director Harry Middleton, Lady BirdJohnson Wildflower Center Director Robert Glass Breunig; LadyBird biographer Jan Jarboe Russell, and First Ladies Betty Fordand Barbara Bush. Other voices heard on the program include KirkDouglas and Helen Hayes reading from LBJ and Lady Bird's loveletters, and comedian Danny Kaye working on behalf of ProjectHead Start.

The production was overseen by a panel of scholars and expertsincluding Lewis Gould, retired University of Texas at Austin Professorof History; Walt Rostow, UT Professor Emeritus, Elspeth Rostow,former dean of the UT LBJ School of Public Affairs; Carl Anthony,Washington, D.C. historian; and Don Carleton, director, The Centerfor American History at UT.

MODULES: There will be eight modules available in a separatefeed.
1. Lady Bird's Childhood (5:32)
2. Her Early Days with Lyndon (5:50)
3. Campaigning & Kennedy's Assassination (6:20)
4. Her Transition to First Lady (4:32)
5. Whistle Stop Tour (6:28)
6. Head Start & Beautifying Washington, D.C. (6:06)
7. The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 (7:09)
8. After the White House & the Wildflower Center (6:27)

PRODUCER/NARRATOR: Joe Bevilacqua is a 23-year veteran radioproducer. He is the current host of KUT's local broadcast ofNPR's Morning Edition. He has worked for National Public Radio,Public Radio International, WNYC, WBGO, WBAI, among others. Hiscredits include such radio documentaries as One Song at a Time:Tales from the Kerrville Folk Festival (2000) and We Take YouNow to Grover's Mill: The 50th Anniversary of the "War ofthe Worlds" Broadcast (1988). He has written and producedover 100 radio plays and his comedy series The Mis-Adventuresof Sherlock Holmes is currently heard on more than 30 radio stationin the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the British Isles.