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 does not mention the first lady. She is elected by one man only. The statute books assign her no duties; and yet, when she gets the 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: LEGACY OF A FIRST LADY. The new one-hour radio documentary examines the challenges and achievements of this extraordinary woman.

KUT Director Stewart Vanderwilt says, "When you make a short list of U.S. First Ladies who have had the most significant and lasting impact on our country and the world, Lady Bird Johnson is always on the list. This thoughtful and artfully produced program documents why."

The program combines never-before-released archive audio, gleaned from thousands of hours of recordings housed at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, period news broadcasts, private conversations with Lyndon Baines Johnson, and the words of Lady Bird Johnson from an interview that have never before been released to the public.

Producer Joe Bevilacqua spent nearly five months listening to the rare tapes and traveled to Washington, D.C. to interview Mrs. Johnson's colleagues and friends. The program features Lyndon Johnson Administration staffers Liz Carpenter, Bess Abell, and Nash Castro, Washington Post owner Katherine Graham, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum Director Harry Middleton, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Director Robert Glass Breunig; Lady Bird biographer Jan Jarboe Russell, and First Ladies Betty Ford and Barbara Bush. Other voices heard on the program include Kirk Douglas and Helen Hayes reading from LBJ and Lady Bird's love letters, and comedian Danny Kaye working on behalf of Project Head Start.

The production was overseen by a panel of scholars and experts including Lewis Gould, retired University of Texas at Austin Professor of 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 Center for American History at UT.

MODULES: There will be eight modules available in a separate feed.
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 radio producer. He is the current host of KUT's local broadcast of NPR's Morning Edition. He has worked for National Public Radio, Public Radio International, WNYC, WBGO, WBAI, among others. His credits include such radio documentaries as One Song at a Time: Tales from the Kerrville Folk Festival (2000) and We Take You Now to Grover's Mill: The 50th Anniversary of the "War of the Worlds" Broadcast (1988). He has written and produced over 100 radio plays and his comedy series The Mis-Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is currently heard on more than 30 radio station in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the British Isles.