Summary

REMEMBERING THE MAN AND THE VOICE BEHIND BIG TEX.

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 185633
Story Slug Voice of Big Tex Dies (2000)
Location Dallas, Texas
Format pkg
Date 5/30/2000
Archive Time 24:16
TRT 2:09
Supers Dallas, Texas Gary Lowe/Son Stephanie Lucero, Reorting
Video Description (HISTORIC PHOTOS ARE NOT LICENSABLE) MAN ON MICROPHONE, BIG TEX, STATUE, BOY LOOKING AT STATUE, SOT, OLD PHOTOS, MORE OLD PHOTOS, LOTS OF OLD PHOTOS, SOT, MORE OLD PHOTOS, SHOTS OF BIG TEX.
Description REMEMBERING THE MAN AND THE VOICE BEHIND BIG TEX.
Script LEAD: THE MAN WHO GAVE BIG TEX HIS SLOW, SMOOTH DRAWL HAS DIED. JIM LOWE LOST HIS BATTLE WITH CANCER SATURDAY AT THE AGE OF 73. STEPHANIE LUCERO HAS MORE ON THE MAN WHO LOVED THE STATE FAIR OF TEXAS BUT WANTED MOST TO BE REMEMBERED FOR HIS WORK IN RADIO. [PKG] 73-YEAR-OLD JIM LOWE DIED SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOLLOWING AN EIGHT-MONTH FIGHT WITH PANCERATIC CANCER. DUE TO HIS ILLNESS LOWE WAS NOT ABLE TO USE THAT OLD, FAMILIAR VOICE AT THE STATE FAIR LAST FALL. THAT'S WHAT HE DID FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, BUT IT WAS ONLY A SMALL PART OF A VERY RICH CAREER. [SOT] ((I'm so proud I could burst my vest, if I ever wore a vest. )) GARY LOWE'S FATHER BEGAN HIS CAREER IN RADIO IN 1943, DURING HIS FIRST YEAR IN COLLEGE AT T-C-U. JIM LOWE LEFT FORT WORTH IN 1950 WHEN HE JOINED CITY-OWNED RADIO STATION W-R-R A-M. FOR THE NEXT 24 YEARS LOWE MADE AN INDELIBLE MARK ON DALLAS RADIO HISTORY WHEN HE ORIGINATED TWO PROGRAMS; THE KATS KARAVAN AND LIBRARY OF LAFFS. IT WAS DURING THIS TIME THAT JIM LOWE INTERVIEWED COMEDIANS, MOVIE STARS AND MUSIC ARTISTS WHEN THEY CAME TO DALLAS TO PERFORM. [SOT] ((My father was the go-to guy who would interview them over the radio before tv was able to get out of its infancy. )) JIM LOWE WAS THE ONLY ONE IN DALLAS TO FEATURE BLACK ARTISTS ON HIS RADIO SHOWS AND HE STAYED TRUE TO LOVE FOR RHYTHM AND BLUES. PERHAPS HIS ONLY MISTAKE WAS PASSING ON AN ELVIS PRESLEY INTERVIEW BEFORE ELVIS WAS A BIT HIT. HE WAS POPULAR AND HE HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR. WHEN LOWE HOSTED THE KATS KARAVAN, HE WENT BY THE NICKNAME, THE COOL FOOL. [SOT] (( BUT HE WAS NO FOOL. LOWE KNEW HOW TO SCORE THE BIG INTERVIEWS THAT ALLOWED HIS AUDIENCE TO GET WITHIN LISTENING REACH OF MANY FAMOUS PERFORMANCE.)) TAG: THE STATE FAIR OF TEXAS HAS ISSUED THIS STATEMENT. "THE DEATH OF JIM LOWE IS A HUGE LOSS FOR THE FAIR. JIM DEFINED THE PERSONALITY OF BIG TEX. WE MISSED HIM LAST YEAR AND WILL CONTINUE TO MISS HIM". JIM LOWE IS SURVIVED BY HIS THREE GROWN CHILDREN AND SIX GRANDDAUGHTERS WHO ALL LIVE IN DALLAS. SOUTHWES
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