This finds me working
on the
book on Far West Texas, and about to resume the Marfa Mondays podcasts (20
podcasts posted so far, 4 more to go, listen in anytime). I just
posted a brief video of my visit last November to see, among other wonders and
curiosities, a most extraordinary and controversial statue at the El Paso
International Airport.
Because of the way it is placed, directly behind a grove of extra-fluffy trees,
and at the entrance where most drivers, speeding in, are on the lookout for
signs, such as rental car return, departures, arrivals or parking, I
daresay few passersby would even notice the statue. I myself drove by it more
times that I would like to admit before I realized it was there.
Here’s my 3 minute video:
My video mentions “The Last Conquistador,” a magnificent documentary about this statue and the controversy. Watch the trailer:
POV Interactive offers the first clip of “The Last Conquistador” documentary:
For “Behind the Lens POV PBS”
Cristina Ibarra and John Valadez Talk about the Juan de Oñate Sculpture:
I’ll give the sculptor, John Sherrill Houser, the last word, quoting him from the documentary:
“Here it is, look at this and think about it, good and bad, the whole thing. The history.”
Notes on Tom Lea and His Epic Masterpiece of a Western,
The Wonderful Country
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