Legendary Texas radio host (and Baylor alum) Tumbleweed Smith retires after 15,000 shows

When he was an English major at Baylor, classmates knew the man who would go on to become one of radio’s most prolific interviewers and storytellers as Bob Lewis (BA ’57) — but to generations of Texans, he’s known only by his radio stage name: Tumbleweed Smith.

For 57 years (!!) — until his retirement earlier this year — Bob/Tumbleweed was the host of The Sound of Texas, a program airing on stations across the state. It featured interviews with everyone from movie stars to everyday Texans, and chronicled the depth and breadth of life in Texas. The Baylor alum (and native Wacoan) served as a conduit for unique Texas stories through interviews, as well as his own unique storytelling ability.

Just how many stories? When he retired in July, Smith had hosted 14,820 programs, featuring more than 14,000 interviews. Each program was short — just two and a half minutes — but provided memorable snapshots of life, and stories that resonated. His desire to start the program motivated the types of stories it told. After nine years in radio and television news, he wanted to move away from screaming headlines: “Real life is kitchen journalism. People sit around and talk and visit, and that’s what I wanted to record — the everyday life of Texans.”

Along the way, many of Smith’s stories were picked up by news outlets like NBC, the BBC and NPR, or shared by legendary personalities such as radio host Paul Harvey and football coach/analyst John Madden. Smith has received numerous awards, and even recognition from the U.S. Congress and Texas Legislature.

Now, those stories are returning to his alma mater for preservation. Smith says he is donating his interviews — one of the largest such private collections in the nation — to Baylor, where the oldest continually operating university in Texas can forever house the stories that, as Smith says, show “how special Texas is.”

Sic ’em, Tumbleweed Smith!