A Voice in the Box: My Life in Radio

Western Swing

ChadCampbellwasthenextproducertogetambitious .Chadorganized a January 2006 trip to the southern Arizona desert to report on illegal immigration. This was before immigration came up in Congress and set off a real media blitz on the issue, so we were ahead of the pack on this one. Chad, Geoffrey Redick, and I went to the border town of Nogales and rode in a U.S. Border Patrol squad car, interviewing our driver , agent Gustavo Soto, son of a legal Mexican immigrant. We witnessed the arrest of several Mexicans entering Nogales through a storm drainage tunnel that runs under the border. We saw another bust the next day on a second desert drive—this time with the Samaritans, a group of humanitarian volunteers who provide medical assistance to immigrants between Nogales and Tucson, seventy miles north. Our Samaritan driver was Michael Hyatt, a very fine photographer who documented our journey. Dr. Bob Cairns was also aboard; the Samaritan patrols always include a medical professional and someone fluent in Spanish. We happened upon the arrest of a group so large it required a bus to haul them away. One young man had an ugly head wound, which the Border Patrol attributed to a fall as the migrant was running away. I was doubtful. Dr. Cairns examined him. He clearly needed stitches. I’ll never forget the sight of him in his Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt. Immigrants are advised to wear American gear so they’ll “fit in” as locals when they reach the United States. W E S T E R N S W I N G 180 A V O I C E I N T H E B O X We did two hours on illegal immigration. The desert ride-alongs were the second hour, and the first hour was an overview of the issue that featured Washington policy makers, activists on all sides, authors, journalists, and, through an interpreter, an illegal immigrant. I loved this story because I can see every point of view that does not involve ethnic hatred and xenophobia. I understand the resentment against lawbreakers, but I also understand the desperation of those breaking the law. Even if they successfully enter the country, these immigrants become a class easily exploited. “Dangerous Crossings,” as we named it, was an ambitious project in itself, but the trip included many additional interviews, several becoming stand-alone shows. We drove over to Santa Fe to interview New Mexico’s governor, and later presidential candidate, Bill Richardson. We also did an interview on the Santa Fe arts scene and talked with an opera singer turned innkeeper. Also in Santa Fe, I had the great pleasure of recording an hour with Stewart Udall, who served in the JFK and LBJ administrations as probably the greatest secretary of the interior we’ve ever had. Landmark environmental legislation was passed on his watch and millions of acres of land protected. Neither of my producers on this trip had been born yet when Udall was in office, so I was happy that Chad and Geoffrey got to learn about him. It probably surprised them to hear that environmental and conservation legislation enjoyed bipartisan support in the 1960s and 1970s. Once Ronald Reagan ’s supporters took over the Republican Party, respect for the earth was no longer in fashion. This trip also allowed me to reconnect with an old friend from NPR days. From head to toe, Baxter Black looks like a cowboy. Actually, he looks a lot like the cartoon cowboy on the early albums by the great country-rock band Pure Prairie League. He’s even married to a wonderful woman named Cindy Lou. Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Baxter Black is a skilled practitioner of art and science hiding inside the persona of a colorful Western caricature. He was once Dr. Black, a veterinarian, who one day realized his stories of adventures wearing a plastic sleeve were getting big laughs. A natural storyteller with a love of language, Bax joined the burgeoning field of cowboy poetry and forged a career so successful that writer Calvin Trillin declared Bax the 181 W E S T E R N S W I N G only person in America who was actually making a living as a poet. Bax likes to play the buffoon—the joke is on him—yet he is also a musician, songwriter, columnist, and brilliant essayist. Of course, he’s also a man...