 It is my pleasure now to introduce our keynote speaker for today. Neil Spells is an award-winning journalist and longtime associate and friend of President Lyndon Johnson and the entire Johnson family. Neil came to Austin in 1952 to attend the University of Texas where he earned three communications degrees. It was while attending UT that he began his association with the Johnson family and he continues to this day. Along the way, Neil has received many distinctions. To name a few, while working at the Johnson family, KTBC TV station, he was single out nationally for his bravery and for saving countless lives. As he reported under fire and in real time, the then unimaginable horrors of history's first mass school shooting that took place from atop the University of Texas tower. UT's College of Communication named him an outstanding alumnus and permanently named the Neil Spells Broadcast Journalism Studio in his honor. Neil was CEO of a company that produced an American moment with Charles Corrald and an American moment with James Earl Jones that were featured on TV in more than 100 U.S. markets. He has won numerous lifetime achievement awards for his successes in communications. And he was named Austin's most worthy citizen for his civic and charitable work. Most recently, his first memoir will be published next month by the University of Texas Briscoe Center of American History. It is fittingly titled With a Bark Off, a journalist's memories of LBJ and a life in the news media. By the way, With a Bark Off, it's a phrase used by LBJ as he dedicated the LBJ Library and Presidential Museum in 1972, an event chaired by Neil. Ladies and gentlemen, Neil Spells. Lucy, thank you for that assistance. I have a little mobility problem these days. At my age, sometimes those things happen to you. But I do appreciate you and him being here. And I appreciate that nice introduction. And Colonel, your remarks were spot on as well as those remarks about the Park Service and the role here and the role it played with LBJ. As a 12 year old, no, that goes back a long way. But when I was 12 years old, my brother and I ran from our South Texas home in Raymondville to watch a helicopter fly in and land in the softball park right next to our house. I didn't ever know that that was LBJ on that helicopter. And in fact, that didn't mean anything to me. At 12 years old, I was more fascinated by the helicopter than I was by some politician asking for votes. That was 1948. In 1956, as a 20 year old rookie reporter at KTVC TV in Austin, that's when I first met Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson for the first time. And that began a relationship with LBJ and his wonderful family that has endured to this day. Now, what did I take away from that meeting with that man at that moment? He said, Neil, be sure and take a picture on this side, not the other side. So I was told to always look at the left side of his face whenever we were shooting him. But before I continue, I really, I must beg your indulgence to share what standing here under these stately live oak trees really means to me. It was January 1973 that I spent several very cold, very wet days here at the cemetery. While the president was lying in state in Washington, the family had asked me to come out here and supervise the burial at this place. When I arrived, the television crew was already here. They had a big, huge 18 wheeler truck lying right up against the wall over there. And cameras, big old cameras were stationed around. The general from, I think it was Fort Sam at that time, the general came up and says, may I help you? And I said, yes, sir, I'm Neil Spell, so I'm here representing the family. Well, I'm certainly glad to have someone from the family here. And I said, well, general, this isn't going to work. He said, what? What isn't going to work? I said, this, this truck, I said, that just looms over this entire bucolic setting and it's going to distract from a very, very important moment. And he said, well, Neil, the television cameras and the television networks, we promised them that they could have access. Well, sir, you, you just can't put that truck right there. It's not going to work. And he said, yes, sir, we'll take care of it. Well, I came back the next day. It's still raining cold. I'm shivering. I didn't even have a raincoat. I had one of those plastic see-through raincoats that just were freezing. And I walked up and the general says, we took care of it, Mr. Spells. I looked over and they had moved that 18 wheeler back in under those liable trees and thrown camouflage netting over the truck. Now, general, Colonel, that was what the general did was amazing. I mean, what he did there, it didn't, if you look closely, you could probably see it, but it did not interrupt or disrupt anything that was going on at the time. I almost clicked my heels and saluted to him when he did that. And also, 34 years later, I was back here under these same liable trees. As a family spokesman, during the final days of Mrs. Johnson, I held back tears to help in the celebration to lay her to rest here. Now, I know this is not time to talk about his passing. It's here to celebrate his birth. But I just had to share this with you what this moment in this setting means to me after so many years of relationship with the Johnson family. Historians, I'm sure many of you who are well aware of it, as was delivered by the Park Service. And they've talked about LBJ's accomplishments, about his history and maybe his unmatched record of service and his success. And that's fitting. But frankly, I feel a little compelled to take a different tack this morning. I want to speak from first hand experience and it involves LBJ's impact on this neck of the woods, the Hill Country and Austin. In my memoir, which the University of Texas Brisco Center for American History will publish next month, I lead the first sentence with this. Through his ascending political leadership in Congress from the late 1930s and well into his presidency in the 1960s, Lyndon Baines Johnson laid the groundwork for Austin and the Texas Hill Country to become the dynamic and fascinating place it is today. I don't think it would have been as happened as quickly without the worldwide attention and prestige that the 36th president of the United States brought to a government paycheck, small college town with no fortune, five hundred companies at that time, no large private industry, no major airport and only one TV station, which was owned by President and Mrs. Johnson. Without going into great detail here, I did mention everything from his work as a young man to bring electricity, blood control, water, recreation and a rising standard of living throughout the Hill Country area. And he brought worldwide attention to the area with the many events that he held here and, yes, to the LBJ Library and Presidential Museum that he agreed to locate on the University of Texas campus. But more than his personal fingerprints, there's another legacy that he left to those of us who are fortunate to call this area home. And that's his family. Think about that. LBJ set an example of service to people. In fact, one of his four favorite quotes throughout his entire public service career is one that is etched on a majestic pylon in the LBJ Library and this is what it reads. These are his words. The great society asked not how much, but how good, not only how to create wealth, but how to use it, not only how fast we are going, but where we are headed. It proposes as the first test for a nation, the quality of its people. My, oh my. Did he ever instill this example in his family? Look at Lady Bird Johnson. My goodness, all she accomplished for people right here in Central Texas to name just a couple of the development of a crown jewel of a park along Hickenback Trail and Park alongside a downtown lake that's now named in her honor and the establishment of the internationally renowned University of Texas treasure, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. I could go on and on. That's a legacy that will never be forgotten. And the apple, it just doesn't fall far from the LBJ tree. Lucy Johnson, his youngest daughter, has made a home here in Austin and you can find her involved in many charities, especially in the health care area and LBJ's oldest daughter, Catherine Linda Robb. She doesn't live here, but her daughter, LBJ's granddaughter, Catherine Robb, has taken leadership roles in many endeavors that enhance the lives of people. They're just they're just too many family members. Lucy likes to call them generations of Johnson's. I love that phrase as such that are carrying on the LBJ example. And we just can't name all of them, but you get the point. As I said in my memoir, all of us in this great part of the country, all of us have benefited and still are benefiting from the example and the great works of this giant of a man and his inspiring family. Let me close by saying that today we celebrate the birth 113 years ago and the life of one man, a man who left an indelible mark on mankind and especially right here on the Hill Country. You're walking on his dirt. You drive down the roads out here. And in his Austin area, accomplishments that have been carried forward through his family. Now, hold on. I got to say it wasn't a perfect life. He he had some acknowledged faults. I know LBJ chewed out my butt on many occasions and some of those butchings might might even have been deserved. We've all lived through his life, those who've been associated. You know, in the sixty five years since I first met Lyndon Johnson, I really wish I could claim to have uncovered startling revelations about this mesmerizing man. That I found the absolute truth about this monumental figure that has impacted so many lives. But I really haven't. I just know that the awe and respect that I always felt has been enriched over the years by the love that I felt for him and his family. Happy birthday, Mr. President. Thank you all for coming. Thank you, Lucy. Would you like to say some words? Well, I just think I'd be in major trouble with my mother and my father. If I didn't thank each and every one of you for coming out under these circumstances. And at seventy four, I've come to realize that there's a lot more of life in the rear view mirror than there is that lies ahead. And I don't want to hopefully get to heaven one day and say that I didn't publicly thank each and every one of you for coming to celebrate my father's birthday because nobody loved his birthday more than Lyndon Johnson. I look out and I see faces like Jewel Malachak, whose husband ran this ranch with daddy and who worked for the Park Service for many years. I see old family friends from the Klein some a family that indeed was a master of all electric and all plumbing issues and was never called anything. But Mr. knew to our respect for him to come to aid of our family. And I think about what the Colonel and what Neil have said so eloquently today. It's all summed up in my father's words that the Hill Country is a place where they know when you're sick and they care when you die and they come and they rally and they say in good times and in bad. How can I be here for you, my neighbor? How can I show you my love? Well, two of those who represent my father's love every day of their lives are additionally here that I haven't thanked yet. And that is, of course, the marks Mark Lawrence from the LBJ Library and Mark up to Grove from the LBJ Foundation. Each of them are adding to the stature of this moment by their presence. And I'm so grateful to have their leadership and their love. But most of all, of course, our thanks really goes out today to the president of the United States for sending this beautiful wreath in honor of my father. And I want to express on behalf of the lives of generations of Johnson's, how much we feel his pain, how much we value his sacrifice, how grateful we are for his willingness to lead us and how deeply indebted we are to the 13 men and women who in service to our country gave their lives yesterday and all of those who were wounded in Afghanistan. And we pray, we pray, we pray for unity in our country in support of our men and women in the armed forces and the president who leads us. Now, each time my father told me, you start thanking people, Lucy, and you're bound to leave them out. And I looked up and saw in front of me the man who photographed me more than any other single human being who just showed me the courtesy of taking his mask off. And I recognized Frank Wolf and thought, oh, my gosh, how many times you have been here and I see representatives of the LBJ Museum and in John and in San Marcus associated with Texas State, the school that daddy loved forever. This is a gathering of friends, my best friend, Sandy, once more is here as well. But to you, Neil, golly, nobody loved him more than you and none of us could have loved you more in return. You were there for my father in times of trial and times of triumph, but whatever the times, all of them were made better by your presence. So it is only right that you have come here on this hundred and 13th birthday to celebrate a life that we all believe was very well lived. But we know for sure how much he tried and how much he accomplished could never have been happy if it hadn't been for support like Neil's and support like all of yours. We wish the president all Godspeed and Colonel, we wish the men and women in the armed forces every ounce of our prayers and support. And Justin, we are so grateful for the Park Service. My father said that the Park Service, he thought was the jealous mistress in his family's bed because of my mother's devotion to it. We are all indeed one family, hopefully in my father's favorite words, Isaiah, coming and reasoning together to try to leave this world a better place than we found it. Thank you all for coming. Thank you, Neil, for being here. Thank you, Colonel. Thank you, Justin. Thank you, one and all.