He may be able to address complex issues in his two-minute radio broadcasts, but some of Jim Hightower‘s distinctive storytelling begs for more time.

When putting together the slideshow of our visit to his archives at the Wittliff Collections, some of Hightower’s best yarns got cut. Here’s one you didn’t hear.

On June 27, 1984, Hightower won the Thomas Volney Munson Award from the Les Amis du Vin-Fort Worth Chapter for his work on behalf of Texas wine.  It’s currently on display at the “Swim Against The Current: Highlights From the Jim Hightower Archive” exhibit at Texas State University. Sitting on a lower shelf, we almost passed it by as we walked around the room. 

When Hightower saw it, he told this story of family and politics in a small Texas town:

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