Van Cliburn

Van Cliburn was a legend. I was fortunate to spend some time with him during my stint at the Texas Music Office. This photo captures the only time we weren't sharing a cocktail, as well as the only time I got to meet his mother, Rildia Bee Cliburn (her arm is resting on the Governor's Mansion couch as seen bottom left of the photo).

In the middle is Joseph Dial, then head of the Texas Film Commission and the primary person responsible for hiring me. Van’s hands were about the same size as Matt “Guitar" Murphy’s.