Movie poster at Carmike Cinema in Shawnee, OK

When you call my grandparents’ house in Amarillo, the answering machine still sounds, “This is the Smith residence. Leave a message, and we MIGHT call you back.” Even now, nearly a year since my Pawpaw passed away, his sarcastic, gruff voice still makes me laugh. During that same time, I waited for one movie in particular. True Grit.

I covered the filming of this western re-make in central Texas for KXAN. It was one of the last topics my Pawpaw and I discussed. Last Christmas, we sat in his living room, chatting about his affection for John Wayne. The original True Grit won the Duke an Academy Award in 1969, so Pawpaw was particularly interested in this conversation. It was quite unusual for him to be so talkative about anything. Even before his illness, he was not the most expressive man.

Check out Josh’s full Living Off The Air blog post here.