Voices of the
BIG BEND
Jim Glendinning continues the tradition of his popular radio interviews from “Voices of the Big Bend,” an original production of KRTS,
Marfa Public Radio. The program continues to be broadcast occasionally throughout the region at 93.5 FM.
Story and photographs by Jim Glendinning
ROSS BURNS
A library man by career choice, with
an historian’s interest in folk music, Ross
Burns is well-placed to host Marfa Public
Radio’s “I hear America singing,” the
Saturday morning folk music show which
airs at 12 noon. For the past 11 years he
has worked in the Brian Wildenthal
Memorial Library at Sul Ross State
University and for the last five years has
been a radio host at KRTS, Marfa.
He was born in February 1950, the
youngest of four children of Edward A.
Burns, a C.P.A., and his wife Margaret.
He enjoyed a good, safe upbringing in
Austin and attended initially a special edu-
cation school due to hearing problems.
This was followed by Austin High School
where he developed an interest in history
and biography, graduating in 1968.
Burns had previously visited Big Bend
National Park with his family, so Sul Ross
State University was a familiar and easy
choice for his next move. These were
boom years when S.R.S.U had a student
enrollment of 2,900. He graduated in
May 1972 with a B.A. in history, English
and government.
In May 1971 Burns met and married
Betty Cooper, whose family used to own
the Cooper store in South Brewster
County. In January 1973 the couple left
Alpine so Burns could attend Library
School at U.T. Austin, from which he
graduated with an M.L.S. in 1977. There
followed a series of library jobs, in
Abilene, Sweetwater, Waco, Austin and
Harlingen through the 1970s and 1980s.
Meanwhile, two sons, Bill and Blake and
a daughter, Elizabeth, were born to
Margaret, who worked in social services
and later as a teacher.
In 2002, Burns took up a position at
SRSU Library as Director of Library
Technical Services, a post which could-
16
ROSS BURNS
Alpine
n’t have suited him better. While deal-
ing with library matters during work-
ing hours, he now had time also to
develop his keen interest in music.
Although he never played a musical
instrument, Burns got interested in folk
music at an early age, particularly in
the histories of the performers, their
personalities and background.
The Kingston Trio was the start of
Burns’ musical education. He became a
collector in his teen years of such per-
formers as the Clancy Brothers, Buddy
Holly and Johnny Cash. The result of
this is seen in the music room at his home
in Alpine where he has over 800 LPs, 600
CDs and 200 cassettes. He takes a histo-
rian’s view that any new musical style will
have a link to an earlier trend. His person-
al musical tastes have been influenced by
the likes of the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul
and Mary and Simon and Garfunkel.
When KRTS Marfa Public Radio
Cenizo
First Quarter 2013
ROSELAND KLEIN
Fort Davis
started broadcasting in 2006, Burns was a
natural choice to host a folk music pro-
gram. The historian in him wants to
know the origins of songs played on air
and relate this to his audience. The week-
ly program of traditional folk music, “I
hear America singing,” is in the wise care
of its host with a background of 40 years
of music experience.
ROSELAND KLEIN
Growing up in the Depression years in
Ypsilinti, Mich. was no hardship for
Roseland Purcell. She was born in 1928.
Her father, Doyle, built houses and her
mother Hilda Gray was a homemaker.
And Roseland, the eldest of four chil-
dren, remembers there was always food
on the table, supplemented by produce
from the garden.
A precocious child, Roseland remem-
DAVID BEBE
Marfa
bers reading, which she taught herself, to
the other kindergarten kids. She still cor-
responds today with a friend from those
pre-school years. By age seven, young
Roseland was learning to play the violin,
one which had been given to her father
by a customer in lieu of payment.
She learned to read music before she
was eight years old, and was close to her
sister Joanne who was nearest to her in
age and who played the piano. She pro-
gressed easily through high school, a
happy and obedient student who loved
Latin. She remembers high school fondly,
having graduated in 1946 with mostly As.
Roseland worked part-time during the
war years and was also a Girl Scout. Her
experience was further broadened when
she enrolled at Eastern Michigan
University, where she studied English and
Music. She lived in a dorm, played in a
string quartet and graduated in 1950 with
a B.S. in Music. The year before, she had