Episode 10: East Meets West
Welcome to MOONDAY CAFE a podcast that’s posted every month on the day of the full moon.
MOONDAY CAFE is devoted to the mind-expanding, mind-bending magical power of story.
Before the internet, but like the railroad, whatever brought commerce from beyond could also bring the bad with the good. So was the case when the hit series DALLAS was born. The stampede from California was thundering from the west and real estate in Texas became another oil boom.
Our guide is author, inspired performer, and barefoot cowgirl, Dovey Conlee.
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Episode 10:
The six hour drive to Dallas from Abilene for Dovey was like knowing the back of her hand; no need to think it through, just point east and get to Ft. Worth, the favorite city where Amon Carter once coined as where the west began. He also said that Dallas was where the east peters out, and in some ways, he couldn’t be more correct. The allure of Dallas had its East Coast feel and polished attitude, but the hit show running on CBS was a bold call to action for those wanting to find their own taste of Texas; the dirty business of the fictional Ewing family on the TV series DALLAS. Southfork was born and fans could not get enough of the lust and greed that JR Ewing could harness for the weekly drama series. Dovey had a feeling that some residents interested in real estate would come from California to Texas, mainly Dallas, but she honestly had no idea of the stampede that would come right on her heels as she made her way to find a new home there.
When Ft. Worth came into view, Dovey downshifted and took the University exit towards the Botanical Gardens near the zoo and the Trinity River. She parked and walked the rose garden and nature paths, recalling her many childhood adventures there when coming to this city for shopping and for enrichment. Time with her father here after a cattle sale was often silent as they walked the garden trails.
At the age of 10, a Ft. Worth widow moved into their lives and harshly shifted everything. It was considered understandable that a rancher without a wife knows he could use some help raising a daughter so that she doesn’t turn into more of a man.
At first, Dovey was ecstatic. The thought of another woman to teach her some more refined skills and to complete their family was an absolute Disney fantasy. But, over time reality set in, and the story of Cinderella became the story of Dovey’s life, too.
A 16-year-old son accompanied the new stepmother and in a short passage of seasons, it was evident that neither of them were capable of what ranch life entailed. There was still a division; Dovey’s world and the new woman’s world. When cattle were worked, it was only Dovey and her father and the hands and hired hands. The stepmother did her best on those days to cook for all and it was good, but what this new woman enjoyed most was the money. She would pour over the books and she questioned most everything, especially any oil and gas revenue that started mounting.
A breaking point with Dovey was mounting, as well. The woman had bizarre ideas of how to dress a pre-teen in the mid-60’s and it did not mesh whatsoever with Dovey’s independence and southwest style. It was unthinkable for her to shift from boots and belts and skirts to black Mary Jane patents with ruffled socks.
What Dovey needed was compassion and kindness and inclusion, not a battlefield of control over dated wardrobe selections. It was aline in the sand for both of them.
Over time, the demands were not civil and became threatening. There were two lives under one roof; one life was when her father was there within range and the other, more hellish than she cared to recall, was whenever he was not within sight or earshot. It was a cold war with prisoner of war overtones that became even more severe as Dovey eased from the awkwardness of middle school growth and into the unfolding of a young girl beginning to date the boys from her high school.
This jealousy and envy moved into cruelty and upon high school graduation, with a devilish grin, Dovey was given a set of luggage with a demand; Dovey would now leave the ranch to make it in a new world of college in a city far away from the ranch. And, following that departure, Dovey’s room was turned into a bigger ranch office and the world that Dovey was born into and the world that she left was now in the harsh control of an unscrupulous woman that had control of her father.
Dovey returned to the moment in the botanical gardens and watched some bees and wasps work thousands of enormous pink roses blooming in harmony there on the winding path. She picked a perfumed bloom and pulled off all of the petals, tossed them into the air and when the last petal drifted to the ground, Dovey turned to find her car.
It would be best to get to Dallas before dark and she still wanted to drive through the stockyards and breathe in the familiarity of Cowtown.
The brick streets and the steakhouses, the saloons and the boot shops, the train, the livestock, the cowboys. It was her heritage. Her family’s history.
When Dovey reached the west side of Dallas, she took the expressway to nice enough hotel near the SMU campus, which was a straight shot to the employment agency that was already expecting her.
The intrinsic German in the San Diego employment placement office hated to see her leave California, but pledged to stay in touch AND to offer her sterling references. In fact, it was that woman who arranged for the Dove to have an interview there near Highland Park. A genuine connection. Let’s see how this goes, thought to herself, always grateful that she had this opportunity, and yet wondering if she could land the right job as fast as possible.
She had agreed to meet her father in Dallas, alone, and he was standing by at the ranch for the ‘green light.’ As she would settle, she would call for him and she made it clear that the visit was on her terms and with her timing. He agreed, understanding that he had raised an independent daughter and although it was hard for him, he let her stand her ground.
Looking from the hotel room window, she could see out across the skyline of the glittering city and the SMU campus. As the day drew to a close, the vast amount of lights began to flicker and she let herself dream of just what, or what could be, ahead for her. Only God knows, she thought as she closed the drapes to the hotel room. I am here, and I will know more tomorrow.
On that next day of the interview, she arrived into a room filled with every type of beautiful, well-dressed young women, some with false eyelashes, some with added hairpieces and long polished nails and some with so much perfume she felt her own mascara go soft from the fumes. It was a room full of panty hose and heels and jewelry and make-up. It felt like a Miss Texas pageant was signing in off-stage before the costume changes.
What caught her eye, though, was the sight of…..what?…..there were actually mothers in the waiting area with their daughters?
She was so puzzled that she kept her sunglasses on so that she could study the acts of these women reviewing their daughters paperwork? Walking them through the process? It was the first slightly intimidating moment since she made the decision to leave California. Oh, boy. It was real. She was back in Texas and Texas women mean business when it comes to competition. Dovey composed herself and smoothed her skirt, knowing well that she was not like the rest of the cookie cutters in the room. She took a deep breath and moved across the agency’s crowded lobby.
Then, she introduced herself to the receptionist. When the receptionist picked up a clipboard with the application, then stood and marked her name off an unseen list. Holding her finger up to indicated ‘give me a moment’ the receptionist dialed an extension and spoke to the voice on the other end of the line.
Ms. Dovey Lane is here from California.
She paused for a moment, then spoke into the receiver: Of course, the receptionist replied
and as she placed the receiver into the phone cradle, she asked Dovey to follow her across the front of the lobby through a door to the right of the desk and as Dovey followed her, the room grew quiet. This time the pair of brown rough-out boots she was wearing had tall heels and the sound they made commanded attention. The beauty queens couldn’t believe their eyes; some had waited for over an hour. And several had waited WITH their mothers; mothers that were charting their daughters’ possible success, no matter what.
It was a cage full of Tiger-moms that hissed as she walked by.
Once behind the door, Dovey was seated in a room with a small round table that held a rose bowl bouquet of fresh yellow roses arranged with trailing English ivy. Odd, she thought. Someone must have had a birthday.
When the door opened, a stunningly warm main principal of the agency reached out to shake her hand, then called her by name, cordially asking her to take a seat, please. Another staff member followed with a tray that held a carafe of water and 2 glasses, 2 cups of coffee with saucers, cream and sugar.
This was the start of a new life and she could feel it.
After a half hour of becoming acquainted and discussing the experience Dovey would be bringing from California, it was mentioned that the agency executives had been given a ‘pocket hire’ request.
Much like a ‘pocket listing’ in real estate, the firm looking to hire wanted the interviewer to be hand-selected.
An interview could be scheduled for her later that afternoon at the main television station in downtown Dallas. The placement was not to ever be posted, but potentially filled with a most unique candidate that was qualified and vetted.
Dovey direct references from the California agency seemed to show she qualified, so the meeting was arranged and Dovey would interview with the President and general manager of WFAA, the leader in Dallas’s television broadcasting at the time.
Salary was discussed and would be finalized in a range that would be negotiated, if she was a ‘fit’ for this job. There were other discussions based on all the perks and benefits, etc., and with those vital detailed questions answered, Dovey was given directions to the interview and she was soon on her way.
Back at the hotel, she parked her convertible and took a cab to the TV station office in downtown Dallas. The granite clad high-rise building had several banks of elevators in its marbled lobby and a security station stood in front of the private elevator that led to the top floor of the building where the executive offices of WFAA were housed.
She was greeted by the armed security guard and upon hearing her name, he called the TV station office to advise them that she had arrived. In a moment, she was cleared to take the elevator and the guard, using a key, unlocked the elevator and motioned her inside. It was a long, fast, ride to the top with no stops.
When the doors opened, the offices were palatial and had the feel of a grand hotel lobby. An aid was waiting by the elevator door and introduced herself.
She asked if Dovey needed the restroom and advised her that the interview could take some time, as in a few hours, so if she needed refreshing, it would be a good time to do so.
Dovey nodded, thanking her for being so thoughtful and taking direction, she moved into the ladies restroom. It was another revelation; the restroom was like that of a private club with a uniformed attendant and every amenity known waiting there for her convenience. Fresh flowers were on the vanity, the resting area and even on the ledge in each of the toilet stalls. It was an entirely different atmosphere; a parallel universe. She took it all in and shored herself. It was time to meet the man in charge.
The attendant escorted her down a long hall past a large conference room that housed a wall of television screens mounted along the back wall of the room. Each screen was tuned into a different show or news cast and the colors and contrasts were like a kaleidoscope, each moving at a different pace. It was like a command center of sorts.
To the left was the reporter’s bullpen with work stations and what looked like a hundred telephones.
There was a technical room with a live studio that housed the news broadcasts and the local morning shows and a full wall of weather maps and props for advising the city of the shifts in temperatures and precipitation. It felt a bit like what Hollywood must have felt like.
The wide hallways housed large movie-sized posters advertising shows that were broadcast through the affiliate and just as they reached the double doors at the end of the hall, on both opposing walls were even larger framed posters of the series M*A*S*H and Happy Days. She smiled, took a deep breath and then entered the president’s office.
This man was finishing up a phone call at his desk and wore a tan suit with a vest and was hastily pulling an arm through his suit coat that had been hanging nearby. And when he turned to make the introduction, he had the kindest, most genuine and handsome manner as he turned towards her, then reached out his hand to shake hers.
The attendant took a remote control and silenced the very large console television in the office and set a file down on the coffee table, gesturing to the television executive, asking if there would be anything else he needed and on that note, the woman left the room, holding the door open for another attendant from the studio’s commissary bringing in a large silver tray filled with a coffee service and some small colorful pastries and finger sandwiches, along with cloth napkins and a small vase of pink ranunculus. There were 2 white couches facing each other with a parquet coffee table centered between them, now holding the tray of sweets and savories and the file folder that held the information about Dovey’s vetting from the previous agency in California.
It was the start of a 3 hour interview and an in-depth tour of the TV station. Dovey was introduced to the other staff members in various departments, each welcoming and kind. This television culture seemed like a beehive, but it was a pleasant bee hive, like a team with one main goal: quality television, 24/7.
As Dovey answered questions about herself, her childhood, her recent employment, life in Japan and California and her time in college, the gap closed and by the end of the third hour of conversation, the kind and capable gentleman offered her a job.
He offered her the job, but wanted her to feel more comfortable about the culture, so he invited Dovey to attend an event at the station on the following evening. It would be an open studio tour for the main shareholders of the station, some would be the original investors that had been steady for the last 20 years. The president felt that it would be a good test-run for both of them. She accepted the offer to come to the reception and asked for a chance to discuss the job details with her agent. He agreed and they shook hands, both agreeing that they would meet again at the reception.
And with that, he walked Dovey to the elevator and she was on her way.
When Dovey arrived the next evening for the reception, the main lobby of the TV station and the president's suite was filled with well groomed guests. Most of these investors had purchased shares in the station from as far back as the late 50’s. They were invited to celebrate a 20th investment anniversary and to receive a current annual financial report that showed the guests that their investment in the studio had paid well and should continue to pay well, according to trends.
Hors d’ oeuvres were passed, along with cocktails and champagne and the evening was as sparkling as the wine. A small jazz combo played softly at the edge of the enormous lobby.
When the president found Dovey, she was charmed that he was there and instantly welcoming. She was enchanted. This world was much different than the man’s world of commercial real estate and real estate attorneys. She observed every single outrageous detail.
Introductions were made to other staff members, once again reacquainting them with Dovey. She was deliberately meant to be included in some of the workings of the evening and several, formidable staff members were making sure she felt she would be welcomed as part of the team.
After about an hour, the president brought in an impressive red-headed woman that was draped in outrageous diamond jewelry and wore an emerald green, silk dress that had long sleeves with wide cuffs that held diamond and opal cufflinks. Her skin was flawless and her manner confident. There was a familiar rasp to her voice as she chuckled with a few friends nearby on her way to be introduced to Dovey and her manner was like that of the glamorous movie-star Rosalind Russell; poised and powerful and smiling beautifully, with lovely crimson red lips and snow-white teeth.
The station president made the introduction and mentioned that Dovey was a candidate for the new hire, then, he went on to mention that, although she had just arrived from California, she WAS a Texan and then offered details about Dovey’s family’s ranching and cattle transport business in Abilene and Ft. Worth.
When the woman was introduced to Dovey, and as she extended her hand to introduce herself, her demeanor changed. It was if a cloud passed in front of the sun; there was a shadow that came over her countenance.
She made no small talk, then she placed her hand to cover her mouth in shock, eyes wide. She set her drink down on a small table and then placed both hands over her mouth in disbelief.
When she finally spoke, her voice shook like thunder.
She said, DOVEY. OH, MY GOD! I AM YOUR AUNT. I AM YOUR REAL MOTHER’S SISTER. I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU SINCE YOU WERE A NEWBORN BABY.
Dovey froze, trying to process the unimaginable shock. She absolutely did not know what to say or do.
Then, from behind the woman, creeping softly past the edge of a catering bar, Dovey could see Indian coming into view, from a misty apparition to a clear presence that only she could see, his feathers, his buckskin, his braids. She softened her focus and watched Indian walk slowly from behind the many servers prepping trays of cocktails.
Indian held her gaze and nodded to her, then tilted his head and nodded again.
She knew that what she was hearing was the truth.
What she couldn’t believe was that it was happening.
What the hell? she thought, but couldn’t say.
Of all the TV stations in a state the size of Texas, how in the world did she find a job so fast at a station where her aunt with deep pockets, was a major investor?
WHAT the hell???
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