A favorite of Lynn and mine passed away this week.
Ricardo Montalban was 88 years old. He was best
known in his roles in Fantasy Island and in Star
Trek, the Wrath of Khan.
However, we remember him best for our trips to New
Mexico. When one would cross the border into New
Mexico on Interstate 25 or Interstate 40, there would
be a sign inviting you to turn your radio dial to either
530 or 1610 and Ricardo Montalban would appear on
the airwaves. "Hello...This is Ricardo Montalban for the
State of New Mexico..." The message would then go on
telling you something about the history of New Mexico
in Ricardo's relaxing, hispanic voice. Over the past
few years, I've noticed that the signs and messages are
gone...just like Ricardo. He will be missed.
3 comments:
Sorry I got here kinda late. Yes, I wounder if the State of New Mexico would release ALL of the Ricardo Montalban recordings to the general public. It would be wonderful.
Albuquerque Journal
Saturday, May 2, 1992. Page: 73
"A BLM and a Forest Service official warned that if the injunc "4 '-v' it: 1 iw I I h'i X-'f ft If piA'zt HziT ft A.r i-. II'' t0- 1 1 y-T Jr' 1 Beginning a few months ago, tourists and interested New Mexicans driving the state's highways have had the option of tuning in the state of New Mexico's official radio station and listening to actor Ricardo Montalban narrate four-minute broadcasts about our land, people and history. But some farmers and ranchers who have tuned into the "Hear New Mexico" broadcasts haven't liked what they've heard. They say three segments aired near Socorro, Clovis and Tularosa blame farmers and ranchers for ruining the bosque, guzzling from the Ogallala Aquifer and driving the Mescalero Apaches from their homeland. Calling the pieces "false and misleading," the board of directors of the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau on Wednesday sent a letter to Gov.
Bruce King, asking that he take the offending segments off the air. In the letter, the livestock bureau board offered to rewrite and retape the messages. If allowed to, they promised to replace the "Fantasy Island" star with a native New Mexican narrator. "We represent 40,000 people and they're mad, mad. They were insulted by this," said livestock bureau spokesman Erik Ness.
"We have a feeling that when Bruce hears about this he ain't gonna be happy either." The segments can be heard on low-frequency 510 AM on designated stretches of highway marked by blue and white highway department signs. They were written for the Office of Cultural Affairs by former state historian Stanley Hordes and author and naturalist William deBuys, and approved by Cultural Affairs Officer Hel-muth Naumer. Naumer said he stands by the information contained in the segments. He said they weren't meant to insult ranchers. "Not only would I not do that because I grew up on a ranch, but I'm not interested in making enemies with the farm-ranch people because we're going to be building them a museum," Naumer said, referring to the proposed Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.
Each of 20 radio segments begins, "Hello. This is Ricardo Montalban for the state of New Mexico." In the one that airs near Socorro, Montalban says, "Say, look around. Where are the trees?" The script continues: "Ecologists tell us that some 95 percent of the native streamside woodlands of the Southwest are gone. What a loss! Dam construction, channelization, overgrazing, human-caused erosion and, yes, outright land clearing are all to blame." said Naumer, "that is true." The tape heard near Tularosa describes the history of the Mescalero Apache tribe. It brings listeners through the Spanish conquest and Mexican independence from Spain and then savs- "Anu hnnp fnr Naumer m0re favorable treat ment from the Anglo-Americans was quickly dashed when the Mescaleros witnessed the construction of forts throughout their homeland followed by a flood of farmers, ranchers and miners into the land that had once been theirs alone." Naumer defended that statement by saying, "That is what happened." The governor has received the complaint and is waiting to see transcripts before responding, press secretary John McKean said.
"What we want to make sure is that these statements are supported in the broadcasts," McKean said. "If these seem to be in the context of official statements of the state of New Mexico, we may suggest some changes." McKean said he understood the piece about the Mescaleros to be "pretty straightforward. The other two seem to be ecological interpretations that ranchers, perhaps including the governor, might argue with," ROSE PALM1SANO JOURNAL Colin Salazar, 4, of Chaparral, N.M., has a little fun while waiting for a fish to bite at the Caballo Lake State Park River Site near Truth or Consequences Friday afternoon. Salazar was on a weekend outing with his parents. N.M."
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1991/06/13/et-cetera/
Et Cetera
June 13, 1991|Updated Oct. 13, 2005
"He reads beautifully: Actor Ricardo Montalban, star of the former television series Fantasy Island, will be giving people an earful of New Mexico history and culture.
Montalban will record 20 lessons to be broadcast on a special low-frequency AM radio station, said John Nitzel, state Traffic Bureau chief.
Blue highway signs will alert travelers, and each four-minute message will highlight local attractions, he said.
State officials considered other voices, but Montalban had something the others didn't.
"He's Hispanic, so he reads all those Hispanic place names beautifully and naturally," said Tom Merlan, director of the state's Historic Preservation Division."
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