DEL RIO, Texas (AP) - A statue of the man who became Wolfman Jack when broadcasting on a
border radio station will be erected in his honor this Halloween in Del Rio.
A miniature replica of the statue was unveiled at a daylong music festival in Del Rio, which drew
hundreds of music fans to the border city on Saturday.
Jay Johnson, president of the Wolfman Jack Memorial Foundation, described how Wolfman Jack
helped spread rhythm and blues and rock-and-roll tunes across the United States and internationally
through the 250,000-watt radio station XERF, based across the border from Del Rio in Ciudad
Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico.
Standing just over two feet tall, the statue replica was constructed by sculptor Michael Maiden out
of wax. It depicts Wolfman Jack dancing a jig on one leg with a rainbow of musical notes and
records raining down behind the legendary radio personality.
"This really puts us on the map," said Del Rio Mayor Dora G. Alcala. "It's something really, really
big."
On XERF, New Yorker Robert Smith was transformed almost four decades ago into the howling
late-night DJ Wolfman Jack. He remained a fixture on radio and television through the 1970s and
1980s until his death of a heart attack in 1995.
His widow, Lou Lamb Smith, who traveled from the family home in North Carolina to Del Rio for the
ceremony, said the statue and music festival were fitting tributes to her husband.
"I'm elated Del Rio wants to do this," Smith told the Del Rio News-Herald in Sunday's online edition.
"This is where Wolf began. He was never on the air before XERF."
Smith, who was married to the radio personality for 35 years, has donated the studio he used until
the day of his death as well as hundreds of pieces of memorabilia to be displayed in what she hopes
will be a museum constructed in his memory.
"People who know who I am always come up to me and try to imitate Wolf's voice. To me, that's an
honor," said Lou Lamb Smith. "Something like this, it brings back so many happy emotions."
In what was organized as a yearly tradition, foundation organizers invited musicians from across the
state to the festival.
"Wolf made Del Rio almost this mythical place," said Mike Venema, who did public relations work
for Wolfman Jack for 10 years. "It's like Sherwood Forest was to Robin Hood. You can't have
Wolfman Jack without Del Rio."
