DESCRIPTION:
Ron Lyons was 69 years old when he died in 2007. He's in the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame. Ron was born in North Carolina, but spent much of his life in the San Francisco area. His radio career spanned over 40 years, and included interviews with many legendary figures in the entertainment world. Ron's greatest passion was the music of Mickey Newbury. He spent years making an eight-part audio biography of Newbury's life and music, a masterwork which debuted at the Mickey Newbury Memorial Gathering in Austin, Texas (I believe it was 2003, the year after Mickey's death). The biography is available for purchase if you search on Amazon under the title "An American Treasure". The segment in this video is Part VI of the eight-part series. Ron spent a lot of time talking with Mickey during his last decade, in person and by telephone, and wrote some beautiful memoir pieces about their time together. I got to know Ron a little, and we became friends, exchanging e-mails during the times between our meetings. He was a pleasure to know, a resonant heart, an open-minded thinker, and had a beautiful and sometimes dark sense of humor. Those of us who knew him continue to miss him, but listening to An American Treasure helps in the process.

Many thanks to the Newbury family (and other friends) for the photographs used in this video.

More on Ron: http://www.bayarearadio.org/hof/2007/lyons.shtml

Mickey Newbury webiste : http://www.mickeynewbury.com

Note: This non-profit video was made for educational purposes and to honor Ron Lyons and his work on Mickey Newbury. If anyone objects to it due to copyright issues, please make contact and it will be removed.