Episode 29 - Best Friends Animal Society

In the season 2 finale of John Wayne Gritcast, we sit down with western legend, Red Steagall. Red is an American actor, musician, poet, and stage performer. He has worked with artists like Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Glen Campbell and discovered Reba McEntire. Ethan and Red sit down in the Cowboy Channel studio to discuss Red’s exciting life. Red also tells the story of when he met John Wayne while he was recording his Grammy Nominated album, America, Why I Love Her. Red is such an icon in the western community and we are so thankful to have him as our Season 2 finale guest! Thank you to our partners! John Wayne: An American Experience - Sprawling over 10,000 square feet, the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit is structured to give you an intimate tour of the life of John Wayne. Visit them in the Fort Worth Stockyards today. More information about John Wayne on JohnWayne.com Shop our official store on JWStockandSupply.com Follow us on Social Media Instagram.com/johnwayneofficial Facebook.com/johnwayne Twitter.com/johndukewayne TikTok.com/johndukewayne

On Today’s episode of the John Wayne Gritcast, we are joined by John Wayne’s personal Doctor and very close family friend, Dr. Bob Egan. Bob was very close with the family, he even had Michael Wayne as his best man in his wedding! Ethan and Bob reminisce on life with Duke, including how Dr Egan found out John Wayne’s Akita was giving everyone in the house strep throat, visiting Duke on set in Durango, and John Wayne’s journey with cancer. This is a very fun episode with someone who knew Duke very closely, we hope you enjoy! Thank you to our partners! John Wayne: An American Experience - Sprawling over 10,000 square feet, the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit is structured to give you an intimate tour of the life of John Wayne. Visit them in the Fort Worth Stockyards today. More information about John Wayne on JohnWayne.com Shop our official store on JWStockandSupply.com Follow us on Social Media Instagram.com/johnwayneofficial Facebook.com/johnwayne Twitter.com/johndukewayne TikTok.com/johndukewayne

Ben Christensen is a western lifestyle photographer who is dedicated to living his own western. In this episode of the John Wayne Gritcast, Ethan is in Kanab, Utah filming an independent movie written and directed by Ben Christensen. They are also joined by videographer Dusty Soulsey. The three of them discuss what it means to live your own western in the modern times. They also discuss their new film that will be coming out later this year and what role Ethan Wayne played in the movie! You can follow Ben here  Thank you to our partners! John Wayne: An American Experience - Sprawling over 10,000 square feet, the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit is structured to give you an intimate tour of the life of John Wayne. Visit them in the Fort Worth Stockyards today. More information about John Wayne on JohnWayne.com Shop our official store on JWStockandSupply.com Follow us on Social Media Instagram.com/johnwayneofficial Facebook.com/johnwayne Twitter.com/johndukewayne TikTok.com/johndukewayne

Dan Ford is the grandson of John Wayne’s close friend and mentor, John Ford. Dan tells how he knew John Wayne as “God Damnit, Duke!” based on how John Ford would refer to his friend. He and Ethan also discuss the John Ford stock company, heroes in movies today vs in John Wayne’s time, and Dan’s first memories of Duke in Catalina. This is a great episode for John Wayne and John Ford fans! Thank you to our partners! John Wayne: An American Experience - Sprawling over 10,000 square feet, the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit is structured to give you an intimate tour of the life of John Wayne. Visit them in the Fort Worth Stockyards today.

John Wayne valued courage, strength, grit, patriotism, and family… and so does John Wayne Walding. John Wayne Walding is a former Sergeant First Class Green Beret and entrepreneur. In this episode, John Wayne Walding tells the story of the Battle of Shok Valley. In this 6 hour fire fight, he lost his leg to a sniper and returned fire for four more hours with his severed lower limb tied to his thigh. He details what the battle was like and how he got through it, including how being named after John Wayne inspired him. John Wayne Walding is also founder of 5 Toes Custom, Gallantry Global Logistics, and Live to Give. Thank you to our partners! John Wayne: An American Experience - Sprawling over 10,000 square feet, the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit is structured to give you an intimate tour of the life of John Wayne. Visit them in the Fort Worth Stockyards today.

Julie Hovnanian was one of John Wayne's personal assistants in Newport Beach. Julie tells the story of how she came to know the Wayne family, what it was REALLY like to work for John Wayne, and sheds some light on just how dedicated the Duke was to his fans. She also tells Ethan about a time when someone in his family was trying to spy on him as a teenager! Tune in today to hear the whole story and more light-hearted conversations with Julie Hovnanian. Thank you to our partners! John Wayne: An American Experience - Sprawling over 10,000 square feet, the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit is structured to give you an intimate tour of the life of John Wayne. Visit them in the Fort Worth Stockyards today. More information about John Wayne on JohnWayne.com Shop our official store on JWStockandSupply.com Follow us on Social Media Instagram.com/johnwayneofficial Facebook.com/johnwayne Twitter.com/johndukewayne TikTok.com/johndukewayne

Amber Elle is a self-proclaimed mama bear and lady on a mission to empower others to live self-reliant lives. In addition to raising her family, she is the Director of Family Preparedness at Fieldcraft Survival, whose goal is to expand an individual's capabilities in the genre of survival. Their goal is to educate, train, and equip people to survive in the worst-case scenario. Ethan and Amber sit down to discuss everything from how the pandemic changed the landscape for many parents, the importance of always stretching yourself in order to keep growing, and how feeling self-reliant translates into confidence in all areas of your life. Thank you to our partners! John Wayne: An American Experience - Sprawling over 10,000 square feet, the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit is structured to give you an intimate tour of the life of John Wayne. Visit them in the Fort Worth Stockyards today. More information about John Wayne on JohnWayne.com Shop our official store on JWStockandSupply.com Follow us on Social Media Instagram.com/johnwayneofficial Facebook.com/johnwayne Twitter.com/johndukewayne TikTok.com/johndukewayne

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the release of The Cowboys, we had a three day celebration in the Fort Worth Stockyards! Nine of the original cast members joined us for a three day celebration that included showings of the film on the lawn of the Livestock Exchange building, VIP meet and greets with the cast and a live panel on Cowboy Channel! This is part 2 of 2 of our live panel with nine of The Cowboys! Watch part 1 here Thank you so much to our partners who made this weekend happen! Learn more about Cowboy Channel here Learn more about RFDTV here Learn more about Hotel Drover here More information about John Wayne on JohnWayne.com Shop our official store on JWStockandSupply.com Follow us on Social Media Instagram.com/johnwayneofficial Facebook.com/johnwayne Twitter.com/johndukewayne TikTok.com/johndukewayne

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the release of The Cowboys, we had a three day celebration in the Fort Worth Stockyards! Nine of the original cast members joined us for a three day celebration that included showings of the film on the lawn of the Livestock Exchange building, VIP meet and greets with the cast and a live panel on Cowboy Channel! This is part 1 of 2 of our live panel with nine of The Cowboys! Thank you so much to our partners who made this weekend happen! Learn more about Cowboy Channel here  Learn more about RFDTV here Learn more about Hotel Drover here More information about John Wayne on JohnWayne.com Shop our official store on JWStockandSupply.com Follow us on Social Media Instagram.com/johnwayneofficial Facebook.com/johnwayne Twitter.com/johndukewayne TikTok.com/johndukewayne

Kanab, Utah is not only the backdrop of many westerns, but it is also home to Best Friends Animal Society. Best Friends Animal Society is a nonprofit animal welfare organization. BFAS does outreach nationwide with shelters, rescue groups and members to promote pet adoption, no-kill animal rescue, and spay-and-neuter practices. Best Friends Animal Society’s mission is Save Them All and they are making amazing strides to do just that. When they started, 17 million animals a year were being euthanized and today, that number is down to 355,000. Ethan Wayne visited BFAS in Kanab, UT and sat down with founder Francis Battitsta and CEO Julie Castle. Self reliance and grit are amongst many qualities that Francis and Julie share with John Wayne and we hope you enjoy this episode! Learn more about Best Friends Animal Society here: https://bestfriends.org/ Follow Best Friends Animal Society here: https://www.instagram.com/bestfriendsanimalsociety/ More information about John Wayne on JohnWayne.com Shop our official store on JWStockandSupply.com Follow us on Social Media Instagram.com/johnwayneofficial Facebook.com/johnwayne Twitter.com/johndukewayne TikTok.com/johndukewayne