Lonesome Dove

Behind the Scenes with Fuel Truck Guy

From a standpoint of a novice witness, to greatness, an art form of distinct impression upon our society (The Great American Western), and the epic adventure of a 24 year old traveling in company of the talented production cast & crew of LD, I remain to this day somewhat in awe of what transpired. Just lucky. In a word... blessed.

Happenstance chose me to be there, unioned as a Teamster, and tasked with the management responsibility of Make Up Trailer, Fuel Truck, and anything else a "go for" (lowest ranking man of driver crew) would undertake, usually in a rush with high priority. I knew everyone, taxiing actors to and from set to camp & back; airport, town, or wherever. And everyone knew me. You see, the guy with a couple hundred gallons of fuel is a guy everyone gets to know - especially when on location, the banks of the Rio Grande Texas 30 miles out from Del Rio, the mountains near Angel Fire NM, or several remote shooting locals from Austin to Sante Fe. Sometimes you just need 5 gallons to get back to civilization. And so it went. Meeting greats like Bobby Duval, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston, Diane Lane, Steve Buscemi, Barry Corbin... and on and on it went with super heavy weight acting talent, well it was just another day for me, every day, 16, 17, 18 hour days, 6 days a week, for 16 weeks. What can I say? It was pinch yourself lucky. And the fact I was getting paid was something that literally made me laugh out loud to myself, and on more than one occasion. Sureal. Completely overwhelmed, unable to fathom or adjust really to the lucky strike I had somehow found myself neck deep, smack dab in the middle of. So, I did my best. Tried hard not to stare or intrude into any personal corner of a life when there was acting to be eloquently & expertly delivered. And yet, 16 weeks is a pretty decent span, & over time you just kinda get to know folks... even if they're legendary famous, they're still at the...