The Larry Monroe Forever Bridge

Saturday, June 20 saw the opening of the Larry Monroe Forever Bridge, a memorial tribute to the legendary Austin broadcaster, musical scholar, and master of the "segway." Organized by accomplished photographer Ave Bonar, who was Monroe's partner when he passed at age 71 in 2014, the bridge on the edge of Little Stacy Park in Travis Heights includes hundreds of mosaic tiles that commemorate Monroe's three decades at KUT and three years at KDRP; his signature programs Blue Monday, Segway City, Texas Radio Live, and The Phil Music Show; and so much of the Lone Star music he championed (Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, Townes Van Zandt, Doug Sahm, Stevie Ray, Darden Smith, et al.). Mosaic artist Stefanie Distefano supervised the creation of the tiles, which were contributed by a host of Monroe's friends and fans. The project was supported by the Austin Art in Public Places program, the Austin Arts Commission, the South River City Citizens, and $25,000 in private donations.