John Wayne’s head fills a corner in the back of the library at Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, smirking at the students with their noses in books ignoring him.
The sandstone boulder used to create the sculpture of the movie star was once in danger of falling onto the Pacific Coast Highway near Pacific Palisades, Calif. Before it could do any harm, the Los Angeles County highway department removed the rock from its precarious perch. Australian sculptor Brett-Livingstone Strong purchased the hefty stone for $100 and began chipping away. In 1979, the year Wayne died, Tom Murphy purchased the art reportedly for $1 million to display it at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood for a year.
The carving of the rugged actor languished in storage for 11 years until the Arizona real estate magnate donated it to LCU in 1991. No one has explained exactly why Murphy picked the small High Plains college for the gift.
Around 7.5 feet tall, the head of the Duke might seem like an odd addition to a Christian school’s library, but the administration repurposed the sculpture to match their mission. The school renamed the art Spirit of Independence in honor of the God-fearing pioneer character exhibited by Wayne who was “so instrumental in building the South Plains.”
John Wayne’s head is in the Moody Library/Mabee Learning Center on the LCU campus at 5601 19th St. in Lubbock, about a mile east of Loop 289 West. The library is open Mon.-Thu., 8am-12mid; Fri., 8am-6pm; Sat., 10am-6pm; and Sun., 2pm-12mid during the school year.
1,367th in a series. Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.
This article appears in October 6 • 2017.