Memo to the Missouri Division of Tourism

I learned something about our beloved state in a golf trip to Ireland, from which I just returned. On two occasions there, when somebody heard we were from Missouri, they gave an instant response of, “Oh, yeah, Josey Wales.” Apparently, the most famous thing about Missouri in Ireland — and, perhaps, the only famous thing — is the Clint Eastwood classic The Outlaw Josey Wales. If this had just happened once, I would have assumed we were just taking to an Eastwood fanatic. But it happened twice! Once from a caddy, and once from some guy in a bar, who lived off the coast of Ireland on an island so small that the other Irish made fun of it.

So, it would appear to me that the State Division of Tourism, instead of airing its “Come to Missouri” ads in Illinois and Kentucky, where they already know all about us, should be airing ads during Gaelic Football matches in Dublin, telling people to come walk where the real-life inspiration for Josey Wales walked, or something like that. Along the way, they could stop at McGurk’s and visit Lucky.