Fourth of July Cred
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Knoxville can connect to almost all of American history in one way or another. One of the first occupants of the frontier settlement was a signer of the U.S. Constitution. But we don’t celebrate the signing of the Constitution. We only celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It poses a problem in Knoxville’s Universal Relevance theory. The founding of our country happened 15 years before the founding of our city. Full story »
More on Signe Chamberlin
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
I rarely devote a column to a purely personal subject, on the theory that what’s interesting to me isn’t necessarily interesting to many. In May I made an exception, and devoted this page to pondering a signature in a copy of Kipling’s Just So Stories I’ve had since I was a baby. I got more response than I do to most columns. Full story »
Knoxville History, Various Authors
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
I’ve made it a practice not to pretend to be a book critic. I have friends who, for reasons of their own, write books. I’ve written some books myself. Getting into the habit of criticizing books could put me into a world of hurt. But the last few months have seen a number of unusual local books about subjects I’ve written about in this space before. And with Father’s Day coming up, I thought I might mention a few standouts, all by authors I don’t know well. Full story »
The End of Brushy Mountain
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
I got some contrary response to my last column, “Who Wrote This Script?” My main point, that Knox County’s law director should resign, seems to offer little in the way of controversy. The sentiment that he should go home is so popular that it’s not even bold to agree. However, I did get some flak for that article, for one barely anachronistic analogy. Full story »
Our Lawless Law Director
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
This column isn’t about whether Knox County Law Director Bill Lockett should resign. Of course he should. It’s hard to argue otherwise without sounding like a crony. He shouldn’t have run for the office to begin with. Resigning is the closest he can come to doing the right thing, even if the right thing seems not to be his primary concern. Full story »
Our Monster: Henley Street
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
In World’s Fair Park last week, I blundered into the midst of a group of Koreans launching lifelike mechanical birds into the air. Destination Imagination’s annual tournament is one week when the convention center seems to earn its keep. Full story »
Signe’s Signature
Thursday, May 21, 2009
I’ve got a whole lot of books at home, maybe too many. I have difficulty shedding them. I still have hundreds of storybooks I had when I was a kid. But I haven’t owned any of them longer than one particular hardback that’s been on my shelf since before I knew how to talk. It fascinated me long before I could read. On the cover is a faded color painting of an appalling scene: an evil-looking crocodile with his teeth clamped on a terrified elephant’s trunk. It’s a 1912 copy of Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling. Full story »
Pollyanna Creekmore, 1920-2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
I feel obliged to say a word for the late Pollyanna Creekmore, who died early last week. She was 88 years old, older than I would have guessed, though some of her old colleagues thought she was older than that. She was a sturdy woman with white hair and a determined look it’s usually better not to mess with. A fixture at the public library’s Calvin McClung Historical Collection, where I spend a great deal of my time, she appeared to work there, and for years I assumed that she did. In fact she used to, but not—officially at least—after 1970. Full story »
Union Barber Shop Still Keeping Us in Good Trim
Thursday, May 7, 2009
I don’t know about you, but I make a point to get a haircut every spring, whether I need one or not. This time of year I tend to find myself at the Union Avenue Barber Shop. It’s in a century-old building, once an apartment house known as the Althea. I don’t know who she was, but we see her name more often than the name of many famous women, because it’s still prominent in the stone on the front. Full story »
Union Barber Shop Still Keeping Us in Good Trim
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
I don't know about you, but I make a point to get a haircut every spring, whether I need one or not. This time of year I tend to find myself at the Union Avenue Barber Shop. It's in a century-old building, once an apartment house known as the Althea. I don't know who she was, but we see her name more often than the name of many famous women, because it's still prominent in the stone on the front. Full story »
Did a 14-Year-Old Kid Help Design the Sunsphere?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The most conspicuous feature on Knoxville’s skyline opened to the public 27 years ago this week. I saw the Sunsphere then, but prefer it as it is now, partly because the elevator ride is free. I’ve always thought the Sunsphere’s highest and best use might have to include a bar. You want to tell the folks at home that you went up there, sure, but you want to be able to mark the occasion by doing something, having a drink inside the thing. Full story »
Why Newspapers Need to Survive
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
News of newspapers collapsing has suggested the obvious conclusion: Newspapers are in the past; the future belongs entirely to the Internet. You can take any skepticism I might have for what it’s worth. I have a conflict of interest. I like newspapers, and I’m a print journalist. There are fewer of us every day. Full story »
Yes. Ingrid Bergman Planted a Dogwood in Knoxville.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Ever have a dream like this? You’re on Market Square. You see a woman who looks a whole lot like Ingrid Bergman, just older. She’s carrying a shovel. Full story »
Bicycles Vs. Cars on Knoxville Roads
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
As bicycles start blooming in chained clusters all around town, I’m obliged to offer a historical amplification. A reader whose letter recently appeared on our letters page claimed, as many motorists do, that our roads were designed for cars, not for bicycles. Full story »
Spring Cleaning
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
On a recent Saturday, I ran into my friend Ed at the library. He’d been impressed with the activity at Sequoyah Hills Park, where people were out to enjoy the sun and community: all ages, a few genders, and at least a couple of species. It wasn’t like that in my childhood, when that same shore was a weedy floodplain attractive mainly to subsistence fishermen and some of the bolder neighborhood delinquents. On Saturdays recently it’s been almost crowded. Ed said it looked like La Grande Jatte, in Seurat’s famous painting. Full story »