Month: February 2005

Coming Out Again

Post author By Chris Herrington
Post date February 4, 2005

With the Memphis-bred Forty Shades of Blue and Hustle & Flow taking home the big prizes and big bucks, respectively, from the Sundance Film Festival, it’s a heady time for local filmmaking. But Hustle‘s Craig Brewer and Blue‘s Ira Sachs aren’t the only Memphis-connected filmmakers making waves right now.

After winning the Hometowner Award for best local feature at the 2003 IndieMemphis Film Festival, Morgan Jon Fox’s coming-out drama Blue Citrus Hearts has been perhaps the most unlikely recent success story in local film. The no-budget, homemade movie has appeared at more than 25 (and counting) film festivals across the U.S. and overseas. Recently, Ariztical Entertainment purchased the video rights to the film, a transaction that Fox says puts the movie in roughly 3,000 Blockbuster Video stores across the country (but not, as far as Fox knows, at Blockbusters in Memphis).

This week, Fox follows up Blue Citrus Hearts with a new feature, away (a)wake.1, which premieres Friday, February 4th, at Studio on the Square for a week-long run.

Created in full collaboration with writing and directing partner Suzie Crashcourse (dubbed Suzie Cyanide in the Blue Citrus Hearts credits), away (a)wake.1 marks a significant departure for Fox and his crew in terms of production style.

“Blue Citrus Hearts was something we spent about a year shooting,” Fox says. “We never had a shooting schedule or anything planned out more than a week in advance for one or two shoots. And every set was me and Suzie and the actors. That was it. We never had rehearsals. We’d just show up and shoot it.”

By contrast, initial shooting on away (a)wake.1 was done on a tight 16-day schedule with a crew sometimes four times the size of the bare-bones squad that shot Hearts. Preproduction included two months in acting workshops where participants worked through some of the general themes and situations that would be depicted in the film.

If you’re wondering about the “.1” part of the title, it is indeed an indicator that the film is the first part of a two-part film, which wasn’t the original intent.

“Originally, the film was about 12 characters,” Fox says. “We cut something together with all 12 characters and all their stories. It was about a two-hour rough cut that we screened for 15 people just to get some general feedback, and we realized that it was way too busy. We decided to break it in half. The kinds of stories we tell already have a looseness to them, rather than being tightly plotted, so that allows us to make changes like that.”

What emerged as part one of the now two-part film follows four characters, two adults dealing with loss and two younger characters dealing with family tension and questions about their sexuality.

Using generation-spanning pairs of protagonists wasn’t entirely intentional, but Fox admits he is attempting to stretch beyond Hearts‘ high school milieu.

“The original script was fashioned in a way that would cover pretty much every age group, just to create that diversity of experiences,” Fox says. “It’s perceived that people find themselves in their youth and that once you age, you’re set. We were trying to show people discovering things and liberating themselves [throughout life].”

But even the young characters in away (a)wake.1 are a departure from those in Blue Citrus Hearts. Much like the protagonist of Hearts, away (a)wake.1‘s Larsen (played by then-White Station junior Saki Nosurname) is a high school kid confronting his sexuality. But where Hearts was a relatively tortured look at the coming-out process, Larsen is positively defiant about it.

“Blue Citrus Hearts was dealing with the struggle of coming out,” Fox says. “Here I wanted to show characters more confident with themselves. I like the idea of having Larsen’s character be superficially ‘normal’ but also be active and conscious — putting up flyers, protesting.”

Whether away (a)wake.1 can match the unexpected success of Blue Citrus Hearts remains to be seen. (Fox says he hopes to premiere the second, wilder, installment this summer.) It’s a more polished film visually, but due in part to its wider canvas, less immediately gripping. Hearts had a piercing tenderness that cut through its rough patches; away (a)wake.1 might take longer to settle in.

But Fox is hopeful that the success of Hearts will help his new film get seen. “I’ll be able to use contacts I already have,” he says of away (a)wake.1‘s future. “Basically, you get in one big festival and then all the other festivals start contacting you. So, hopefully, I won’t have to spend a $1,000 on entry fees the way I did on Blue Citrus Hearts.”

away (a)wake.1 is showing Friday, February 4th, through Thursday, February 10th, at Studio on the Square.

News The Fly-By

F-stop

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date February 4, 2005

Memphis lost one of its “big empties” last week with the demolition of a former service building at the old Baptist Memorial Hospital. The four-story building went out with a bang — well, a press conference, at least, and is the first in a series of demolitions planned at the site. The main hospital complex on Union Avenue will come down in November. A 6.5-acre research park that will be operated by the Memphis Bioworks Foundation will go up in its place.

Editorial Opinion

EDITORIAL

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date February 4, 2005

This is no longer the vacation season for most people, but even if it were, a traveler would have to get pretty far away from Memphis to avoid hearing jibes about the conduct of our local officials. To Mars, maybe — but what with the advances made in the technology of various sky probes, even that kind of distance probably wouldn’t serve.

Even before the brief and surprising announcement last week from Mayor Willie Herenton that he was the father of a 4-month-old child, sans wedlock, we were in the way of jibes from the likes of Jay Leno and Rush Limbaugh, both of whom saw fit to wax witty at the expense of state senator John Ford, whose multiple child-support cases in multiple households were the subject of a well-publicized court hearing.

Now, after the Herenton bombshell, the wags are bound to be asking what it is that we put in the water in these parts. (Answer: not saltpeter, that’s for sure.)

There is an obvious difference in the two cases: Members of the state legislature have, as it were, out-of-town jobs. Like it or not, the distance from home of their official pursuits, added to the fact that they represent only a portion of the whole, has tended, historically, to diminish their accountability. Indeed, John Ford seems to relish his bad-boy role, finding in it an acceptable form of macho. And, like it or not, his constituents tend to shrug it off. (They also shrug off the fact that Ford makes his residence — er, residences — outside the district he purportedly represents.)

To his credit, Mayor Herenton has never been such a scofflaw. This is not to say that his hands are altogether clean. Herenton’s departure from his job as schools superintendent was hastened in 1991 by negative publicity stemming from a previous liaison, as well as from the conflict-of-interest concerns that came with it. But, by and large, Herenton has been a useful role model while serving as mayor, both for the inner-city population he sprang from and for the community at large. His natural air of authority (which occasionally drifts toward arrogance) and inherent dignity have been viable parts of an image which he has frequently projected on behalf of the city’s needs and concerns.

We try not to be overly judgmental about the private life of public officials (although the record will show that we did not shy away from several public chastisements of former President Clinton during the fallout from l’affaire Lewinsky). We do not normally point the finger at offenders per se. Hey, like the Book says, we’re all sinners. Peccadilloes are a dime a dozen, and we’ve got our own.

But precisely because the office of mayor is such a high-profile position, with the image of its holder so closely bound up with that of the community he represents, Mayor Herenton has created real difficulties both for himself and for his constituents, those whose public face he is to the world. He already is accused, in some quarters, of being one whose frequent policy broadsides — advocating city/county consolidation, for example — generally peter out for lack of follow-through. That problem is now almost certainly compounded.

Under the onslaught of various prior events, the mayor has already indicated both that he had given a thought to discontinuing his present term and that he might reconsider the idea of running again for a fifth term in 2007. We would advise him to think again, quite seriously, about which course would best serve this city.

Food & Wine Food & Drink

In the Raw

Post author By Bianca Phillips
Post date February 4, 2005

Tanya Zavasta and her family moved here from Russia for two reasons: to fulfill their American dream and to have Zavasta’s leg surgically repaired. Due to a severe hip problem, one leg was shorter than the other. After she learned she would need extensive surgery to correct the problem, she began eating a diet of raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds in hopes that it would help her recover faster.

Little did she know her diet would not only improve her health, it would dramatically modify her appearance. In a “before” picture at age 35, Zavasta has puffy cheeks, no visible cheekbones, and the beginnings of a double chin. Now, at age 47, she looks like she’s gone back in time with defined cheekbones and a clear, wrinkle-free complexion. She says she feels like she’s in her 20s.

Eventually, Zavasta put her experiences on the benefits of raw eating into a book called Your Right to Be Beautiful. Another book, Beautiful on Raw: Uncooked Creations, is due out in April.

A raw-food diet has been shown to reduce the risk of some cancers and degenerative diseases such as arthritis. Proponents of the diet also claim they have increased energy, and — due to the fact that they eat a minuscule amount of fat and carbs — substantial weight loss.

“The severe migraines that I suffered at a young age are gone completely, my sinus problems cleared up, and I stopped having colds,” says Zavasta. “I lost weight and I gained energy, but the change in my appearance was the most startling [aspect].”

Zavasta claims a bulging varicose vein on her left calf has vanished, and all pimples and blackheads have disappeared. Her waist is three inches smaller than it was on her wedding day 25 years ago. Actors Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson and supermodel Carol Alt also swear by the diet. Raw-food restaurants are popping up on both coasts.

Proponents claim that all of the vitamins and minerals found naturally in foods are retained in raw foods. Zavasta says that up to 90 percent of the vitamins in broccoli are lost through microwaving, and up to 50 percent are lost when the vegetable is boiled. Most of her protein comes from nuts and seeds, and Zavasta maintains that the diet provides all the nutrients a person needs without taking supplements.

“If we have an apple pie and an apple, where would you get the most nutrients?” Zavasta asks rhetorically. “When other people eat something cooked, like a stir-fry, I eat a raw vegetable salad. As a result, I get a hundred times more vitamins and nutrients.”

Raw-food advocates are generally vegans, meaning they don’t eat meat, dairy, or eggs, although some do eat sushi. Beans and nuts are often soaked until soft and then used in pâtés or spreads. Many commonly cooked dishes have raw counterparts. For example, raw-foodists often make spaghetti noodles from zucchini or spaghetti squash.

The diet is slowly gaining popularity in Memphis. The Memphis Living Foods Support Group meets on the second Thursday of each month at Wild Oats for a potluck supper and discussion or guest speaker. Zavasta says there are 400 people who have signed onto the group’s e-mail newsletter.

“Even with the spectacular results of my diet, I felt alone, so I decided to found a support group,” she says. “The goal of the group is to help its members and interested visitors develop good, healthy eating habits and ease the lure of bad food choices.”

Zavasta says she’s on a mission to turn Memphis — which has been named among the fattest cities in the country on more than one list — on to her “rawsome diet” one person at a time.

Besides her local support group, she’s also targeting the Christian community.

“My heart aches when I think that at every Bible class, they have coffee and donuts. I dream of a day when they will have a juicer,” says Zavasta.

She also hosts lectures, gives raw-foods preparation classes, and does a little motivational speaking on the side.

“The raw-foods diet is not too popular in Memphis, and that’s where I come in,” she says. “I’m trying to change how we eat in the South.”

Cover Feature News

Earthquake

Post author By Janel Davis
Post date February 4, 2005

Did you feel that? Probably not, but deep beneath your feet the ground is shaking. In fact, due to Memphis’ proximity to the New Madrid fault, all of us are standing on shaky ground almost every day.

In recent months, earthquakes have spawned tsunamis and volcanic eruptions around the globe. But what will happen if a big one hits the Mid-South? No one can predict with certainty the effects of a major quake, but local experts have a pretty good idea, and it’s not pretty.

The New Madrid seismic zone extends 150 miles south from Cairo, Illinois, through New Madrid, Missouri, to Marked Tree, Arkansas. It reaches into Kentucky and Tennessee and crosses the Mississippi River in three places. The zone averages almost a quake a day, and scientists say it poses the greatest earthquake risk east of the Rocky Mountains.

Three of the largest earthquakes in North American recorded history occurred in the New Madrid zone during the winter of 1811-1812. During a three-month period, a series of more than 100 earthquakes, the most severe estimated at magnitudes of at least 8.0 on the Richter scale, rocked the central United States and changed the landscape of the area. Although no actual seismic measurements were made, the resulting destruction has given scientists a good indication of the earthquakes’ strength and duration.

Since then, two other damaging earthquakes have occurred in the New Madrid zone: a magnitude 6.4 near Marked Tree in 1843 and a magnitude 6.8 near Charleston, Missouri, in 1895. In March 1976, a magnitude 5.0 occurred, followed by a 4.8 in September 1990. Because scientists cannot predict or prevent earthquakes, they rely on history and earthquake cycles to determine future quake possibilities. Quakes up to a magnitude of 6.5 have a reoccurrence rate of 75 to 100 years. Those 7.5 and above occur approximately every 500 years. Scientists estimate that the probability of a magnitude 6.0 or larger quake occurring in the next 50 years is between 25 and 40 percent.

Making Forecasts

When the magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred in Southeast Asia on December 26th, it set off a tsunami that killed more than 286,000 people and displaced millions more. Media reports focused on the tsunami and for the most part ignored the seismic activity responsible for the killer wave. Here in the New Madrid zone, a tsunami is not possible, of course, but damage from a major earthquake could still be devastating.

Jim Wilkinson coordinates the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), headquartered on Holmes Road. The organization’s purpose is to protect and prepare the eight-state area comprising the New Madrid seismic zone. CUSEC partners with several federal and local emergency management agencies. “We don’t have to worry about a tsunami here, but earthquakes are a very real situation,” says Wilkinson. “We know, based on historical evidence and science, that we’re due for a damaging earthquake. But the reality is that because we haven’t had one in so long, it’s not a priority in people’s view. It doesn’t get a lot of press, but we are facing a situation in which the clock is ticking.”

Earthquakes can be felt when they reach a magnitude of 3.0. Minor damage, such as dishes rattling off kitchen shelves, occurs at 4.0 to 5.0 magnitude. Chimneys and eaves and overhangs can fall during a magnitude 6.0. And quakes reaching a magnitude of 8.0 or larger are considered “great earthquakes” and can cause large splits in the ground, burst utility lines, flooding, and other severe damage. Although the New Madrid zone produces a quake a day, most are too small to be felt. CUSEC scientists monitor this minor seismic activity for signs of possible larger eruptions. The New Madrid zone is not as active as the California fault zones, which can produce several quakes a day, but because of its composition and location, it can be equally dangerous.

The Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) at the University of Memphis is an organization of seismologists and geologists that also monitors and records activity of the New Madrid fault system. “Unlike the fault along the California coast, which is visible to the naked eye, we can’t see the [New Madrid] fault because it is buried deep below layers of sediment,” says geologist Eugene Schweig. “Quakes are occurring along the Mississippi Valley and the river is constantly overflowing and dumping more and more layers of sediment on top of the [seismic zone]. [In California] scientists study the zone and pick up rocks from the fault and make pretty accurate determinations. Here, all we have telling us that there is an earthquake threat is the earthquakes themselves [after the fact.]”

The old, hard rock and sediment of the New Madrid fault carries seismic waves farther than in California quakes, which travel through softer, more newly formed rocks. Quakes of similar magnitude would probably produce greater damage in the New Madrid area than in California. “Quakes in California can be compared to hitting the side of a sandbox,” says Schweig. “The waves just don’t travel very far through that sand. But in the New Madrid zone, it’s like hitting the end of a metal pipe. The waves shoot to the other end.”

A geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), housed at CERI, Schweig works with engineers, scientists, and emergency managers to provide information on seismic activity. Schweig says scientists estimate the frequency of earthquakes by examining artifacts or geology and charting small quakes. “We can’t predict earthquakes, so we focus on earthquake forecasting,” he says. “There is a relationship between large and small earthquakes everywhere in the world. If you had a good idea of the number of small ones, you could predict the number of larger ones. But what we’ve done is examine the effects of past earthquakes from things buried out in fields.” CERI and the USGS have determined that quakes similar to those in 1811-1812 also occurred in 900 A.D. and 1,500 A.D., confirming the average reoccurrence rate of 500 years.

CUSEC studies estimate that potential losses from future earthquakes of 5.5 or greater would be significant in the central United States because of the high population density of cities such as St. Louis and Memphis. There are a large number of structures in the zone that are not designed to withstand earthquakes. The presence of thick sediments will amplify the quakes, leading to destruction that would impact an area 10 times larger than an equivalent California quake.

In the New Madrid zone, quakes are most often felt by people in rural areas, where automobiles and machinery and pavement are less likely to impede or resemble vibrations. The latest notable earthquake in the area occurred last Friday in Enola, Arkansas. It measured 2.7 on the Richter scale. “With each increase of one magnitude, the amount the ground moves increases 10 times,” says Schweig. “And the amount of energy released, or the strength of the quake, increases about 32 times.”

The size of an earthquake also depends on the type of soil in the zone. The soft soil of the Memphis bluffs, for example, offers advantages and disadvantages, says Schweig. For short seismic waves, which affect single-story dwellings such as houses, soft soil is better because it reduces the damaging vibrations. Longer waves, which affect multi-story buildings and bridges, cause more damage when traveling through soft soil. (The USGS and CERI are currently completing surface maps based on soil composition in Shelby County.)

“We don’t need to be afraid of an earthquake, but we need to be prepared,” says Schweig. “A devastating quake is quite unlikely during your lifetime, but as we found out with the tsunami — which was an event which may have been more unlikely than a New Madrid quake — we see it can happen. Earthquakes are low probability and high consequences.”

Reducing the Risk

Seismologists say earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings kill people. In the New Madrid seismic zone, scientists are well aware of this mantra and are taking measures to reduce the risk of damage from a high-magnitude earthquake.

In California, where earthquakes are more frequent than in in the New Madrid area, city governments began instituting seismic building codes as early as the 1950s.

Memphis and Shelby County governments have been slow to catch up. According to Wilkinson, local codes did not include seismic requirements until the early 1990s. The CUSEC sees seismic codes as the most important step local governments can take to minimize damage and casualties.

“Under the old building code, the costs to modify buildings to meet seismic regulations was about 2 or 3 percent, in addition to normal building costs,” says Wilkinson. “A lot had to do with whether the building was designed correctly on the front end, instead of retrofitting the building, which can get expensive.”

A new, universal (and international) code is expected to be completed soon. For West Tennessee builders that has been a point of contention. “Costs to comply with the new code have been estimated by builders to be as high as 40 percent [in addition to building costs],” says Wilkinson. “But until we have a tangible study that gives specific costs, we’ll just be throwing numbers around.”

Some companies, such as AutoZone, have already built to higher earthquake-resistant standards. The company’s downtown office building rests on shock absorbers. The building’s base is constructed to allow for sway.

The National Civil Rights Museum has retrofitted its original structure to comply with seismic codes and constructed its expansion building to even more stringent codes.

CUSEC is working with city governments to upgrade bridges, including the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River. They have also created a team of engineers and architects to inspect buildings after a catastrophe. CUSEC representatives also work with builders and contractors on cost-effective approaches to reduce damage.

“In my opinion, the public sector is aware of the potential for disaster, but a lot of individuals in the area do not have it on their radar,” says Red Cross spokesman Rick Roberts. The Mid-South chapter of the Red Cross has long offered disaster training as well as first aid and CPR. In March, the organization will launch its “Get Ready, Mid-South” initiative, designed to prepare residents for disasters such as terrorism, tornadoes, and earthquakes. “The same items that we were sending to tsunami victims would be the same things that we would need,” says Roberts. “You have to ask yourself, ‘What would happen if?’ And, ‘Will I be prepared?'”

According to Wilkinson, the worst-case scenario for a large earthquake in this area would be for it to occur during the day in mid- to late-winter, when melting snow would have begun to flood the Mississippi River.

CUSEC hosts educational seminars with school children, teaching earthquake preparedness using Seismo, a seismic-wave character. Memphis City Schools does not have a specific earthquake emergency plan, but it is covered in the district’s overall Response Procedures and Guidelines manual.

MLGW Preparedness

Perhaps the most notable advances in the public sector have been made by the company that would be most affected in the event of a major earthquake. CUSEC says Memphis Light, Gas, & Water is exemplary in its earthquake preparedness. According to utility spokesman Mark Heuberger, MLGW has retrofitted all electrical substations and the 14 water-pumping stations within the Memphis/Shelby County area. The company has placed generators at all stations, replaced old metal water pipes with flexible duct pipes, and secured equipment inside stations to prevent falls.

“We didn’t just do this for earthquakes. We did it because it was practical,” says Heuberger. “If an earthquake were to occur, we would need to get our services on-line as soon as possible, and these are some of the ways to do that.” Because the utility’s corporate building in downtown Memphis doesn’t meet some of the code provisions to handle seismic and other major disasters, some operations have been moved to more secure facilities. The utility conducts impromptu crisis scenarios three times a year, including at least one earthquake situation.

Even with these advances, scientists say that much more needs to be done to prepare for a quake. “What we end up with is a large inventory of structures that weren’t designed for earthquakes, and that’s worrisome,” says Wilkinson. “Our ultimate goal is to protect people and property. That is a challenge with all of the other budget priorities out there. We want to get to a point where it’s safe, but we have to look at real-world issues. It’s a balancing act.”

Opinion

Mano a Mano

Post author By John Branston
Post date February 4, 2005

By midday Monday, it was apparent that Logan Young was about as likely to take the witness stand as he is to lead the University of Tennessee band in Rocky Top.

Once upon a time, prosecutors and defendants faced one another mano a mano in dramatic courtroom confrontations. Now we get accountants, bank clerks, and the thrilling sight of Young accuser Lynn Lang briefly reentering the courtroom, folding his massive arms across his massive chest, and staring across the courtroom at the witness box into the unblinking eyes of … Young’s 67-year-old female housekeeper.

It’s been that kind of trial. The Super Bowl of Sleaze has featured brief moments of action interrupted by long recesses and mind-numbing bench conferences that make a City Council meeting seem thrilling. On Monday, the defense team’s Hail Mary motion for acquittal fell incomplete, and Young’s fate and liberty are now in the hands of the jury.

Young is in a jam because of his own words and actions, which may or may not include paying $150,000 to Lang. He was officially indicted by a federal grand jury but unofficially indicted (and already convicted) by The Commercial Appeal and football fans on the Internet, where the trash talk has been going on for more than four years. If he gets off, it will be an O.J. acquittal in many eyes. Jurors will have the final word, but until they do, let’s see what lawyers say that might shed some light on this case.

A book called Sponsorship Strategy by Robert Klonoff and Paul Colby, published in 1999, is popular in some legal circles. The authors, who have experience as both prosecutors and defense attorneys, argue that “less is more” in criminal trials and “Keep it simple, stupid” is good advice. The point: Don’t over-prove your point.

Writing in the Texas Tech Law Review, another lawyer, Bill Allison, said, “There is a phenomenon at work in the minds of jurors that says, when you start putting on multiple witnesses to prove the same point, you must have some doubt about that point.”

Neither the prosecutors nor the defense attorneys in the Young trial have talked to the media, so their strategy can only be guessed at. But “less is more” seems to be the rule for both sides. In the media and on the Internet, of course, it’s just the opposite. More is more. More rumors, more names, more links to other rumors and names. Lang sidekick Milton Kirk, recruiting analyst Tom Culpepper, Internet pundit Roy Adams (aka Tennstud), and NCAA investigator Rich Johanningmeier are household names. But none of them testified at Young’s trial.

Nor did representatives of most of the seven schools that talked to Lang about obtaining the services of Albert Means. Alabama athletic director Mal Moore was barely on the witness stand for 10 minutes and skated through his testimony. Memphis high school coaches Tim Thompson and Wayne Randall were subpoenaed by the defense but did not testify. Newsweek journalist Richard Ernsberger, who deserves more credit than he has gotten locally for his reporting about Lang and Means, testified for approximately two minutes about a single line in his book, Bragging Rights. He wrote that Lang told him, “Logan Young? I’ve heard his name. But that’s all I know about him.”

Former University of Memphis coach Rip Scherer made a cameo appearance to deny promising Lang’s wife a free law school education. Scherer said he earned $250,000 a year, or less than half the compensation of his successor, Tommy West, whose star defensive lineman for the last three years was Means. Former Georgia coach Jim Donnan also testified, denying that he paid Lang $700 cash but also blurting out “not enough” when asked how much he got paid at Georgia. It turned out that he made $700,000 one year, possibly as much as the entire jury put together.

Other witnesses for both sides were also brief, possibly because their testimony was so suspect. Former Alabama assistant coach Ivy Williams, a defense witness, was dreadful. He denied talking about Means in more than 200 conversations with Young. Alleged middleman Melvin Earnest, nicknamed “Botto,” denied driving Lang to Young’s house but admitted being friends with Young for more than 20 years and “borrowing” money from him. Did he pay it back? “Not all of it, most of it,” he testified.

The defense witness who got the most face time in front of the jury was Young’s accountant, David Pearson. Attorneys methodically led him through a series of Young cash withdrawals and Lang cash deposits. The amounts never matched, but there was, prosecutors noted, “time correlation.”

“Follow the money” is the prosecution’s advice to the jury. If the jury finds the money trail as murky as the testimony, Young will walk.

Book Features Books

Mr. Bill

Post author By
Post date February 4, 2005

One Matchless Time

By Jay Parini

HarperCollins, 433 pp., $29.95

ith One Matchless Time, Jay Parini becomes the sixth biographer to chronicle and analyze the life and work of William Faulkner. Faulkner’s original biographer, Joseph Blotner, benefited from a personal knowledge of the author and his family. He also interviewed scores of individuals who have since died. The challenge then for Parini was to find something new to disclose about Faulkner’s life, develop a compelling theory of the author’s psyche, or demonstrate a more meaningful reading of his work.

Answering the inevitable question — why a new biography of William Faulkner? — Parini cites his treatment of Faulkner’s romantic relationship (from 1949 to 1953) with Memphis novelist Joan Williams. It’s an interesting though misguided answer to the question. While there are letters from Faulkner to Williams scattered throughout Parini’s book — the first of which Parini reproduces twice — there are no references to Williams’ letters to Faulkner. Williams, who died last spring, was one of the few remaining individuals who knew Faulkner intimately, yet two, one-sentence quotations are her only direct representations in the book. Once again, this relationship, so rich in material when both parties are explored, is simply recycled by Parini primarily through existing biographies. Williams’ voice, indeed her perceptions, go unexamined.

The underdeveloped relationship is further hampered by factual inaccuracies. Faulkner’s birthday, for example, appears once as August 25th rather than September 25th. Williams, an only child, is said to have first met Faulkner with her sister’s husband. And Williams and Faulkner’s first “clandestine meeting,” Parini writes, was on Faulkner’s boat during an outing on December 31, 1949. Williams repeatedly corrected this. The outing actually occurred during the summer of 1950 and included Williams’ friend from Bard College, Brandon Grove, and Faulkner’s wife, Estelle.

But Parini is not the first to take license with Williams’ life. In William Faulkner: American Writer, Frederick R. Karl describes Faulkner as presenting Williams with the handwritten manuscript of The Sound and the Fury “under the eyes of Estelle” in 1950. Williams remembers Faulkner giving her the manuscript in private, and their letters make it clear it occurred after their affair was consummated in 1952. The gift was indeed a token of Faulkner’s affection. Still, he remained dissatisfied, writing Williams that though she has slept with him she has not really surrendered, has not given herself completely, has not fully let herself go. How did Williams feel about this pressuring, even bullying? In Parini’s book, the question goes unanswered.

True, Parini writes of Williams’ personal ambitions as a writer and mentions her novel The Wintering, which mirrors her affair with Faulkner. She eventually would publish five novels and a short-story collection. However, when the National Institute of Arts and Letters awarded Faulkner the Gold Medal for Fiction in 1962, Parini neglects to mention that Williams received an award from the institute that same day for her first novel, The Morning and the Evening, recognition that did not go unnoticed by Faulkner. During her last conversation with Faulkner, on the front porch of his home just 10 days before his death in 1962, he asked Williams if there was any money in the institute’s envelope she received. “No,” she said. “They gave me that later.”

One especially surprising note in One Matchless Time is the idea of Faulkner as intensely loyal. This is a tough sell for those who have read of Faulkner’s dismissal of his Hollywood friend Alfred Bezzerides and his cooling friendship with Phil Stone, who not only personally financed Faulkner’s first book, The Marble Faun, but also championed the burgeoning writer. Loyalty was indeed lacking when in 1961 Williams’ agent asked Faulkner for a book-jacket blurb for her first novel. After years of encouraging her as a writer, Faulkner presented Williams with an unusable quotation: “This is a compassionate and hopeful first novel,” Faulkner wrote, “hopeful in the sense that I dont [sic] believe Miss Williams will be satisfied until she has done a better one.” Then he went on a tirade against those who were “combing the bushes for plugs for your book.”

Faced with the abundance of biographical and scholarly material, the appearance late last year of One Matchless Time again begs the question: Why a new biography of William Faulkner? Rather than revealing fresh facts, Parini’s Faulkner is a (usually) upstanding character committed to regaining the former stature of his paternal line and a man who is fervently attached to his Oxford home, Rowan Oak. In short, Faulkner as a man readers should like. A great artist no doubt, but the essential self-centeredness of Faulkner and his aloofness make the “likable” Faulkner mythological, much like his Yoknapatawpha County. n

Lisa C. Hickman has written frequently on the life and work of Joan Williams.

BOOKS b y

News News Feature

BARNSTORMING

Post author By Chris Davis
Post date February 4, 2005

Is Harold Ford Jr. a self-serving Democrat or a Republican Trojan Horse?

Who really holds the golden, diamond-crusted key to Harold Ford’s chastity belt? The Congressman’s loyalties have been the subject of recent debate, and now a celebratory email from GOP sources at the RNC puts Ford’s weeble-esque behavior in a decidedly unflattering spotlight.

The e-mail contains a single quotation:

“The Democrats are going to have to get a better message on Social Security. Our only response cannot be to say, ‘No.’”–Harold Ford Jr. 2/3/05

And the RNC boys aren’t the only Bushies using Ford like a hand puppet. Here’s Rush Limbaugh on the subject:

“I don’t believe that all the Democrats are unified against this. I know that’s not the case. There are some Democrats who want to consider this. Harold Ford is one….”

Donald Luskin, writing for the National Review Online used Ford’s race, and his generally pro-privatization stance to obliquely suggest that economist, and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is a bigot.

And there’s plenty more where that came from.

Wittingly or un, Ford has become a useful, even enthusiastic tool of the GOP: a Blue Dog climber looking to score a Senate seat in his increasingly red state.

It hasn’t always been the case, but as recently as the Inauguration it looked like Congressman Ford was growing a spine and standing tough with his fellow Democrats in opposition to President Bush’s plans for privatization.

From MSNBC:

U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., said he thought the president “gave a strong [inaugural] speech. … I just hope that he’s able to bring meaning and light to what he preached about today.”

But he said the president will find “serious disagreement on his plans to privatize Social Security.”

“I just don’t believe that’s the answer,” Rep. Ford said, noting there are other actions that can be taken to extend the program’s solvency.

That certainly sounds like a resounding, “No.” And it sounds nothing at all like the pro-privatization speech Ford delivered in March, 2004.

***BUT WAIT! Just to prove he’s a Democrat, Ford lubricated his Elephantine position on Social Security with a dab of liberal snake oil***

I dream of the day when a little girl living in a public housing community in my district can come home, and flip on the TV, and know when she sees a FedEx commercial, that not only does FedEx employ the most people in her district, but that she also owns stock in companies like FedEx, and she has a financial stake in how well the company’s doing. That she will know the harder she works, the more likely she’ll have something to own — to be able to point to a part of America that is hers, and not just lean on America to give her something.

Is this a wholesale endorsement of partial privatization? You betcha. It’s also an unflinching confession that Ford’s not functioning in a bi-partisan capacity, but rather as a de-facto Republican. How else does he find himself on “the opposite side of other folks in [his] party“? After all, Maverick behavior hardly reflects a true spirit of bi-partisanship.

There is even more evidence of contemporary Republicanism in Ford’s 2004 comments. “Many in my generation will tell you they’re not expecting to be able to rely on Social Security,” he said, taking on the role of fear monger.

Since 9/11 terror has been the standard currency of the American Right who have used fear and paranoia to promote the most radical portions of an already radicalized agenda. It’s a pity to see Ford embracing their cynical, and sinister tactics. Even when he tried to look progressive, touting ownership and empowerment, he came off sounding like an Orwellian villain. Who owns who in a world where rhetorical ghetto girls make decisions based on what is and isn’t good for FedEx?

It’s one thing for a politician like Ford to stick his finger in the air to find out which way the wind is blowing. But you can’t be a leader until that finger comes down and points in one direction or another.

So what’s it going to be Congressman? Are you going to be a leader? Or are you going to let the Right use you like a bitch?

I’m 33 years old, and many in my generation will tell you they’re not expecting to be able to rely on Social Security. Let’s assume for one moment that Congress is able to work some magic, bring the budget back into balance, and jobs start to really expand. That’s a big “if,” but let’s assume we can improve the budget enough that we can begin to address this program [Social Security]. I’m one who believes that there are a couple of tenets that we should follow, which sometimes put me on the opposite side of other folks in my party. I think we can boost the national savings rate with some kind of personal accounts.

News

LOGAN YOUNG AFTERMATH

Post author By Cheri DelBrocco
Post date February 3, 2005

Advice to crooked football boosters: Pay the player, not his coach, and you’ll at least stay out of federal court.

Public school teacher/coach Lynn Lang was a “necessary component” of the federal government’s case against Logan Young Jr., U.S. Attorney Terry Harris said Thursday, shortly after U.S. District Judge Daniel Breen sent jurors home and gaveled the proceedings to a close.

Had Young, a 64-year-old University of Alabama booster, sent then-high school lineman Albert Means or his mother $150,000, he would have gotten himself and Means in a world of trouble with the NCAA but not the feds. Instead, Harris and fellow state and federal prosecutors decided in 2001 to criminalize dirty football recruiting and indict “public officials” Lynn Lang and Milton Kirk, leaving them little choice but to also indict Logan Young.

On Wednesday, Young was convicted on all counts of a three-count indictment alleging that he bribed Lang to obtain the services of Means at Alabama. Jurors were held over one more day to consider a forfeiture issue and decided to dock Young $96,100, payable to the United States of America. Adding insult to injury, they took almost as long to decide the forfeiture issue as they did the guilty verdict — and added a few more thousands to Young’s sizable legal bill in the process.

“It’s wrong to buy and sell 18-year-old student athletes and wrong to bribe a public school teacher,” said Harris. “When recruiting matters extend into criminal acts then they should be prosecuted.”

Young and jurors left the federal building without talking to reporters. Young’s sentencing is set for May 5th. Lang will be sentenced February 7th.

Lang faces up to five years in prison and Young up to 15 years, although the booster is likely to get something less than five years under federal sentencing guidelines. The fact that Young went to trial while Lang cooperated with the government will be part of the guidelines, Harris said.

The verdict was a setback for Young and his famous defense attorney, Jim Neal of Nashville. Friends of Neal said he has told them this would be his last case as lead counsel, although Neal did not say that himself.

Neal began his career as a federal prosecutor 45 years ago. Considering Young’s wealth and Neal’s skill, Harris and his staff were well aware of what they were up against. Prosecutors Fred Godwin and Jerry Kitchen let Harris do the post-trial talking, but another attorney in the office said the word around the federal building Wednesday after the verdict was announced was that “two ex-cops who went to night school beat Jim Neal.” On football signing day, no less. Internet guru Roy Adams wore his orange blazer to court in celebration. University of Tennessee football coach Philip Fulmer got a raise.

Neal had a bad hand and Godwin and Kitchen had a good one, but they all still had to play it out. Young did not testify, leaving the jury with no picture other than a rich guy who by his own lawyers’ admission drinks and talks and spends too much and cares way too much about college football and didn’t testify in his own defense. In hindsight, it’s hard to see how things could have been much worse by putting him on the stand.

Godwin did the dirty work and he did it well. He destroyed defense witness Ivy Williams, wrung a self-pitying statement (“not enough” as to his pay) out of former Georgia football coach Jim Donnan and exploited it perfectly, and possibly kept the defense from calling other witnesses — not that any of them would have helped. Most important, he kept the jury focused on the circumstantial connections between Young and the admittedly sleazy Lang. In closing argument, Godwin and Kitchen reminded the jury that secrecy and sleaze are by definition the guts of a bribe, and that point seems to have won the day.

The defense, on the other hand, offered the jury no alternative explanation. Out of the jury’s presence, they left the strong impression that their best hope was to get the case thrown out of court because Lang was not influenced in the performance of his public duties. They argued the point incessantly and likely will bring it up again on appeal. Plan B was to beat up Lang, but he’s built for it and took it fairly well. Plan C was to appeal to the jury’s interpretation of “beyond a reasonable doubt” and make lots of statements about the most important decisions in your own life but that one, too, was pancaked.

Jurors took barely half a day to make a decision to send Logan Young off to contemplate how he will face the autumn of his years in a federal prison because of his overzealousness in determining how an overrated defensive lineman named Albert Means would spend his autumns in Tuscaloosa.