Overton Park Pizze Stone is moving to a new location. So, if anything’s possible, what would you like to see in that space?
A tamale shack? A little market/cafe a la Square Foods or Trolley Stop? Another pizza joint?
Month: August 2010
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Lorenzen Wright in Memphis Magazine
On the day when Lorenzen Wright is being remembered at FedExForum, Frank Murtaugh looks back at Wright when he was a promising sophomore at the U of M.
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Remembering Ted Rust 1910-2010
Edwin C. “Ted” Rust died last week at the age of 99. As the longtime director of the Memphis College of Art, and the Memphis Academy of Arts before that, he was an icon in the art world of our region. He can take credit, more than anyone else if you ask me, for turning the college into an institution with national credibility. He was also a talented sculptor, a brilliant administrator who had a knack for finding and nurturing the best artists and teachers, and a true gentleman in every sense of the word.
It was an honor to know him, and though he is gone, his memory lives on in all the public art he created throughout our city, from the sweeping sculpture of Rhodes College President Charles Diehl on that school’s campus to the wonderful plaques (below) that adorn the Memphis Dermatology Clinic in Midtown.
Ten years ago, one of my colleagues at Memphis magazine profiled Rust in a cover story. You can read about it here, and you should. Rust definitely made Memphis a better place.
- Two charts from the July 28 Yacoubian poll
The bottom line of early voting: The Republicans (whether voting in the Democratic primary to express themselves on Cohen vs. Herenton or voting in the GOP gubernatorial primary) voted higher than their usual scale for Shelby County — 43 percent, as against 56-plus percent for Democrats.
(Former mayor Willie Herenton may have a point when he stresses the distinction between the 9th District “subset” and the county totals, by the way, but that’s another tale).
The GOP can take heart from those figures, because key Democrats have made it known that they aren’t comfortable in such situations with anything less than 60 percent on their end of the ratio.
But note: The silver lining from the Democratic point of view is that they experienced a late upsurge from the 52-55 percent range they had been experiencing during most of the early-voting period. So palpable was the surge that GOP chairman Lang Wiseman, who had been one of the early drum-beaters for the Republican turnout, began treating the high-turnout talk as a danger to his side in the sense that the Democrats took alarm and began trying to compensate.
The race for Shelby County Mayor mirrors the situation, and it also measures the success of interim county mayor Joe Ford, the Democrat, in nailing down as much as he can of the white Democratic vote, concentrated in Midtown and East Memphis.
The Berje Yacoubian poll that was released on WMC-TV, Action News 5, Tuesday night is instructive. The survey, which was completed on July 28, shows Ford increasing his share of the total white vote from 6 percent to 13 percent since the last Yacoubian poll in mid-July. Overall, the proportion of the race shifted from a 46 percent to 42 percent lead for Luttrell to a 45 to 42 percent result. A slight shift, but perceptible, and one which could reflect momentum.
The poll also finds that, among those who had not voted by July 28 but planned to vote by Election Day, Thursday, August 5, Luttrell’s lead was 41 to 39k with a full 20 percent undecided.
Yacoubian estimates that if the turnout figures remain as they were during early voting, Luttrell should win the election by a margin of 51 percent to 49 percent. But if the Democrats should hit their target figure of 60 percent by the close of voting on Thursday, August 5, Election Day, the winner would be Ford by the same margin.
The other countywide races — many of which are roughly balanced at the moment between the Republican and Democratic candidates — could be expected to reflect the same basic patterns.
The Republicans won Round One of the Get-Out-the-Vote contest, early-voting, but the game is still on for the election as a whole.
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Lorenzen Wright in MEMPHIS magazine
A stat that might surprise you:
MEMPHIS magazine has been published monthly since April 1976 . . . 34 years, more than 400 issues. Only twice has a Memphis Tiger basketball player graced the magazine’s cover: Keith Lee (as a sophomore) in January 1983 and Lorenzen Wright (also as a sophomore) in February 1996.
Dennis Freeland (then the editor of the Flyer) and James Busbee collaborated on a terrific profile of Wright as he was only beginning to grasp the heights his basketball talent might reach.
On a day Wright is to be memorialized at FedExForum — his life ended far too soon — I thought it fitting to share some excerpts from this story, first published 14 very long years ago.
• “When University of Memphis center Lorenzen Wright is on the court, you don’t go for a hot dog. You don’t slip away for a smoke. You don’t even blink. Because if you do, you’ll miss one of his bear-trap rebounds. You’ll miss one of his flyswatter blocks. Or if you’re extremely unlucky, you’ll miss The Howl.
“The Howl is Wright’s definitive statement of purpose, a two-handed tomahawk slam-dunk punctuated by a war whoop. It’s a move that comes from nowhere and brings crowds to their feet. The Howl can turn around the tempo of a game or slam the door shut on an opposing team. It’s the epitome of all the years of work that Wright and his father have put into Lorenzen’s game, and it’s too good to miss. But if you want to see it, you’d better hurry. Next year, Lorenzen Wright may well be throwing down The Howl in the NBA.”
• “In conversation, Wright is pleasant, confident, at ease. He’s had cameras and microphones in his face for years. He can spin cliches like a veteran, but he’s just as likely to come up with an insight showing that he’s not quite the slam-dunking automaton that college ballplayers are supposed to be.”
• “Herb Wright, the women’s basketball coach at Shelby State Community College, has always had a strong, guiding hand in his son’s basketball development.
‘The only hero that I ever really followed was my dad,’ Lorenzen says. ‘I still try to make my game as similar to his game as I can. . . .
‘I’ve been playing since as far as I can remember. I wasn’t what you’d call “good” when I was a kid. But I used to be out there trying my best, just shooting it up there over and over.’”
• Quoting Herb Wright, who was paralyzed from the waist down by a gun shot in 1983: “The last time I played ball [before the injury], I played like it was the last time. I played that way every time. I had no regrets. I never felt like I hadn’t given it my all. It could all end at any time, and you just want to look back and say, ‘I did my best.’ That’s what I’ve tried to teach my son.”
• Quoting Lorenzen: “I didn’t know how good I was going to be. I thought I was just going to get a couple of rebounds or something, and try to make it into the starting lineup.”
• Quoting Wright’s coach at the U of M, Larry Finch: “He’s a hard worker. You may outplay him, but you’ll never outwork him. He’s going to make you work.”
• “Ask Wright or his father about Lorenzen’s professional prospects, and they both turn uncharacteristically skittish. Lorenzen has had his dream of playing in the NBA for so long that neither man wants to jeopardize it by dwelling on it before the fact. Herb Wright still refers to Lorenzen’s pro prospects as an ‘if-and-when’ situation, adding that ‘it’s not something he needs to worry about now.’”
Among former Tigers, no player appeared in more NBA games than Lorenzen Wright’s 779. He holds the Memphis Grizzlies’ single-game record for rebounds with 26 (against Dallas at The Pyramid in 2001). Wright is one of four Tigers to reach 1,000 points before the end of his sophomore season (the others: Keith Lee, Elliot Perry, and Darius Washington).
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david Lusk gallery
One of the biggest art events of the year kicks off with an opening reception this Friday, August 6, from 6 to 9 p.m. at David Lusk Gallery. The Price is Right exhibition and art sale runs until August 28 and features only artwork under $1,000.
“People like to come and see something new, and we always include two or three artists that we’ve never shown before,” says Sandy Wade of David Lusk. “Or maybe you see a piece by your favorite artist and it’s in a price range that’s easier for you to afford. And if people see something that they like they can just buy it and take it home.”
Work from all 50 David Lusk artists and a few other local artists will be on sale, prices ranging from $200 to $999. Many of the artists will be present for the opening reception. Here’s a preview of some of the art for sale:
- Anne Siems, Hare
- Greely Myatt, A Wall of Burp
- Peggy Root, Flood Plain
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Bianca Knows Best …
Dear Bianca,
I’m an older gay man who has recently gotten back into the dating scene after several years of being single. Before I was single, I’d dated the same man for 10 years. We shared a house for nine of those years. Once we broke up, I wasn’t quite ready to see other people.
As you can see, I move rather slowly with relationships. I recently met a guy online and we’ve had six dates over the past month and a half. He’s spent the night at my house twice. The last time he stayed over, he hinted at the possibility of me moving in with him!
Now I really like this guy, but there’s no way I’m moving in with him after less than two months of dating. In fact, as a 58-year-old man, I’m a little set in my ways. I can’t imagine changing my way of life to move in with anyone at this point. I’m worried that he’s getting too serious too quickly. And I honestly don’t know that I’ll ever be ready to share space with anyone again. Are my reclusive ways going to hinder my chance at love? Can’t a guy just date someone forever without moving in together?
— Cranky Old Man
Dear Cranky,
Whoa. Slow down. You say you move slowly in relationships, but it also seems you move rather quickly when it comes to freaking out. It sounds like this new guy is jumping the gun about moving in together, but just because you aren’t ready for that now doesn’t mean you’ll never be ready to share space ever again. In the immortal words of Wayne’s World’s Garth: “Live in the now, man.” (Yes, I actually just wrote that).
Have you told the guy about your concerns with moving in too quickly? If not, don’t lead him on by letting him think there’s a possibility of that happening. You should remind him that you’ve just begun dating again and you’d rather not rush into things.
Hopefully, he’ll understand. If not, then he probably wasn’t compatible with you anyway. You need to seek out others who share your need for “me” time and don’t mind living apart for a while. The last person you need is a clingy I-can’t-stand-to-be-without-you type.
That said, I bet you’ll meet another Mr. Right one day and suddenly, the idea of sharing your space won’t seem like such a threat to your way of life. Or maybe you’ll meet a guy who is just as eager to live apart. Don’t give up on love now because you’re worried about what might happen in the future.
Got a problem? E-mail Bianca at bphillips@memphisflyer.com
When local sushi chef Marisa Baggett leads her sushi classes for kids, she’s not only teaching how to create the perfect roll, she’s also giving them lessons in sustainability and nutrition.
“It’s important to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible,” she says.
And now she’s looking to spread the word further with her Sushi, Yall: A Southern Sushi Project, which has a goal of “800 kids, 35 workshops, 15 towns, 1 heck of a sushi trail left behind.”