Month: June 2023

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Sweet Inspiration at Inspire Community Café

Serving cold gazpacho soup on a hot afternoon at the recent Loving Local fundraiser was inspired.

So, it’s no surprise the chef who created it was Terrance Whitley, executive chef/co-founder of Inspire Community Café.

“I knew it was going to be hot,” says Whitley, 37. And he knew he had to make enough to serve 250 people.

Whitley was aware Central BBQ was going to serve meat. So, he thought, “I won’t feel bad about bringing something cold. Give everybody a little refreshing moment from being in the sun.”

Taking part in the Project Green Fork fundraiser was a given. Whitley, who is “always looking to help out,” began doing volunteer work at St. Patrick Catholic Church when he was 10 years old. “St. Patrick’s had an after-school program. We used to do little stuff like rake leaves and community clean-up projects.”

Terrance Whitley (Photo: Michael Donahue)

A native Memphian, Whitley grew up nearby in Foote Homes and Cleaborn Homes. “I needed help when I was a kid. My family was poverty-stricken. So, I just wanted to help people the way I wanted somebody to help me.”

As a child, Whitley was able to get something to eat, thanks to St. Patrick’s, which passed out food to the homeless. “I knew St. Patrick’s had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And I knew when I went in church they were passing out doughnuts and stuff like that. I was just trying to look for sustainable food ’cause we didn’t have much at home.”

Some days when he was young, Whitley went without food. “We were down bad.”

On those days, he would “just go to sleep, man. And, hopefully, the days are brighter tomorrow. Some days we just didn’t have it.”

Whitley began cooking when he was in his mid-20s. “I ended up realizing one day that I was a bum and that I needed a job. But I didn’t want to flip burgers. I didn’t want to do any warehouse things.”

He focused on getting a restaurant job. “I just knew I wanted to be in a position to move up and acquire a skill.”

Whitley became a dishwasher at South of Beale on South Main. “The one dude who is really responsible for my cooking career was my head chef, Carl White, but everybody calls him ‘C.J.’ I was washing dishes one day and he just says, ‘Hey, man. You want to learn how to cook?’

“The first thing he told me was, ‘You see this steak? Pick it up. Put a little oil on it. And salt and pepper the shit out of it. Throw it on the grill.’ Once he threw it on the grill, it inspired me. The first time I stepped on that line, it just became natural.”

Whitley eventually moved to other restaurants until he and his “mentor/tutor,” Kristin Fox-Trautman, came up with the idea of Inspire Community Café. Fox-Trautman wanted them to create “something cool to give back to the community.”

They opened Inspire Community Café at 510 Tillman Street, Suite 110, in January 2019.

As for the name, Whitley says, “We wanted to inspire change.” The focus was on healthy food, so Whitley looked for “creative ways” to use healthier ingredients. “We don’t have a fryer and we don’t have a soda machine. And we use olive oil and vegetable stock in all our stuff.

“The menu came from Kristin just traveling around. She’d come back with all these ideas and I just went on and executed them. Like they went to Costa Rica and found out the way they do black beans.”

Popular Inspire items include the Costa Rican black bean, roasted sweet potato, and quinoa bowl; barbecue chicken quesadillas; and the Strawberry Field Salad with strawberries, candied pecans, feta cheese, and red onions. And everything is under $10.

For now, Whitley is just watching the restaurant grow. “I want it to be profitable. And I want it to be more of a staple in the Memphis community. I want to make sure when it’s all said and done, Inspire Community Café is a household name to the people of Memphis.”

Categories
Astrology Fun Stuff

Free Will Astrology: Week of 06/29/23

Dario Bronnimann | Unsplash

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Visionary author Peter McWilliams wrote, “One of the most enjoyable aspects of solitude is doing what you want when you want to do it, with the absolute freedom to change what you’re doing at will. Solitude removes all the ‘negotiating’ we need to do when we’re with others.” I’ll add a caveat: Some of us have more to learn about enjoying solitude. We may experience it as a loss or deprivation. But here’s the good news, Aries: In the coming weeks, you will be extra inspired to cultivate the benefits that come from being alone.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The 18th-century French engineer Étienne Bottineau invented nauscopy, the art of detecting sailing ships at a great distance, well beyond the horizon. This was before the invention of radar. Bottineau said his skill was not rooted in sorcery or luck, but from his careful study of changes in the atmosphere, wind, and sea. Did you guess that Bottineau was a Taurus? Your tribe has a special capacity for arriving at seemingly magical understandings by harnessing your sensitivity to natural signals. Your intuition thrives as you closely observe the practical details of how the world works. This superpower will be at a peak in the coming weeks.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): According to a Welsh proverb, “Three fears weaken the heart: fear of the truth; fear of the devil; fear of poverty.” I suspect the first of those three is most likely to worm its way into your awareness during the coming weeks. So let’s see what we can do to diminish its power over you. Here’s one possibility: Believe me when I tell you that even if the truth’s arrival is initially disturbing or disruptive, it will ultimately be healing and liberating. It should be welcomed, not feared.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Hexes nullified! Jinxes abolished! Demons banished! Adversaries outwitted! Liabilities diminished! Bad habits replaced with good habits! These are some of the glorious developments possible for you in the coming months, Cancerian. Am I exaggerating? Maybe a little. But if so, not much. In my vision of your future, you will be the embodiment of a lucky charm and a repository of blessed mojo. You are embarking on a phase when it will make logical sense to be an optimist. Can you sweep all the dross and mess out of your sphere? No, but I bet you can do at least 80 percent.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In the book Curious Facts in the History of Insects, Frank Cowan tells a perhaps legendary story about how mayors were selected in the medieval Swedish town of Hurdenburg. The candidates would set their chins on a table with their long beards spread out in front of them. A louse, a tiny parasitic insect, would be put in the middle of the table. Whichever beard the creature crawled to and chose as its new landing spot would reveal the man who would become the town’s new leader. I beg you not to do anything like this, Leo. The decisions you and your allies make should be grounded in good evidence and sound reason, not blind chance. And please avoid parasitical influences completely.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I rebel against the gurus and teachers who tell us our stories are delusional indulgences that interfere with our enlightenment. I reject their insistence that our personal tales are distractions from our spiritual work. Virgo author A. S. Byatt speaks for me: “Narration is as much a part of human nature as breath and the circulation of the blood.” I love and honor the stories of my own destiny, and I encourage you to love and honor yours. Having said that, I will let you know that now is an excellent time to jettison the stories that feel demoralizing and draining — even as you celebrate the stories that embody your genuine beauty. For extra credit: Tell the soulful stories of your life to anyone who is receptive.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the Mayan calendar, each of the 20 day names is associated with a natural phenomenon. The day called Kawak is paired with rainstorms. Ik’ is connected with wind and breath. Kab’an is earth, Manik’ is deer, and Chikchan is the snake. Now would be a great time for you to engage in an imaginative exercise inspired by the Mayans. Why? Because this is an ideal phase of your cycle to break up your routine, to reinvent the regular rhythm, to introduce innovations in how you experience the flow of the time. Just for fun, why not give each of the next 14 days a playful nickname or descriptor? This Friday could be Crescent Moon, for example. Saturday might be Wonderment, Sunday can be Dazzle Sweet, and Monday Good Darkness.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): From 998 till 1030, Scorpio-born leader Mahmud Ghaznavi ruled the vast Ghaznavid empire, which stretched from current-day Iran to central Asia and northwestern India. Like so many of history’s strong men, he was obsessed with military conquest. Unlike many others, though, he treasured culture and learning. You’ve heard of poet laureates? He had 400 of them. According to some tales, he rewarded one wordsmith with a mouthful of pearls. In accordance with astrological omens, I encourage you to be more like the Mahmud who loved beauty and art and less like the Mahmud who enjoyed fighting. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to fill your world with grace and elegance and magnificence.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): About 1,740 years ago, before she became a Catholic saint, Margaret of Antioch got swallowed whole by Satan, who was disguised as a dragon. Or so the old story goes. But Margaret was undaunted. There in the beast’s innards, Margaret calmly made the sign of the cross over and over with her right hand. Meanwhile, the wooden cross in her left hand magically swelled to an enormous size that ruptured the beast, enabling her to escape. After that, because of her triumph, expectant mothers and women in labor regarded Margaret as their patron saint. Your upcoming test won’t be anywhere near as demanding as hers, Sagittarius, but I bet you will ace it — and ultimately garner sweet rewards.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn-born Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) was an astronomer and mathematician who was an instrumental innovator in the Scientific Revolution. Among his many breakthrough accomplishments were his insights about the laws of planetary motion. Books he wrote were crucial forerunners of Isaac Newton’s theories about gravitation. But here’s an unexpected twist: Kepler was also a practicing astrologer who interpreted the charts of many people, including three emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. In the spirit of Kepler’s ability to bridge seemingly opposing perspectives, Capricorn, I invite you to be a paragon of mediation and conciliation in the coming weeks. Always be looking for ways to heal splits and forge connections. Assume you have an extraordinary power to blend elements that no one can else can.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Dear Restless Runaway: During the next 10 months, life will offer you these invitations: 1. Identify the land that excites you and stabilizes you. 2. Spend lots of relaxing time on that land. 3. Define the exact nature of the niche or situation where your talents and desires will be most gracefully expressed. 4. Take steps to create or gather the family you want. 5. Take steps to create or gather the community you want.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I’d love you to be a deep-feeling free-thinker in the coming weeks. I will cheer you on if you nurture your emotional intelligence as you liberate yourself from outmoded beliefs and opinions. Celebrate your precious sensitivity, dear Pisces, even as you use your fine mind to reevaluate your vision of what the future holds. It’s a perfect time to glory in rich sentiments and exult in creative ideas.

Categories
Music Music Features

Summit of the Scribes: A Gathering of Stax Legends

Panel moderator Robert Gordon and Written in Their Soul panelists Deanie Parker, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Bobby Manuel, CD producer Cheryl Pawelski, and Henderson Thigpen (Photo: Filmmaker Kyle Taubken)

The air was charged last Friday night at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, as five of Stax Records’ most valuable players gathered together to answer questions and speak their minds. The sold-out event was first and foremost a celebration of Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos, Craft Recordings’ seven-CD compilation (reviewed last week in the Memphis Flyer) featuring 140 never-before-heard recordings made in the studio’s back rooms, when songwriters made reference tapes of their compositions. Those demos would ultimately be filed away among the holdings of East/Memphis Music, the label’s publishing company, with the best serving as blueprints for full-on studio recordings by Stax artists.

Hence, it was not in their capacity as Stax performers that William Bell and Eddie Floyd appeared last Friday, but as some of the label’s best songwriters. They were joined by Deanie Parker, Bobby Manuel, and Henderson Thigpen, fellow masters of the craft, in a kind of summit of the scribes. The panel was rounded out by wordsmith Robert Gordon and the visionary record producer who’d first conceived of the release, three-time Grammy Award-winning producer Cheryl Pawelski.

Although the museum, built according to the original building’s plans, always conveys a sense of the bustling Stax studios and offices to the casual visitor, this historic gathering made it more palpable, as the panelists discussed their days in those very halls when Stax was at its zenith. It was a veritable money machine in its heyday, but, as Robert Gordon explained, that money wasn’t just from record sales. East/Memphis Publishing oversaw the equally lucrative income stream of song royalties. For songwriters like those gathered at the museum Friday, those royalties translated into “mailbox money.”

Henderson Thigpen was perhaps the purest expression of the songwriter’s ethos that evening. The others were involved with Stax in several capacities besides songcraft: Deanie Parker headed the label’s public relations and was later known as the primary conceptualizer of the Stax Music Academy and associated museum, Bobby Manuel was an ace session guitarist, and Bell and Floyd were stars, the most public voices and faces of Stax. Thigpen, however, focused on writing with laser-like determination, always keeping “a pen in one pocket and two notepads in the other pocket,” as he explained.

He described writing the Shirley Brown hit, “Woman to Woman,” noting the care with which he sang the demo to show Brown how the opening monologue had to be delivered. Then the museum’s executive director, Jeff Kollath, cued up the demo featuring Thigpen’s vocals, sung from a woman’s point of view, seeming to take the songwriter by surprise. He winced good-naturedly as his haunting voice from half a century ago filled the room, then took a moment to point out his wife in the audience. His only regret about the master recording of No. 1 R&B hit, he said, was that it didn’t open with the sound of a ringing telephone.

The room lit up when “Dy-No-Mite (Did You Say My Love)” by composer Mack Rice was played; while the song was recorded and released by the Green Brothers, all agreed that Rice’s high-spirited delivery on the demo, complete with whistles, could not be topped. Indeed, the late Mack Rice was a recurring presence at the event. So were prolific songwriters Bettye Crutcher, who passed away last October, and Homer Banks, who died in 2003.

The set’s art director and designer, Memphis’ own Kerri Mahoney, was in the audience and noted afterwards how stunned she was that so little memorabilia was preserved from those days. She’d had little to work with, she said, though her work ultimately resulted in a richly illustrated and smartly designed package.

Pawelski, for her part, sat back and let the legends speak, but eventually Gordon asked her to tell the long tale of the collection’s genesis and realization. When she worked for Concord Records (of which Craft is a subsidiary), she learned of the demos kept by East/Memphis. But, having been archived haphazardly, many were buried in long, uncatalogued tapes on which completely unrelated demos also appeared. Over 17 years and a few career changes culminating in the founding of her own label, Omnivore Recordings, Pawelski gradually listened through nearly 2,000 hours of audio in her quest to identify the lost gems of Stax. She was clearly elated that her baby was now out there in the world.

Categories
News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Firmly Cruisin’, Memphis Women, and Poplar Plaza

Posted to YouTube by WMC-TV

Memphis on the internet.

Firmly Cruisin’

Tom Cruise was in town. In 1992. He was filming The Firm.

WMC-TV covered the crowds that showed up to see the star.

“No, he was not shopping at the Walmart in Collierville,” said then-reporter Denise DuBois-Taylor. “No, he and Nicole Kidman were not house hunting in Germantown.”

The gem of a clip surfaced recently on YouTube thanks to a Facebook group called “Things That Aren’t in the Memphis Area Anymore.” Long name, but worth the follow if you’re looking for hometown nostalgia.

Memphis Women

On Twitter last week, Big Mek started a “#Memphis Women Thread.” It’s now an endless scroll of photos and videos of women showing their stuff.

Squeak checked in to say, “I didn’t see any other Memphis women posting.” She identified herself as a “Memphis woman.” Then, she showed her credentials.

Posted to Twitter by @mndinmybusiness

Poplar Plaza

Posted to Reddit by etherbeta

Reddit user u/etherbeta shared studies of redesigned Memphis locales last week. Above, a revamped Poplar Plaza would have a movie theater, new restaurants, residences, and an electric vehicle charging lounge that would complement the nearby Exxon.

Categories
News News Feature

Five Reasons to Consider Giving the Gift of a Roth IRA

Photo: Andrea Piacquadio | Pexels

When it comes to giving thoughtful gifts, financial security may not be the first thing on your mind. However, giving a Roth IRA can be a meaningful way to start your loved ones on a path toward financial security.

A Roth IRA is a type of individual retirement account that offers tax-exempt growth and tax-exempt withdrawals in retirement, which make it a powerful tool for building long-term wealth. Contributions to Roth IRAs are made with after-tax dollars, and qualified withdrawals of assets are tax-exempt and don’t increase your taxable income. In contrast to traditional IRAs, they aren’t subject to required minimum distributions (RMDs) during the owner’s lifetime, which means assets in the account can continue growing tax-exempt throughout the account holder’s life.

There are several benefits to giving a Roth IRA.

1. Tax-Exempt Growth

One of the primary benefits of Roth IRAs is that they allow contributions to grow on a tax-exempt basis. This means any earnings, such as interest, dividends, and capital gains, aren’t subject to federal income taxes while held within the account. Over time, this can add up to significant savings, especially for younger investors who are able to let their assets grow over many years before withdrawing them in retirement.

2. Retirement Savings

Establishing a Roth IRA for a loved one can be a great way to help them save for retirement. Many young people struggle to find extra money to set aside for retirement planning. Funding a Roth IRA can help remove some of that financial burden and allow your family member to focus on other financial priorities, such as saving for a home, paying down student loan debt, starting a business, etc.

3. Financial Literacy

Giving a Roth IRA can be a great opportunity to educate loved ones on multiple financial topics, such as saving early and often, the power of compound interest, the basics of investing, and the importance of planning for retirement. With a Roth IRA, not only are you helping your loved ones financially, you’re also teaching important financial strategies.

4. Estate Planning

Not only are Roth IRAs not subject to RMDs during the account holder’s lifetime but they can also be passed on to heirs tax-free following the account holder’s death. Roth IRAs are a tax-efficient way to transfer wealth to future generations because they allow heirs to receive assets without having to pay income taxes on the distributions (unless the Roth IRA is less than 5 years old).

In addition, Roth IRAs don’t count toward the taxable estate of the account holder, which means they can help reduce the size of an estate for tax purposes. By giving a Roth IRA as part of an estate planning strategy, the account holder has the potential to reduce their heirs’ estate tax liability, which helps preserve more assets for future generations.

5. Compound Interest

By giving a Roth IRA to a younger family member, you offer the opportunity to take advantage of compounding interest over the individual’s lifetime. The impact of this cannot be overstated.

Suppose you contribute $1,000 to a Roth IRA on behalf of your granddaughter every year, beginning at age 20. By the time she reaches 40, you would have invested $20,000 on her behalf ($1,000 x 20 years). Assuming an average annual return of 10 percent, the investment would be worth $63,773.40 after 20 years.

On the other hand, if your granddaughter began contributing $2,000 per year to a Roth IRA from age 30 to 40 ($20,000 total), her investment would only be worth $36,934.83 after 10 years (again assuming an annual average return of 10 percent) because she has less time to take advantage of the power of compounding.

Contributing to Roth IRAs should not exceed the amount actually earned in a year by the account owner — or the maximum contribution limit, if the owner earns more than that amount.

The gift of a Roth IRA to young family members has the potential to significantly improve their long-term financial outlook and be a cornerstone of their nest egg now and in the future. Roth IRAs can truly be the gift that keeps on giving.

Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is a Partner and Private Wealth Manager with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest Registered Investment Advisory firms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s financial life are working together, including investments, taxes, estate planning and risk management. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Highs and Lows

Justin J. Pearson took “The Movement” to Germantown last Thursday. (Photo: Jackson Baker)

Back in the early fall of 2021, the Tennessee legislature, meeting in special session, voted to subject the powers of health departments in home-rule counties — like Shelby (Memphis) or Davidson (Nashville) — to veto-like controls by the state health department.

That action, taken at the still virulent height of the Covid pandemic amid controversies over masking and school shutdowns, was the most notable action of that special session.

Another important change was voted in with conspicuously less fanfare. The General Assembly, dominated then as now by Republican supermajorities in both houses, also struck down prohibitions against partisan elections for school boards, allowing school districts, anywhere in Tennessee, to have partisan school board primaries at their own discretion.

At the time, the Democratic and Republican parties of Shelby County opted not to avail themselves of the primary option.

That’s all changed now. The Democratic Party of Shelby County, chair Lexie Carter confirms, has informed the Election Commission that it intends to conduct primaries in March to determine official party candidates for the five Shelby County Schools seats to be voted on next year.

Shelby GOP chair Cary Vaughn, in noting that the county’s Republicans will not follow suit, said, “We are Republican strong [sic] through the municipalities and suburban areas pertaining to school board races. These communities know their leaders, and they know exactly who to support. We are giving them the freedom and flexibility to do so.”

The partisan primaries for other Shelby County offices stem from a 1992 decision by the local GOP, then marginally more populated, to try to steal a march on the Democrats.

• Some Shelby Countians have ulterior motives for this year’s scheduled special session of the legislature, set for this August after the spring’s gun massacre at a Nashville Christian school and intended to “strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights”

The headline of a message being sent around by various conservatives sets forth their desire: “Let’s Get Rid of Steve Mulroy Before Labor Day 2023!” Maintaining that violent crime has increased “geometrically” in recent months, the message proclaims that first-term Democratic DA Mulroy “as the top law enforcement officer in the county … is accountable for this increase.”

The message, being circulated petition-style, urges those who agree to go to a state government website and argue for including that premise — technically, an “impeachment” procedure, spoken to in Article VI, Section 6, of the state constitution and requiring a two-thirds majority vote of both houses — as part of the forthcoming session.

On its face, the effort lacks credibility, both in its premises and in its prospects. A “nothingburger,” summarized Mulroy, on the same day that he and Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis had announced a dramatic series of new arrests and indictments in a joint effort to combat organized “smash and grab” retail burglaries, and it has clearly not gathered any traction.

But it is apparently not the most ridiculous effort aimed at Mulroy. Still to be confirmed is the reality of an offer, allegedly being considered by a hyper-wealthy Memphian, notorious already from previous bizarre actions, to provide the DA with $1 million, plus an additional $200,000 offer for each year of his vacated term, to take leave of his office voluntarily now.

What’s the saying? “Fat chance.”

Categories
Theater Theater Feature

Mary Poppins at Theatre Memphis

Mary Poppins is just as magical on the stage as on the screen. (Photo: Carla McDonald)

For around a month when I was 8 years old, I had a routine. Every day when I got home from school, I would turn on the VHS player and watch the same tape: Mary Poppins. I’ve seen it more times than I can count and would hazard a guess that I am more familiar with it than any other movie. Funnily enough, until recently I had never seen Mary Poppins performed on stage. To be honest, I wasn’t even aware that it had been developed into a musical, first on West End and then, two years later, on Broadway. Now that I think about it, I’m surprised it wasn’t turned into a stage play sooner than 2004. Mary Poppins is everything you’d expect from musical theater — it’s a show all ages can enjoy.

Theatre Memphis’ production of Mary Poppins has had “phenomenal sales,” according to director of marketing and communications Randall Hartzog. Audience members are encouraged to recycle their programs as almost every performance is already sold out.

Sitting in the Lohrey Theatre before a Sunday matinee, I notice there are numerous families with small children in attendance. Directly in front of me, a family of three asks if I will take their picture — it’s their little boy’s first time seeing a live show. Behind me are two more children, although one of them moves next to me during the first few minutes, his mother’s lap being a more preferable seat. Listening to his guileless commentary was an unexpected, yet welcomed, added bonus to my theater experience.

To my surprise, and in spite of my childhood obsession with the story, there were many new things to be discovered about Mary Poppins, including scenes that are altogether absent from the 1964 Disney film. I was also glad to take note of themes relevant to our cultural experience in 2023 that went over my head as a child. The mighty character of George Banks, for example, can be seen on the surface as a basic absentee-father-stock-character mired in patriarchal gender roles. However, in taking a closer look, it’s obvious that George Banks is more dynamic than static, and modern audiences might interpret his character as a manifestation of breaking generational trauma.

The musical number “Playing the Game” is another part of the onstage production that departs from the Disney film, during which the toys in Jane and Michael’s nursery come to life in response to being mistreated. It brought to mind that scene in Toy Story when Sid’s toys come out from under his bed, and I would be remiss not to include the reaction I overheard from the boy sitting beside me. As multiple toys crawled out of the wings and even out of the set itself (it was the fireplace that really got me), I heard from my right, “What the …” A few moments later, the same voice whispered, “Mom, I’m scared.” Me too, kid.

On the whole, though, the musical was uplifting, and any time the ensemble came together in choreography, it was a treat to behold. The complicated, fast-paced synchronicity in numbers such as “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “Jolly Holiday” was performed without a hitch. The elaborate and frequent costume changes added to the overall visual spectacle achieved by these full-scale musical numbers.

Russell Lehman’s performance as Bert stood out in particular. Bert acts as a sort of narrative guide throughout the show, orchestrating scene changes and introducing scenes as a central cog in the machinery of the production. Lehman’s energy and enthusiasm shone on stage and seemed to buoy the other cast members.

It’s always encouraging to me, as a person who fell in love with the stage at the tender age of 10, to see enthusiastic theater audiences filled with multiple generations. Fortunately, Memphis is a city with many opportunities to introduce kids and first-time theatergoers to the magic of live performance. Theatre Memphis’ Mary Poppins is a perfect example of one such opportunity, and I am grateful to have been a part of it.

Mary Poppins runs through July 2nd at Theatre Memphis.

Categories
At Large Opinion

The Remissionary Position

Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland rocks a kerchief. (Photo: @CalltoActivism | Twitter)

I wrote a column in late January called “Daze of Christmas Past,” in which I recounted how I got diagnosed with cancer — large B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma — a couple weeks before Christmas. It was a really not-fun holiday surprise. As a bonus, since the tumor was attached to the front of my spinal column, I had to undergo a reconstruction of my upper spine to stabilize it prior to cancer treatment.

By the time I got home from the hospital, on Christmas Day, no less, I was stiff, sore, using a walker, and breathing from an oxygen tank at night. I felt like I was 95 years old. It will get better, the doctor said. Be patient. Or a patient. I can’t remember which. I didn’t move around much for a couple of weeks, but I began keeping a daily journal that I cleverly called “Cancer Diary.” I was scheduled to begin chemotherapy in late January. The odds of a cure, they told me, were 70 percent. Not so bad.

I watched on television as Congressman Jamie Raskin announced that he’d been diagnosed with the same cancer I had. He was about a month ahead of me in treatment, it appeared, so I decided to keep an eye on his progress. He was wearing a kerchief to cover his newly bald head — not a great look.

I read a lot about various natural cancer-fighting foods and decided to begin each day with a bowl of Cheerios and fresh berries, and with liquid mushroom extracts — lion’s mane, turkey tail, and reishi — on the highly scientific theory that it couldn’t hurt.

On January 24th, I began the first of six chemo treatments — one every three weeks — at West Clinic in Midtown. After I arrived and had some blood taken, I was escorted into the chemo area, a large room with 20 or so matching reclining chairs, each next to a rolling stand holding medical drip bags. There was a wall of windows facing Union Avenue, the cars filled with people who, like me, had probably never noticed this building or had any idea what happened inside. A Wendy’s was across the street.

I was taking the “R-CHOP” protocol, a well-established treatment for large B-cell lymphoma. It’s a regimen of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, prednisone, rituximab, and vincristine. So there. Mmmm.

The process began with three 40-minute drips: Tylenol, Benadryl, and an anti-nausea medication. The heavy stuff was to come a couple hours later. I was to be there “all day,” the nurse said. Two of my fellow drippees chattered ceaselessly on their phones. Others slept or listened to music through headphones. I guessed they were old hands at this. Six hours later, and I was no longer a chemo virgin.

Thus began the next five months of my life. I never had the horrible reactions to chemo that many people get — headaches, nausea, and other gastric thrills — but I got three or four days of extreme fatigue about halfway through each three-week cycle. My hair fell out in mid-February. I tried wearing various theoretically cool-looking toppers but decided finally to just roll with a chrome dome. Once my facial hair was gone, my head looked like a thumb.

I started writing my column again in late January and only missed a couple of weeks. I read voraciously on the Kindle my son bought me. It’s light and easy to hold in bed. My mother-in-law came from Spain to stay with us and help out until I “got better,” and she was a delight.

I had a couple of setbacks that led to visits to the ER and hospital stays, but I weathered the storms. The scans I took showed the tumor was shrinking — from an egg, to a walnut, to a grape, over the course of three months. Then, in late April, Congressman Raskin announced that “chemotherapy has extinguished the cancer cells.” I took this as a good sign. In the meantime, I was starting to feel pretty “normal.”

After my last chemo on June 5th, I got another PET scan. Three days later I got an email from my oncologist. “Scan showed remission,” it said. “More details when we meet.” Details, schmetails. I still have some follow-up treatments to get through, but apparently “chemotherapy has extinguished the cancer cells,” and I count myself a lucky man.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Arkwings’ Open Gallery Days

Enjoy Arkwings’ free art yard. (Photo: Courtesy We Are Memphis)

“I didn’t call myself an artist until I was 52 years old,” says Jana Wilson, executive director of Arkwings. She’d always been creative, even sold her assemblage art from time to time, but since that wasn’t her full-time gig, she didn’t feel she fit the title of “artist.” That is, until someone at an art show pointed out that just making art meant she was an artist. “And all of a sudden I was like, ‘Whoa, I could have been doing this my entire life.’ It’s my identity.”

Now that Wilson is executive director of Arkwings, she says, “I don’t want people going through life the way I did, and not identifying as whatever creative type of being they are.” After all, for her and for many like her, creativity through the arts is healing. “Nine times out of 10, when you ask an artist why they make art, it always go back to, ‘It makes me feel good,’ or ‘It makes me feel like a whole person.’ And there’s so many people out here who are craving arts engagement, and that’s really the heart and soul of why the arts became part of [Arkwings’] mission statement, which is ‘mind, body, and spirit wellness through the healing power of arts and nature.’”

For its part, Arkwings offers free access, seven days a week, to its Art Yard where guests of all ages can take part in different outdoor creativity stations, such as painting on a mini mural, building fairy houses, adding to the poetry tree, picking seeds or herbs from the community garden, and making music at the “Rhythms of Nature Circle.” Plus, every Wednesday, from 2-5 p.m., guests can tour all of Arkwings’ galleries during their Open Gallery Day.

Currently, Arkwings boasts the “Boys 2 Men: If You Don’t See Black, You Don’t See Me” exhibition, curated by Lurlynn Franklin. The exhibit features art solely by local Black men, ranging in age and style: Earle Augustus, Toonky Berry, Eric Echols, Clyde Johnson Jr., Montrail Johnson, Devin Kirkland-XXIV(k), Hakim Malik, Lester Merriweather, Carl E. Moore, Frankd Robinson, Najee Strickland, Andrew Travis, Larry Walker, Steven Williams, and Shamek Weddle.

In curating the exhibition, Franklin says she wanted to highlight each artist’s individuality. “My dad was a real kind gentleman, and he was profiled. You know, you can just snuff out a person’s life, and that’s it, because somebody decided to attach a label, a stereotype, to it,” she adds. “So the major requirement I’m having for the African-American men who are going to be in the show is, I want you to demonstrate your style. It doesn’t have to be political. You ain’t gotta speak to what the title implies. I just want people to see your skill level and artistry.”

“Boys 2 Men” will be on display at Arkwings through July 22nd and will travel to University of Memphis’ Fogelman Gallery in September. For more information on Arkwings and all its upcoming events, follow the nonprofit on Facebook.

Open Gallery Day, Arkwings, Wednesday, July 5, 2-5 p.m., Free.

“Boys 2 Men: If You Don’t See Black, You Don’t See Me,” Arkwings, on display through July 22.

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Billionaires Lost at Sea

Photo: Courtesy of NOAA/Institute for Exploration/University of Rhode Island (NOAA/IFE/URI)

It surprised me this Monday morning to see the OceanGate website still up and functional, still advertising an opportunity to “Explore the world’s most famous shipwreck,” listing the 2023 Titanic expedition as “currently underway,” and showing two missions scheduled for departure in June 2024. Surely there will be no future Titanic excursions offered by this company following the events that unfolded last week.

“95% of the Earth’s ocean is unexplored. You can change that,” reads a note on the site’s homepage. No thanks.

The internet was astir as people across the globe followed the Titan submersible news after its communications ceased and location was lost an hour and 45 minutes following its launch on Sunday, June 18th. What was supposed to be a two-hour descent to tour the 111-year-old shipwreck 13,000 feet below the surface of the Atlantic turned into a nightmare-come-true for the sub’s passengers. When it did not return to the surface as scheduled, the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards, the U.S. Navy, and other international resources embarked on a days-long search and rescue effort. And the world waited anxiously as the clock dwindled on the Titan’s estimated oxygen supply.

Aboard the sub were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, French diver and Titanic researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and British aviation tycoon and space tourist Hamish Harding. While the search was underway, thousands of memes mocking the risk-taking billionaires flooded the internet, juxtaposed alongside thoughts and prayers for the missing from those who didn’t find an ounce of humor in the foiled voyage.

As average citizens struggle to afford basic necessities amid inflation, it’s no surprise folks are poking fun at the 1 percent. These wealthy adventurers paid a quarter-million dollars each to take a voluntary ride in an ill-equipped and poorly tested tube — made with parts from Camping World and steered by a game controller — to the bottom of the ocean to sightsee. They signed a waiver agreeing to risk death for a frivolous trip to an old wrecked ship.

On Thursday, June 22nd, debris including the Titan’s tail cone was found 1,600 feet from the Titanic wreckage. The findings were “consistent with a catastrophic implosion,” according to the U.S. Coast Guard. All passengers were presumed dead.

It’s difficult to feel sympathy for Rush, especially, who for years ignored alarm calls about the safety of his watercraft. In a 2018 lawsuit, the company’s former director of marine operations David Lochridge claimed to have been fired from OceanGate for raising concerns. According to the suit, Lochridge objected to “deviation from an original plan to conduct non-destructive testing and unmanned pressure testing” of the Titan.

A 2018 email exchange between Rush and deep-sea exploration specialist Rob McCallum emerged, in which McCallum urged Rush to consider further safety measures: “Until a sub is classed, tested and proven, it should not be used for commercial deep dive operations,” he wrote, in part. Rush responded: “I have grown tired of industry players who try to use a safety argument to stop innovation. … We have heard the baseless cries of ‘you are going to kill someone’ way too often. I take this as a serious personal insult.”

It makes more sense to mourn the loss of the 19-year-old, who, according to reports, was “terrified” to take the voyage but gave in to appease his father. Personally, I find the ocean — the creatures within, the dark depths, the sheer expanse — horrifying. Simply watching footage of prior Titan dives gave me heart palpitations — crew huddled near the tiny porthole, in a claustrophobic cylinder, staring into the abyss until the bow of the Titanic crept into view, dripping in rusticles. Just looking at photos of the wreckage, a graveyard two and a half miles under the sea, gives me the heebie-jeebies. Would you like to tour an eerie endless void from inside a replica of a bullet blender? That’s a no from me.

So, some very rich people went for a joyride. They knew the risks and used poor judgment. They didn’t make it back. This gripped the attention of the entire world. All while at least 79 people died and hundreds more were feared missing after a migrant ship capsized off the coast of Greece. All while 39.7 million people in the U.S. alone live in poverty.

If you believe conspiracy theories, they either never took the trip in the first place or it was all a distraction. But from what exactly?

There are a quarter-million ways in which a quarter-million dollars could be better spent, and as many injustices that better deserve the world’s attention — mass suffering at which no one blinks an eye. No matter what you believe, I bet we can agree on that.