REMEMBERED. At a 2001 local Republican event three revered nonagenarians Ð l to r, former city councilman Bob James, longtime Republican figure John T. Williams, and GOP activist Peggy Hemperly — posed for the camera. WilliamsÕ death last week and JamesÕ death earlier this month both occasioned generous tributes from a wide variety of friends and admirers.
PANOPLY:A fundraiser for District Attorney General Bill Gibbons at the midtown home of Rex and Johnnie Amonette last week turned out a large and diverse group of supporters. In this picture can be seen former Shelby County Mayor Jim Rout (far left) and guest-of-honor U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (second from right). Others include Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton (next to Gibbons), former mayoral/council candidate George Flinn (far right), state Sen. Mark Norris, and Republican national committeeman John Ryder. Harold Collins, a sometime aide to Mayor Willie Herenton, is poised at the door to admit late arrivals. One of those expected who did not arrive was U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr..
WOMAN TO WOMAN: U.S. Sernator Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-AR) last week was the second speaker in the current yearÕs Greater Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce ÒFrontline PoliticsÓ series, this year co-sponsored by the Memphis WomenÕs Foundation and featuring prominent women in politics. Here the senator talks things over with Memphis city council member Barbara Swearengen Holt.
LEGISLATIVE VETS. Three former members of the Tennessee General Assembly gathered last week at a fundraiser for Republican legislative candidate Chuck Bates. The three, all former state representatives, were (l to r) Harold Sterling, Chris Turner, and Larry Bates (father of the honoree). Another former legislator present at the affair but absent from this picture was Ed Williams, also a veteran of the Shelby County Commission. Sterling, a former assessor, is running again for his old job. Turner, now General Sessions clerk, is in a reelection race.
