MetroPulse Stories: Secret History by Jack Neely

Thanks to Two New Projects, 'Tour Guy' Gets Some Relief

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:48:00 -0000

This Saturday, on Market Square, Knox Heritage launches its Historic Downtown Knoxville Walking Tour. It’s a handsome piece of work, a long, pocket-sized booklet with photographs. It’s the closest realization of an amenity I had hopes would be in place 20 years ago.

A Walk in the World's Fair Park

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:49:00 -0000

I was there nearly every day of the 1982 World’s Fair. I lived a block and a half away from the western gate, and I worked there, mostly in crowd control. Assignments to monitor unruly lines put me in nearly every corner of that oblong ravine that tried hard to be, for exactly six months, the most exciting place in the world.

Cormac McCarthy's 'Suttree' in the 21st Century

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:26:00 -0000

Suddenly there’s a third, and a fourth, bar on the once-forlorn 400 block of Gay. Things are looking up for that problematic block; 20 years ago it seemed too big and woebegone to revive. The bad news is that the 400 block’s most unusual destination is closing this week.

Taking a Look at 'East Tennessee Art & Artists'

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:46:00 -0000

East Tennessee Art & Artists is not a big exhibit, but you can easily kill an hour or so, as I did, just puzzling over it.

Corndogs Rossini

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:35:00 -0000

The Rossini Festival is next weekend, 10 years old now. In my experience with my home town and its festivals, Knoxville Opera’s annual street fair was the first one that clicked on all cylinders: interesting food, good drink, diverse music, surprise, a real sense of occasion, and big, big, happy crowds.

Knoxville’s Most Intimate Connection to the Titanic

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:08:00 -0000

On Central Street, at the very foot of Cumberland Avenue, is a plain white cinder-block church. A wooden sign calls it the Romanian Church. Thanks to the scarcity of intervening buildings, you can see it from Gay Street. The building’s not remarkable in any obvious way, certainly not ancient, probably 1950s. Still, it’s an indirect remnant a man who died much earlier, on the White Star liner Titanic.

The Arby’s Building, By Any Other Name

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:15:00 -0000

Many folks middle age and beyond remember that before the building at Gay and Union was Arby’s, it was Spence Shoes. In fact it was a shoe store, on the ground floor, for more than 40 years, with a tailor, Dale Slomski, and before him, Mr. Szabo, on the second floor. Sometimes there was even a restaurant in the basement, accessed via Union Avenue. But even that’s not what it was originally built for.

Sundown vs. Nightfall: A Textbook Case of Urban Economics

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:30:00 -0000

Sundown in the City has been a dilemma on Market Square, but it wouldn’t be even roughly the same thing anywhere else.

Satan’s Business

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:54:00 -0000

Walking into the door was like changing channels. Inside that warm room of dark, ancient brick was a friendly, casual scene from one of those dreams where you suddenly see people you knew a long time ago: a dozen people I knew well, and a dozen more strangers, drinking wine and talking and watching a small string-jazz band I knew well, Kukuly and the Gypsy Fuego.

The Santorum Vote: Primary as Postlude

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:27:00 -0000

I watched the returns carefully, just because I’m curious about historical resonance. Since the Civil War, East Tennessee has voted differently from the rest of the state. Even within Tennessee’s newfound red-state status are echoes of old divisions.

No Destination Attractions? Knoxville?

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:21:00 -0000

Everyone’s list of what makes our hometown interesting is different. But when I heard that some folks’ lists of Knoxville’s assets have nothing much on them, I wondered if maybe they’d be interested in borrowing mine.

Some Late-Winter Desk Clearing

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:36:00 -0000

Jack Neely fills us in on a London crime scene, Knoxville Gray, our almost-superlative statue, and a chronic building-naming dilemma.

The Lamentable Tragedy at the Washington’s Birthday Zouave Ball

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:18:00 -0000

If the Zouave Grand Military Ball at Spiro’s Hall wasn’t the social event of the season, it was the liveliest thing afoot on the evening of Washington’s Birthday.

Welcome Walmart

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:07:00 -0000

For years, I told people I’d been inside a Walmart only once in my life, offering my vivid memory of that huge place with the friendly greeters and an unbelievable amount of well-organized stuff. It was on Chapman Highway, on a Saturday way back, maybe 20 years ago. It was such a vivid memory I shared it often. I told my Walmart story for all those years until recently, when my wife corrected me. It was a Lowe’s.

The Carousel: Maybe America's Oldest Theater With a Stage in the Middle

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:41:00 -0000

Last year, the University of Tennessee chose not to level Clarence Brown Theatre, as planned. Still in the UT bulldozer’s long-range sights is the Carousel Theatre, which sits separately, like Clarence Brown’s big garden shed.

Is Knoxville the Birthplace of the First Rock ’n’ Roll Star?

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:13:00 -0000

Knoxville is the birthplace of Atlantic Records' first big star, who was one of the founders of rock ’n’ roll. Granville McGhee’s name is not as recognizable as that of Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley or Howlin’ Wolf—but as Stick McGhee, he performed what some consider the first rock ’n’ roll hit.

Possum Without the O

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:08:00 -0000

I’ve been enjoying Bill Landry’s book, Appalachian Tales & Heartland Adventures. It chronicles the back story of the long-running WBIR series of anecdotal stories about backwoods crafts, sports, cuisine. I have only one complaint about the book. Landry spells possum as opossum.

Gloria in Excelsis

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:41:00 -0000

Folks have been asking me what I think of Gloria Ray, and especially whether she earns her annual compensation, which is slightly larger than that of the president of the United States.

The Stories Behind a Couple of Recent Demolitions in Bearden

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:28:00 -0000

You can’t help but notice that the Bearden area has gotten a little flatter in recent months. Near Kroger and Starbucks, an old motel building vanished. Its name, Biltmore Court, has an odd connection to some painted words barely visible on an alley downtown. The bigger and more anticipated flattening was around the corner from there, the University of Tennessee’s old graduate and married-student housing on Sutherland.

A Sense of Moment

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:19:00 -0000

In history, no city’s judged just by how amused and trendy and well-fed its citizens are. If people of the future are at all interested in learning about the Knoxville of 2012, well, it probably won’t be for the tonnage of margaritas quaffed on our sidewalks, or the length of the ticket lines to see any given barf comedy.