“Is this the biggest crowd of white people you’ve ever had in your church?” That question was asked of Rev. Ed Sanders during a funeral visitation for a close friend (who happened to have been an African-American who counted scores of Caucasians among his legions of intimates). “Not at all,” the charismatic pastor of Nashville’s [...]
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The Case for Sports (and a domed stadium) for Nashville
When NashvilleNext, the community-driven process for guiding Metro Nashville through 2040 recently began pondering what we should look like as a city 27 years from now, one indelible image came to mind: a climate-controlled football stadium. Our own Music City Dome? First, let me document precisely how sports have broadened Nashville’s appeal and the profound [...]
We need more purple, less red and blue
As I was contemplating writing a column pleading for more mature and measured bipartisan efforts in the face of our nation’s presumed forthcoming fiscal disaster, I recalled the column I wrote exactly four years ago about a “purple coalition” and what the Volunteer State could offer America’s new president early on in his administration. Though [...]
Longtime public servant dies at 59
Edwards worked on World Fair, 2000 Gore staff and Sports Authority, among others Emmett A. Edwards, a businessman and public servant for more than three decades, died Monday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center due to complications from lung cancer. He was 59. Born in Covington, Tenn., in May of 1953, Edwards graduated in his high [...]
A humble introduction to music biz
Here’s the first thing I learned about the music business when I moved to Nashville more than 25 years ago: You’re either in it or you’re not. There’s no middle ground. The people “in” the business know precisely who they are; everyone else is part of a different realm. And that’s not an indictment of [...]
Take me out to the home game, Dad
Cleveland’s mammoth 80,000-seat Memorial Stadium, square on the banks of Lake Erie, provided the genesis for my love of baseball. I was just 5 when my father took me to my first game, I remember thinking with wonderment that the whole world could fit right inside. We arrived when the gates opened, thrilled to see [...]
Metro “sugar” makes the tax medicine go down easier
Most of us are familiar with the lyrics from the famed ‘60s Disney musical film, Mary Poppins: “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down…” The “medicine” I’m referring to is the current proposed property tax increase in our fair city while “the sugar” is something I have enjoyed [...]
Democrats playing lethal game with guns
As this final (allegedly) legislative week unfolds, my fellow Democrats (the remaining few left in the General Assembly) brought shame to our party. Playing political games can be entertaining, but to play games with guns is no laughing or recreational matter. The overall story is the battle over guns in parking lots. Tennessee has been [...]
State needs new emphasis on higher education
Where does public higher education stand in the pecking order of priorities in the Volunteer State? Not very high, I’m afraid. In the past decade we have seen major shifts, some good and some bad, in efforts to provide a quality post-secondary education for Tennessee’s students. I had the privilege of being involved in one [...]
Bobbi: Her Contagious Smile Influences a Community
Congenial. Enthusiastic. Smiling. Compassionate. Bubbly. Caring. Friendly. These are just some of the adjectives offered by colleagues about the woman who serves as the greeter, information desk attendant and security officer at our downtown Nashville office building. If one is ever having a down day, a short stop at Bobbi’s desk at the entrance of [...]