Blog Archives

Rick

5/31/2015

"I wrote a couple of books, Let Life Begin and Life Has Begun after my wife's massive heart attack at the age of 39, but my most recent book is fiction. It's a crime thriller called Driven and is set in the Bartlett / Memphis area. The main character, Angela Harwell, is a badass MPD Domestic Violence detective who's fighting demons of her own even as she hunts down a ruthless gang leader, T-Bone Reed. I love her character; she's strong, smart, and determined. One of the important messages in the book is: No matter what happens to you when you're young, you can get over it.

"It's not easy finding time to write between my day job as a process server with the Shelby County Court, caregiving for my wife, and my role as a father and grandfather, but I love it. I generally write a draft on Sunday and then do the edits and corrections through the week. My sister was a big fan of my work, and when she got sick, I was determined to finish Driven before she died. I worked like crazy and got it done with a couple of months to spare. The book has gotten some great reviews, and I've had several successful book-signings. There will definitely be more Angela Harwell novels."

Rick Jacobs will be signing books at the Books & BBQ event at the Agricenter on June 6, 2015, 10:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Rick Jacobs also writes for the Bartlett Express.
Driven:

[Image credit for book cover: Amazon]

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Tom

5/30/2015

"I studied for the Catholic priesthood years and years ago, but then some guys I knew invited me to come watch their band practice and I ended up becoming their lead singer instead. The next summer I bought a guitar for twenty bucks, started writing songs, and I've never stopped. My favorite songwriters are Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon. I've been writing for 30 years and tried to stop three or four times, but I can't. I'm just continually drawn to it, even though I don't make a dime. I'm down here on Main Street four or five days a week."

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Kenneth

5/29/2015

Q: "So, how long have you been Batman?"
A: "Forever."
Q: "Do you fight the powers of evil?"
A: "Yes ma'am."
Q: "Where's Robin?"
A: "On vacation."

Superheroes available for special events, birthday parties, etc.

Phone: 901-494-4600
Email: [email protected]
FB: http://www.facebook.com/kennydunnlotusnight

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Kacky

5/29/2015

“My brother introduced me to Greg, and we married in 2008. Just two years later, on Labor Day 2010, we were at the zoo on our way to see the bears when Greg squeezed my hand three times. I thought he was saying, ‘I love you,’ but then he fell. It turned out he had a heart problem that we hadn’t known anything about. Because he hit his head so hard when he fell, he also had a subdural hematoma and had to have brain surgery. The following spring, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. So we were both sick at the same time. I was going through radiation and trying to take care of him, and he was sick but still trying to take care of me. I know he felt terrible that he couldn't do more.

"We had a lot of support during that time though. Friends told me, ‘You have to accept help’, and I did. I’m very lucky to have a job that allows me to meet so many people in the community and to have so many ‘families’: my musical family, my artistic family, my theater family (especially Playhouse on the Square), my work family, my neighbors---with all of them, there was just an amazing outpouring of love and support. They brought us food, cleaned our house, and just took care of everything. Work was great, especially over the last year of Greg’s life. He was in the hospital for huge chunks of time. My work family said, ‘You don’t need to worry about the job. You need to be there with him. We’ll cover for you.’ Darel Snodgrass, the morning Classical Music Host, took my afternoon shifts so I could be with Greg. I gathered up the radio, our board games, and our favorite CDs and basically moved into Greg’s hospital room. At Christmas time, I took in a little tree.

"I recovered from the cancer, but Greg’s health problems worsened. In addition to the heart and brain surgery issues, he had cancer and liver problems. He passed away on April 1, 2013. I think about him a million times a day, and I miss him all the time."

Kacky Walton is a Classical Music Host for WKNO-FM, Public Broadcasting for the Mid-South. The WKNO website describes Kacky's show as "An afternoon of locally-produced, classical music with NPR news at the top of the hour. Checking on the Arts, an arts interview program airing daily at 3:50 pm, closes the program."

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Clarissa

5/28/2015

"I'm thinking of starting a non-profit and calling it IMPOSSIBLE. That title actually contains 2 words: 'I'm' and 'Possible.' Though IMPOSSIBLE, I want to help those who are down-and-out, those who are just getting out of college, and anyone else who needs inspiration. Often people have the education and the potential to reach their goals, but they don't have the network or the resources. I want to help them make those connections. We are here to lift each other up. The people I meet everyday are the superstars of my life."

Clarissa Tye is the University of Memphis 2014-15 Parent of the Year, thanks to her son's award-winning essay on the person who most inspired him. Says Clarissa: "I always taught my children never to blend in, to think outside the box, to always do what's right, and that their good names should go before them to prepare the way. In turn, they are the ones who taught me how to deal with adversity and how to start again after my marriage ended."

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Slade

5/27/2015

"We're doing a 2-sided mural [on the underpass on Central just west of Cooper]. It's a timeline of Memphis painted on railroad cars. We've done a lot of research into the history of Memphis from the 1820's to the present, and events from the different decades will be depicted. Some really interesting things have happened here."

Freelance artist Slade Bishop and fellow artists Whitney and Tony are recent graduates of the Memphis College of Art. They will be working on the mural every day for the next couple of weeks and would love for you to stop by and say hello! You can find Slade on Facebook.

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Lisa

5/26/2015

"My mom has been a positive influence on all of us. She's kept us in order and made sure we lived as Christians. She's also made sure we got an education. I'm in school now working on an Early Childhood Education degree and planning to be a teacher. I have a long way to go, but I'm moving forward."

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Hope

5/25/2015

"I dropped out of school in the 9th grade. I didn't want my children to make the same mistakes I did, so I pushed them to get an education. I completed my GED, and when my oldest child [pictured at left] graduated from high school and went to college, that was a push for me. I went back to school and studied business."

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Sarah

5/24/2015

“If I sit outside on my front porch in Binghampton between 3 and 5 o’clock in the afternoons, I can easily see people from all parts of the world walking down my street on their way to ESL classes or to pick up their children from school. There is so much diversity in my neighborhood, so many refugee families, and I want to be able to talk to them. There is beauty and strength in every culture, but you can’t really understand the culture until you can speak the language. Our family moved to Germany when I was 7, so I grew up bilingual and have always loved languages. I studied French in school, and I’m currently working on Nepali, Swahili, and Somali so that I can communicate with the people I work with, live around, and go to church with. My vocabulary is still very limited, but it’s improving."

Sarah Brukaber, Ekata Designs Manager: “Ekata Designs was started as a ministry to help refugees and to build relationships, but then it grew into a business. I didn’t start it, but it was handed to me three years ago. Since then, I’ve worked with about 30 women, helping them learn new skills and earn extra income.”

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Ran

5/23/2015

“My husband and I spent 21 years in a refugee camp in Nepal. Before that, we had been farmers, raising dairy cows, goats, and pigs, and growing spinach, potatoes, peppers, pumpkins, cucumbers, and white radishes. Once we got to the refugee camp, we didn’t have land anymore, but we were still able to take care of goats and pigs. My husband learned to sew clothes in the camp, which helped too. Neither of us ever went to school, but our children attended school in the refugee camp, and all three of them speak English really well. My husband and I are 53 and 54 years old, and we’ve been in the United States for one year and three months now. It’s hard finding jobs when you don’t know much English. That’s the biggest obstacle.” (interview conducted through a translator)

Ran works for Ekata Designs: "Teaching refugee women in Memphis, TN, how to make beautiful jewelry, a small step to helping them become independent in their new life..." (from the website)

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