Big, beautiful Memphis has vibrant past, bright future

“Because I Said So” column for The Commercial Appeal

Nov. 10, 2011

I am a Memphian. I was born here and raised with the identity crisis and low self-esteem that have mired our city for so long. Adults I looked up to put down the city and seemed to ache to live someplace else, anyplace else. It’s been a difficult mental cycle to break, but I have for my kids and because, despite what Forbes Magazine and some other national publications print, we are a city moving forward with a past vastly more interesting than most cities.

This is the pride I want my children to grow up knowing.

To that end, I’ll be at Burke’s Book Store with my kids this evening for the launch of “Memphians” (Nautilus Publishing), a coffee-table book that highlights the well-known, and lesser-known, great personalities of our city. Along with several other local writers and editors, I am a contributor to the book, and was asked to research and write bios of authors, surgeons, attorneys, peddlers, musicians and entrepreneurs.

Characters all of them … (read more)