An early 60th birthday celebration at Herbsaint in New Orleans.
Earlier this week, two colleagues and I were “stranded” in New Orleans because of multiple flight cancellations back to DC. Monday evening they surprised me by taking me out for an early birthday dinner at a wonderful restaurant called Herbsaint – which just happens to be where the husband of the former executive assistant who made a cameo in my 60 Lessons From 60 Years (Lesson #18) now works.
One of those colleagues just sent the following message:
I was struck by the juxtaposition of the two images…of David’s celebrations. I think the takeaway is that you should always go ahead and have the deep fried lamb neck, dirty rice with sausage, fantastic pinot, and decadent dessert when you have the opportunity. You never know what comes next!
Celebrating my 60th birthday, along with my fractured shoulder and new sling
My blog is not one of those that has thousands of followers and elicits nasty comments…or many comments at all. 100 views is an excellent day. Most of my readers are family and friends, and the comments I do receive tend to come to me on email or on Candice’s Facebook page (since I went off Facebook more than two years ago).
So I was overwhelmed by the response to my last post, 60 Lessons From 60 Years. As of March 5th (a snowy day with offices and schools closed), I only had three “official” comments on the blog. But I have received well over 100 via those other channels and more than 500 views. I wanted to ensure the comments did not get lost in cyberspace and – more importantly – I wanted to share some of them with you.
But first, to understand the context, it helps to know a bit of the back-story:
Some people will do anything to avoid going to work on their birthday. My excuse? I was hit by an ambulance while helping a friend who had fallen on the ice. Yep, you read that right.
We made the local news. (A colleagues’ husband had seen it on one of those small screens they now have in cabs, so she wrote, “You’re famous in cabs!”) A friend (Nancy) who was staying with us went out to dinner with a client, and she slipped and fell on the road behind our house when she returned. An angel of a neighbor found her and called us. We went out to help Nancy, and as she couldn’t get up we called 911. I was kneeling behind her as she sat where she had fallen, to keep her upright and to keep her alert. The ambulance arrived and couldn’t stop on the ice as it headed towards us. We couldn’t get out-of-the-way. I was hit first – my left shoulder against the front of the ambulance – and was tossed into a snow bank. Then the ambulance struck Nancy and pushed her down our hill. I could quickly tell I was okay except for shoulder pain but Nancy was obviously in a worse condition. They took her to the trauma unit at a local hospital and I was taken to ER at nearby Holy Cross.
To cut to the chase, I now have a fractured Humerus in my left shoulder. Nancy has some broken bones. According to our doctors at the moment, neither of us will require surgery. I have to keep my left arm immobile in a sling, which you see at the top of the post. Candice and I are so relieved that Nancy’s prognosis is positive at this point. Mutual friends were so good to Nancy, allowing Candice to focus on my injuries, but Candice did get to visit Nancy in the hospital on Wednesday before Thursday’s snow storm hit.
As a result, many of the comments are from friends and colleagues who found out about our little adventure. And don’t worry about all the typing required for this long post. I am becoming a master of the cut and paste.
I wanted others to see the thoughtfulness, love, and wisdom that came through in responses from friends. I thought you, dear readers, would like to see which lessons resonated. Feel free to add further comments in the “Leave a comment” section below.
We’ll begin with a colleague who consults for us:
Three new things I just added to the hopefully more than 50 I’ve amassed in my 50 years: 1. You really are your dad, you lucky devil. 2. I am not one of those few who understand baseball, but I’d best attend more and try harder for something that merits this much praise from you. 3. I like and admire you even more than I thought. Which was a lot.
Thank you for sharing. Happy Birthday!
The picture of my grandparents – that was tied to Lesson #23 to “Make yourself useful, as well as ornamental” – was a big favorite. Here’s a sampling of those comments:
I came over to get another gander at the ears to see if they align with what was in the picture but all I can say is here’s to hoping I can one day read your reflections when you hit 90! Happy birthday!
Hope you’re having a Happy Birthday, ambulances aside! This was fun to read through—thanks for sharing. Gosh, you’re grandparents wedding photograph is wonderful—they are such a gorgeous and handsome couple! 29 cracked me up, and 45 is the bomb, as some say. And many more, including still having your dad with you. I hope I get as lucky.
Love them all, but especially #29, 35, and the photo of your grandparents.
The pastor who led the church where I was raised wrote to say:
In many ways you are your Father’s son.
Many commentators called out their favorite lessons:
Absolutely, completely beautiful. I’m fond of, and moved by, many of them. This morning’s favorite is #45.
Happy Birthday, David. Your lessons have (mostly) all resonated with me – especially on first read Nos. 13 and 37.
Thank you for sharing your blog with us, that was a gift, even if it had to reach me via your not so great news. I hope you are comfy and warm in your hospital and plan to take it very easy these next days. I shared your blog with my husband, we both greatly enjoyed it and live by many of your numbers -14 and 15 and more. We appreciate advice. A friend of my husband who is in the special forces in the UK, (my husband is a former British army officer at Sandhurst) told him once: you won’t succeed if you have to make all your own mistakes, you have to learn from other people’s mistakes. The same lesson can be applied about many things in life. Thank you for your wonderful blog, and I guess I need to give baseball another chance. Take it easy and Happy Birthday.
Such a delightful read – and full of sage advice I needed to hear after a long day! Also so excited to see I made a cameo. 🙂 (Editor’s Note: See Rule #18.) So great seeing you this past weekend. Happy birthday, David!
Thanks for including me on this – what a great read! I think it’s funny you mention “becoming your father” – I sometimes fear that though I look just like my dad, in personality I’m becoming my mother! 54 and 55 both resonated with me too. I seem to find that life often has something better in store for me than I could have thought up myself. Hope you’re recuperating well. Everyone keeps stopping by and passing along their good thoughts!
Happy Birthday David! Hope the shoulder is better. I heard. Can’t wait to read this and best of all listen to some of this music. My eye did catch your mention of…. The Bitter Southerner. (Editor’s Note: See #28) It is my #1 self treat after a nice long run. Makes me smile to have something in common with you even if you are 60 YEARS OLD. To Your Day!
I’m so glad to hear you are ok and that your humor remains intact. I was glad to follow this link and read your 60 lessons. It was a great read. Re: #17 – I would say Amtrak is the very best place to think and write. Icing on the cake for me would be the train from NYC to Albany, Hudson River side. #40 made me cry. I especially like #59. In the time I’ve been here, you’ve always been the one to thank me for things or say good job. I’ve mentioned it to many people how important those gestures are, just how far they go….but never thanked you directly. Thank you for taking the time to do that. Hope you feel better soon. Happy birthday!
I also received some suggestions for new lessons to add to the list:
From the ripe old age of 61, I agree with most of your observations. I would also add, “Do something that challenges you every day. It won’t hurt.” I am working on a retirement plan that would allow me to be a “senior nomad,” although I’ll have to change it to something like “Still Crazy Nomad.” I think that’s what I want to be when I grow up, since being Janis Joplin seems out of the question. Sorry to hear about your run-in with an ambulance. A classic “life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” Have a happy birthday in spite of it.
Happy birthday. Enjoyed your 60 vignettes, and now on your birthday, you’ve learned another: bad things happen to good people – and good may come of that.
• Birthday prediction: I think there’s an Gibson Advanced Jumbo in tobacco sunburst in your future …
• Lesson #61: You can never have too many guitars …
• Don’t forget the 12-step program I’ve been advocating: Step 1: submit to a higher power (i.e., the Guitar Gods) …
P.S. Don’t even think about it … just reach for the credit card and everything will be just fine…
Carl’s next acquisition…a Gibson sunburst Jumbo
Then, of course, the ambulance accident generated a great deal of commentary.
You are rocking the sling my friend! Take it easy…
Can’t want to see what you come up with for 65.
So sorry David. One helluva way to ring in your birthday. I’m so over this snow and ice. I bet you are too.
Heard you’re the subject of the news story I read last night about an ambulance striking the folks it was coming to help. Glad to hear you’ll be OK, but such an unfortunate (and painful!) thing to happen. I hope you feel better soon – and that you get to spend your recovery time watching spring training games from less-icy places!
I understand that you’ve injured your arm in the cause of helping a friend. I am sorry for your troubles and wish you a speedy, easy recovery. I will say, on the other hand, that your accident led me to read your blog post, “60 Lessons from 60 Years.” There’s a lot of love in your writing as well as good humor, wisdom, and links to fine music. Thanks for sharing the lessons you’ve learned.
Inconceivable! (one of the better lines from the Princess Bride) First of all, Happy Birthday!, but secondly stay inside, drink warm cocoa with a little schnapps for the pain and recover! Hope at least the drugs are good.
What a terrific milestone, David! I hope you have a wonderful, grateful, celebratory – and ambulance-free – birthday. (I hear cake can help …)
I am so sorry to hear about your accident and the injuries you and your guest sustained. Hope that you both heal soon and get back to 100%. I can’t imagine how shocked and helpless you must have felt as that ambulance was bearing down on you. Amazing that, so soon afterwards, you are able to reflect on it with such calm. Again, glad that you are on the road to recovery. Thank you too, for sharing your insights on life, love, and family on your blog.
I truly enjoyed your blog entry and savored the lessons therein. Had it not been for Rob visiting here yesterday…I would have written you with birthday greetings and a question about Glacier. However, Rob shared the news of Tuesday evening and the accident. Now this email has turned from Happy Birthday to Get Well Soon. One never knows what is around the corner. Some advice on the breaking of bones—Almost 4 years ago, I broke my leg. The things I learned—1) Listen to the doctor and stay ahead of the pain. Even if you don’t like medication, a healing bone is very painful; 2) Ice! 3)Let people do for you—at least at first; 4) Don’t write emails while taking the pain meds. You think you make sense between naps, but you don’t; 5) Take the time you need—easier said than done, but it will make a difference in the recovery and 6) Do the physical therapy and then some. It makes a tremendous difference! I hope that you and your houseguest will be on the mend shortly. Please know you will be in my thoughts and prayers. And may the year bring you much joy, preservation victories, baseball, music and family!
Finally, I received a long email from a friend, Ed. I met Ed and his wife Ruth on a National Trust tour of the Black Sea. They were representing Andover. We bonded over many things, but especially baseball. His son works for the Red Sox, and I have had the pleasure of visiting Ed and Ruth in their house outside Boston. We keep planning a trip to Nationals Stadium. They are both so very thoughtful, and I thought I’d end this post with excerpts from Ed’s reflections. Enjoy.
Just spent a fascinating evening with your 60 for 60, and Happy Birthday!
Delighted many times over…All 60 had something for me. Can’t think of them all now, but: Staunton [wasn’t Wilson born there?]. Old buildings which several generations have struggled to keep standing. Small towns. Your western travels. Your twins, beloved. [We have identicals as 6-year-old granddaughters in Lexington MA]. The Bitter Southerner’s reassuring message. Your thinking on church, on Southern Baptists, on the Christian Right, who get in their own way. And too much more to remember at the moment.
We differ on a few points, but I appreciate your perspective which would say, Vive la difference!
1. Belichick is far from perfect, but I’ve met him, as a fellow Andover alum. He loved Andover. He was charming, and he has a good side. A mutual friend heard from a guy that Bill once stopped along a highway to help this poor anonymous soul change his tire in a pouring rain. At the end, the guy said, hey, aren’t you . . . ? And Bill said, Please don’t say any more–to me or anyone else. You wouldda done the same thing for me. And he drove off. Kinda like Dean Smith. Maybe great coaches`figure out, sooner than the rest of us, not to be proud of doing the right thing, but just doing it.
The NFL is my guilty pleasure, and I feel like taking a shower after getting its evils splashed on me. But I must confess that it seemed right that Richard Sherman needed to learn more about Kipling’s point that victory and defeat are Two Great Imposters – and he did so with a grace that he had not shown me before. Ditto Pete Carroll, who had left USC just before his misdeeds there came crashing down on the folks he left behind. I was pleasantly surprised that Coach Carroll bravely took the blame for that play call. And Marshawn Lynch said he wasn’t surprised not to get the ball, because “football is a team game.” Not bad for a guy who hasn’t shown a lot of respect in other moments. As your 90-year-old Dad, and your beautiful Grandmother and daughter would doubtless agree, humans are complex and should not be written off.
2. Blue-grass, Blue Highways hymns, and mandolins, have not been to my taste. But I admire them more now, after seeing your appreciation for them.
The three best YouTubes of music I saw this year I will share with you, hoping to add to your eclectic appreciation.
A. So many surprises in this first one: As college kids in 1963-4, we skipped right over this song, to get to “Fun Fun Fun” or “Little Deuce Coop.” Brian Wilson, for a while a hopeless self-absorbed mess, wrote this relatively obscure tune–but not the equally beautiful lyrics–when he was barely 21. His cousin and Hawthorne, CA, neighbor–Mike Love–widely known as a jerk in most circumstances, this time created the words, that make the discerning tear up. And who knew that Mike Love of all people would admit his mistake, in trying to change Willie Nelson’s delivery?
But greatest of all, savor Brian Wilson’s facial expressions at about 4:49. It’s as if this astounding songwriter and harmonist is the RCA dog, listening to his master’s voice on the phonograph. HE tears up–not as a demi-god, but as a human being. All these guys, Willie included, are just regular people, creating some pretty good art, and shaking hands over it. If there is a God, She would smile here. Life can be beautiful, in the South, in the West.
(Editor’s note: Ed sent along a bonus Beach Boys video)
B. Tammy Wynette and some promoter named Billy Sherrill wrote this song in 15 minutes. We’ve all heard it, but few of us knew what real-life marital and bodily pain Wynette lived through–like Brian Wilson. Her voice haunts:
I’m gonna tell Ruth, and you can tell Candice, that even our selective hearing lets this song come through, loud and clear. [Wynette’s last recording session, before an early death, was singing Brian Wilson’s “In My Room,” which he wrote c. 1961 after yet another beating from his Dad. You can find a different YouTube showing Brian and Tammy together, recording, just weeks before she died. They moved each other, two screwed-up lives intersecting, like ships in the night.]
C. The U.S. Library of Congress selected this 1964 T.A.M.I. Show for preservation in the National Film Registry. The Rolling Stones later said that following James Brown at the end of this show was the biggest mistake they ever made in their careers–and yet they too performed memorably. [Didn’t get what they wanted, but maybe what they needed?] Check out this portion of James Brown’s 20-minute set:
Best to you, and now your remarkable family, Ed Q.
Candice came out when the Beach Boys tune was playing, as she was a big fan during high school. I had seen the James Brown clip before, and remain amazed. You gotta love friends who quote Kipling, Bill Belichick, Brian Wilson, Tammy Wynette, and the Godfather of Soul all in the same message. To each and every one of you who reached out with your love, concerns, thoughts, stories, and humor, my deepest and sincere thanks.
With much love and affection, and with More to Come…
DJB
Image: Celebrating my 60th birthday, along with my fractured shoulder and new sling
6. Good things can come from bad situations, if you’ll stop wallowing in your sorrow and seek out the good.
Tom Brown, 1948
7. I have become my father. I repeat many of the same stories. (Did you know that I paid more for my last car than for my first house?) I read funny articles from the newspaper out loud at the dining room table, sometimes to the consternation of my wife and children. I cackle when I laugh. I am a dyed-in-the-wool Southern liberal who believes that government can make our life better, and I have TVA to prove it. I have good-looking legs, even at age 60. I can’t see worth a damn without my glasses and – if you ask Candice – my hearing is suspect. I think Molly Ivins (God rest her soul) and Gail Collins tell more truth in one short newspaper column than any politician tells in a book-length campaign bio. I love to read. Body and Soul and the St. Louis Blues – the only two songs my father could play on the piano – are still among my top 10 favorite songs of all time. I wish I had more of my father’s faith and compassion, but I still have 30 years to work on that and catch up with him. I think it is pretty neat, at age 60, to have a father who turns 90 this year – especially when that father is Tom Brown.
8. I will cry at the movies, so I need to bring a handkerchief.
9. Neckties are a highly overrated – and in my case an increasingly irrelevant – piece of clothing.
10. All things considered, I’d rather live in a community full of old buildings.
Downtown Staunton, VA
11. The movie Selma was not – in my opinion – the “Best Picture” of the year in 2015, but it was the most important. Everyone (and especially Southerners) should see it. We forget too quickly how difficult it was to attain rights for all, and how much pressure there is, even today, to restrict or even take away those rights. We are nowhere near a post-racial society. I grew up in the South in the 1960s. I remember those images on the television. I saw how blacks were treated then. It was terrible. In some ways, it is still terrible. After seeing Selma, Southerners should also visit the High Church of Doing the Right Thing – otherwise known as the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. We can do better.
12. A colleague gave me this big, 1950s-style ashtray for my office with a quote attributed to Amelia Earhart that says, “The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” He thought it sounded like me, and I couldn’t agree more.
13. Stephen Carter, in his book Civility, captured much that is wrong in America today when he said, “The language of the marketplace, the language of wanting, of winning, of simply taking – the language of self – (has supplanted) the language of community, of sharing, of fairness, of riding politely alongside our fellow citizens.” The best description I’ve read of Libertarians – who epitomize the language of self – is that they’ve politicized the protests of children who scream through tears, “You’re not the boss of me.”
14. “Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them.” (Jane Jacobs) I love old buildings. I always have. We grew up in an early 20th century house on Main Street in Murfreesboro, and I loved visiting my Grandmother’s Victorian-era house on Second Avenue in Franklin. Candice and I renovated two old houses in Staunton, where we spent the first half of our married life. Old houses are especially nice for putting you in a physical and spiritual continuum – there were people in that house before you, and you realize you are just a steward of this place for the next generation. You can connect with the joys and hardships of those who came before, and you can prepare the house for those who come after. The best places I’ve been in life have a real connection to the past, and yet feel remarkably livable for the modern world.
Andrew’s WWJJD (What Would Jane Jacobs Do?) t-shirt
15. Education, experiences, and travel trump “things” hands down. When you have a limited amount of money to spend, go for the things that feed the soul and widen your perspective, not the things that will collect dust in your house or take up more space in your garage (or, God forbid, a storage bin).
16. “Baseball is like church; many attend but few understand.” (Wes Westrum)
17. Take the train whenever possible. It is civilized and, short of walking and riding a bike, it is the most environmentally friendly way to travel. I am writing this right now on a train home from New York City. In a few minutes I’ll wander back to the cafe car. I ride a train to work every day. Even with Amtrak working as a second-class citizen when it comes to transportation systems and the Washington Metro suffering breakdowns from lack of funding and maintenance, train travel still beats the alternatives. Unfortunately, American mass transit is dying. Imagine how well our transportation system could run if people demanded, and politicians funded, train travel.
18. Try to see yourself as others see you. In more than half of my career, I’ve worked with an executive assistant. The good ones – who are perceptive and honest – see you in a myriad of situations and understand you in ways that few people do. One of the best I had the privilege of working with wrote what I took to calling a “Users Guide to DJB” when she left. It was rather eye-opening to read.
19. When you buy something you plan to keep for a while (shoes, cars, a home), buy the best quality (not necessarily quantity) you can afford, without overextending your budget. This approach is why Candice and I tend to keep our (one) car for a decade or more, and why we raised two children in a house with about 1800 square feet. Oh, and you need much less “stuff” than you have.
20. Those who accept life and their own limitations are likely to find more in life.
21. The 9th inning of the 5th game of the 2012 NLDS never happened.
22. If YouTube had existed when I was young, I don’t know if I would be a better guitar player, but I know I would have saved myself a lot of trouble picking up the needle and putting it back (and back, and back) in the grove to try to learn that special lick.
23. “Make yourself useful, as well as ornamental” is good advice I learned from my Grandmother. (Mary Dixie Bearden Brown.) My Grandmother worked hard her entire life, but as you can see in the picture below, my Grandmother was very pretty as a young bride. Naturally, I inherited my big ears from the Brown side of the family.
Mary Dixie Bearden Brown and George Alma Brown – my Grandmother and Grandfather
24. Fear isn’t a solid foundation for any healthy relationship. So why is so much right-wing fundamentalism based on a fear of God’s wrath? In my experience, She cares for all her children, not just the ones who have drunk the Kool-Aid.
25. Speaking of fear, Kris Kristofferson hit the nail on the head about hatred of things we don’t understand in Jesus Was a Capricorn. Truer words than “Reckon we’d just nail him up if he came down again” were never spoken. Thanks to Darrell Scott for resurrecting this song (pun intended) on his wonderful Modern Hymns CD.
26. Don’t you just love it that 2015’s Super Bowl (#49) was hailed by many (I’m looking at you Sally Jenkins) as the “best Super Bowl ever.” What did it feature? One confirmed concussion, and one probable concussion that the Patriots covered up. (The Onion had a telling headline: “Super Bowl Confetti Made Entirely From Shredded Concussion Studies.”) A horrendous arm injury by one player. Oh, and a fight in the end zone on the next to last play. Yep, that about sums up the NFL these days.
27. I think Wondrous Love is just about the best hymn ever – in either version (traditional as heard below from Blue Highway, or reworked for the Episcopal hymnal). I hope my family remembers – when I’ve gone to my reward – that I want it sung at any service/celebration in my memory. And remember to sing the last verse (in the Episcopal hymnal) a cappella. “And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on” sounds incredible when unaccompanied.
28. The intelligent mind is able to live with paradox. Such as the paradox of why I’m proud to be a Southerner. (Read this piece from The Bitter Southerner, as it sums up my views on the subject pretty well.) Yes, we have this awful racial history that continues to this day, which I wish our region could overcome. And yes, we have bourbon.
(Photo Credit: The Adventures of Sarah and Derrick)
29. Women who seek to be equal to men lack ambition.
30. When you are paying the bill at a restaurant out of your own pocket, tip at the high-end of the scale – 20% – unless the service is awful and the server is rude. If the service is great, consider giving a bit more. This is especially true at breakfast. Many people don’t understand this idea, and it is generally because they have never waited tables. Waiting tables is very hard work, when done right. I did it for a year almost 40 years ago, and I still remember the long hours on my feet, the late nights, the times when you do a terrific job and the diners still stiff you. It never hurts to thank someone, and tipping a bit more than expected is a way of saying thanks. (The tip up to the norm is payment for service.) This lesson doesn’t apply in places like Copenhagen, where they pay service staff a living wage. But I think I’ll go to my grave in the U.S. with service staff just scraping by. Many waiters and waitresses are working two jobs (or more) just to cover basic costs of living. Tipping at the high-end of the scale is one way I can help them out. (And while it is a little different, I also recommend tipping street musicians – or buskers – when they are good.)
A New Orleans Jazz Trio
31. If you are going to share a car with someone for more than two weeks, it would be hard to beat Claire as a traveling companion.
Hiking in Glacier National Park with Claire as part of our two-week cross-country trip in 2014
32. “I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil. And that no one knows the truth.” (Molly Ivins)
33. Chris Thile is from another world. There is no other explanation.
Chris Thile with the Punch Brothers at Merlefest 2012
34. The Christian Right is neither.
35. I definitely “married up.” Candice is very intentional about our life together, as a couple and as a family. I would probably miss half (or more) of the wonders of our time together, but she has helped me see the little grace notes that make up our life. Almost thirty-three years later, I would do it all again.
With Candice, on our 32nd anniversary, in Copenhagen (March 2014)
36. Visiting all the Major League Baseball stadiums is a worthy bucket list goal for any red-blooded American. I’m proud to say I am more than halfway there.
37. Everyone should have the chance to be surrounded by – and learn from – passionate and talented people at least once in their lifetime. My entire work career has been one when I’ve been surrounded by such individuals. However, on the personal side, I was lucky in my “earlier life” to sing as part of the Shenandoah Valley musical group Canticum Novum. I’ve seldom heard such a pure soprano as Custer LaRue, who was one of our eight-to-twelve singers (depending on the gig). Among other highlights in her career, Custer was the “singing voice” of Reese Witherspoon in the movie Vanity Fair. (I should probably add that she sang a solo at Claire and Andrew’s baptismal service!) I count myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to sing with Custer, and with Debbie, Lucy, Kay, Peter, John, and Dick, (plus others) under Carol Taylor’s direction.
38. We have an “almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.” (Daniel Kahneman)
39. “Bad trades are part of baseball – now who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, for God’s sake?” You should watch the movie Bull Durham twice a year – in February/March, to get your juices going, and in November, to put the season you’ve just lived through in perspective. Best. Baseball. Movie. Ever.
40. I still miss my mother every day.
41. Barbecue is a gift from the gods. One of the wonderful things about my job is that I get to travel to cities all across the U.S. When I can, I eat at great barbecue places, such as Arthur Bryant’s in Kansas City and The Rendezvous in Memphis.
42. My father (as he nears age 90) likes to say that growing old is not for wimps. I’m beginning to worry that I understand what he means.
43. Nineteen years out of twenty, the lowliest man on a World Series-winning baseball team can give better quotes than the Super Bowl-winning coach. Baseball players and managers speak with eloquence and intelligence (even if it is Yogi Berra-type eloquence). Football players and coaches either talk gibberish (“We used the cover 2 and flex”) or just grunt.
44. One thing I have not figured out in life is how I happened to have such wonderful, talented, and thoughtful children. It is a mystery. Andrew and Claire taught me so much before they turned 21, and I continue to learn life lessons from them. I feel blessed and humbled every day.
Andrew and Claire’s 21st Birthday
45. There are many things said in churches that I find hard to believe. What I do believe is that love is more important than doctrine.
46. World War II was shorter than the NBA playoffs.
47. I was fortunate to grow up in a town where I could walk or bike to school, church, the grocery store, and my job. It was a great way to live as a child. I have since lived in three towns that were compact, walkable (or had great transit), and human-scaled. My children can get around major cities all over the world because they learned to walk, bike or take the bus and train here in Washington. I feel we have given them a great perspective on how to live in community.
48. When someone needs help – a word, a card, a lift, a meal, a changed tire – try to be there for them. I’ve been on the giving and receiving end of each of these things, and I can tell you how much they mean to both the giver and the receiver.
49. “Cowardice is easy. Courage is hard.” (Ron Johnson, Missouri Highway Patrol, after his work in Ferguson)
50. “There is no substitute for excellence – not even success.” (Thomas Boswell)
51. There is no crying in baseball. Oh, and there should never be a pitch clock.
52. It is wonderful when your children take up your interests. I have always loved photography and music. So I was thrilled when Claire showed a real talent for photography (especially black and white) and Andrew likewise showed a talent for music. We do our job as parents when we open up the world’s possibilities to our children. I simply count myself lucky that among their many talents are two that I can understand and appreciate.
The Lake at Mohonk Mountain House (Photo credit: Claire Brown)
53. I have been loved by some wonderful people. All I can say is thank you.
54. Never underestimate the impact one person can have on the world. Dean Smith, the famous basketball coach for the North Carolina Tarheels, died last month. One of the most amazing things I heard about Coach Smith through the many tributes that poured out in early February is that the Baptist Church where he worshiped and that shaped his advocacy for minorities was booted out of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1992 for licensing a gay man to minister. (Being booted out of today’s SBC wins “bonus points” from me, and I grew up a Southern Baptist.) His former pastor said of Smith, “He was willing to take controversial stands on a number of things as a member of our church – being against the death penalty, affirming gays and lesbians, protesting nuclear proliferation.” I also read a great appreciation in the Washington Post by John Feinstein. After asking Smith to provide more details about his helping to desegregate lunch counters in North Carolina in the 1950s, Feinstein recounted that Smith asked him who told him the story. Told that it was his pastor, Smith responded that he “wished he hadn’t done that.” Feinstein replied that Smith should be proud of that work. And here was the kicker: Feinstein wrote, “He looked me in the eye and said, ‘John, you should never be proud of doing the right thing. You should just do the right thing.’”
55. There have been times when I did not get something I thought I really wanted. But in most cases, I found something better. (Or, in the immortal words of Mick Jagger & Keith Richards, “You can’t always get what you want…but you just might find, you get what you need.”)
56. I have always enjoyed a wide variety of music. I’ve been privileged to play bluegrass and to sing Josquin des Prez…and lots of things in-between. I subscribe to the words of the immortal Duke Ellington: “There are two kinds of music. Good music and the other kind.”
57. I am fine with the fact that not everyone wants to hear my opinion and is eager to know what’s on my mind. Opinions are like noses…everyone has them.
58. I believe in the Church of Baseball.
59. A few years ago I became intentional about saying “thank you” to someone every day. It is one of the smartest things I ever did. Thank you.
I don’t often mix my work into More to Come…. But then again, I don’t often hear the President speak so eloquently about the work with which I’m engaged. Last Thursday was one of those days.
After 24 hours in my own house, I was on the road once again to Chicago last week. Cold. Frigid. Windy. Chicago. It wasn’t a destination I would have sought out in February, except for the fact that President Barack Obama was going to designate Pullman a National Monument. At the National Trust, we were part of a coalition working for this designation, and I was proud to join our team at the celebration.
These types of events with government and political leaders are often perfunctory – at least from the politician’s standpoint. Last Thursday – with the President on his home turf – was anything but. You knew we were in for a treat when his opening remarks began with this ode to Chicago’s winter: “It’s always been a dream of mine to be the first President to designate a national monument in subzero conditions.”
Pullman, if you do not know the history, is a remarkably intact industrial town of historic buildings and landscapes. Located 13 miles south of downtown Chicago, it was built by industrialist George Pullman and through all the change that has taken place in this small community, it stands today as representative of the heart of the American Labor movement. Strikes that began in Pullman in 1893 and spread across the country led – in the long arc of history – to the establishment of Labor Day, a 40-hour work week, the weekend, overtime pay, safe workplace conditions, and the right to organize for higher wages and better opportunities. The first African-American Union – the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters – had ties to Pullman. The men and women who worked and labored in Pullman – white and black – helped create the American middle class.
Pullman (Photo Credit: Cynthia Lynn via National Trust for Historic Preservation)
President Obama told the story of Pullman in deeply personal terms, as they related to his life, the life of his family, and to the life of all Americans.
“I want this younger generation, I want future generations to come learn about their past. Because I guarantee you there are a lot of young people right here in Chicago, just a few blocks away, living in this neighborhood who may not know that history.
I want future generations to know that while the Pullman porters helped push forward our rights to vote, and to work, and to live as equals, their legacy goes beyond even that. These men and women without rank, without wealth or title, became the bedrock of a new middle class. These men and women gave their children and grandchildren opportunities they never had.
Here in Chicago, one of those porter’s great-granddaughter had the chance to go to a great college and a great law school, and had the chance to work for the mayor, and had the chance to climb the ladder of success and serve as a leader in some of our cities’ most important institutions. And I know that because today she’s the First Lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama.”
Then he continued, and the White House transcript includes the reaction from the crowd:
So without this place, Michelle wouldn’t be where she was. There’s a reason why I’ve got one of the original copies of the program for the March on Washington, a march for jobs and justice, with A. Philip Randolph’s name right there as the first speaker, framed in my office. Because without Pullman, I might not be there. Of course without Michelle, I’d definitely not be there. (Laughter.) Whoever she married would be there. (Laughter and applause.)
Then — in contrasting the great national parks of natural beauty with a place like Pullman — the President spoke directly to the students who filled the bleachers in the high school gymnasium, saying:
…To the young people here today, that’s what I hope you take away from this place. It is right that we think of our national monuments as these amazing vistas, and mountains, and rivers. But part of what we’re preserving here is also history. It’s also understanding that places that look ordinary are nothing but extraordinary. The places you live are extraordinary, which means you can be extraordinary. You can make something happen, the same way these workers here at Pullman made something happen.
That’s not to tell you that life is always going to be fair, or even that America will always live up to its ideals. But it is to teach us that no matter who you are, you stand on the shoulders of giants. You stand on the site of great historic movements. And that means you can initiate great historic movements by your own actions.
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell with DJB at the community celebration in Pullman
It was a day of great celebration. It was a day when one of the country’s most eloquent presidential speakers was able – because of what Pullman meant to him as a man, a husband, a father, a worker, and an American – to explain to all Americans why Pullman matters today, and tomorrow, and to future generations. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis were on hand, and I shared with them an ad we placed in that morning’s Chicago Tribune thanking the President, Secretary, and Director for their leadership in saving Pullman. And there were more than 500 people from the neighborhood – people who have been saving Pullman and recognizing its relevance for decades – who were there as well.
And I did say it was a celebration for the entire neighborhood. Argus Brewery makes fine craft beer in a former Schlitz distribution center in Pullman. To celebrate the monument designation, they produced a one-day only brew – Pullman Monumental Lager. My colleagues in our Chicago office got a case, and we shared one beer after the party. Even the President had four cases delivered to Air Force One. Unfortunately, I was flying United and couldn’t take mine with me through airport security…something that isn’t a problem for the President!
Pullman Monumental Lager from Argus Brewery
Description of the Pullman Monumental Lager
What a way to celebrate! Congratulations to all the folks in Pullman and the organizations such as the National Parks and Conservation Association who worked so hard to make this happen.
And if you have about 25 or 30 minutes, do yourself a favor and listen to the President’s remarks about Pullman. It is a great history lesson. The President’s comments begin after the 32 minute mark.
More to come…
DJB
Image: President Obama Designates Pullman as a National Monument by DJB
Swimming Coach Jean-Paul Gowdy with Claire following a Family Weekend practice
Not even ten hours – TEN HOURS – stuck in the Phoenix Airport on Thursday was going to ruin our last Family Weekend at Pomona College with Claire. (Phoenix Airport motto: “And you think our city has sprawl – just wait until you have to go from concourse-to-concourse in our lovely airport. We’ll show you world-class sprawl!”)
Yes, the time has come for the last of our family weekends during the college years. We’ve made 7 of 8 over the course of the four years between our twins and their two schools.
Some parents poo-poo the Family Weekend, saying they are only for freshmen parents who miss their children. But we love them. Why?
Well, beyond the obvious of getting to spend time with Claire and Andrew, we get to meet and hear great professors talk about fun things. In the fall at Brown, our favorite was Fundamentals of Healthy Aging. This year’s topic of choice at Pomona from Professor Joti Rockwell was entitled Sympathy for the Devil: The Meanings of Fiddle and Guitar Music which addressed fiddle and guitar-oriented music from historical, theoretical, cultural and analytical perspectives. Topics included “Greek mathematical and cosmological foundations for understanding stringed instruments, and the fiddle as a morally questionable instrument!” The Devil’s Box!! Right up my alley.
We get to spend time with our children’s suite-mates and friends. What a sharp group of young adults.
We get to hear talented professors and students perform in various ensembles in some beautiful spaces. Comedy, poetry, jazz and dance ensembles, and improv. Two years ago at Pomona we had a chance to hear fiddler extraordinaire Richard Greene play with Professor Rockwell.
We go to a breakfast where we hear of the work of Pomona’s professors and students, who are having an impact worldwide in so many fields. People such as Poet and Professor Claudia Rankine with her most recent work Citizen;Noah Simon, an alum who was named to Forbes 30 under 30: Young Scientists Who Are Changing the World for his algorithms which are being used to characterize the biology behind Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and various cancers; and Assistant Professor Amanda Hollis-Brusky with her work studying the Federalist Society. At that same breakfast, we engage in a discussion with parents and staff about the importance of standing up and speaking out for the liberal arts, in the face of STEM-only education and the push in some quarters to turn institutes of higher learning into trade schools.
We get to meet and thank adults like swimming coach Jean-Paul Gowdy who have had such a profound influence on our children as they grow into adulthood.
And, because our children go to school on opposite coasts, we go to New England during the height of the fall color season…and we go to Southern California in February!
Haldeman Pool
Did I mention that we hung out around the pool today watching Claire and her teammates train for next weekend’s conference championship? And we were in short sleeves? And shorts? And did I mention that while we were there – in 82º weather – Andrew texted and said it was -14º wind chill in Providence?
Yes, just about the time Candice and I think we are going to pull our hair out because of the weather at home, this little oasis of a trip comes up. And we do love it!
James Terrell art work at Pomona
As we walk through the bucolic campus at Pomona, we keep getting whiffs of the flowers that are all in bloom, and we wonder which plant is calling us over for a closer inspection. The quadrangles, trails, buildings, fountains, art, and plantings work together to form a place of incredible beauty.
Today we have a jazz brunch in a beautiful dining hall that could have come out of a Harry Potter movie. Then we’ll go to the farmers market in the village of Claremont. (Village motto: One of the most wonderful places on earth.) Candice and I will hang out in the 83º sunshine for as long as possible before having an early dinner with Claire and getting ready for our flight home.
I think we’re going to have to come up with some excuse to return next February!
Since our last report on our quest to see the Best Picture, Candice and I have seen three more of this year’s nominees. So let’s get to it.
We walked to our “commercial” theatre (the Regal) in downtown Silver Spring earlier this week to see Selma. This movie has had its share of controversy, from the treatment of Lyndon Johnson in the film, to the snub from the Academy in terms of award nominations. David Oyelowo was excellent as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a performance certainly deserving of a Best Actor nomination. But the film was stilted at times, and uneven.
Selma is not the year’s Best Picture, but it is the most important film of the year. We forget too quickly how difficult it was to attain rights for all, and how much pressure there is, even today, to restrict or even take away those rights. I have members of my extended family who love to wave the Confederate flag, without any understanding of what that really means. I grew up in the South in the 1960s. I remember seeing these scenes on television. I saw first hand how blacks were treated then. It was terrible. In some ways, it is still terrible. We can do better.
Last evening, we returned to the AFI Silver Theatre to see Birdman. Though it took a bit for me to get into this film, once drawn in I very much enjoyed this story of a faded Hollywood actor’s attempt to make it on Broadway. The acting here is terrific, beginning with Michael Keaton as Riggan Thompson (the Birdman), Emma Stone as Riggan’s daughter Sam, and Edward Norton, Jr. as the acclaimed Broadway actor Mike Shiner. (Note: Ed Norton – Edward’s father – is a former colleague.) The chemistry between Stone and Norton is terrific. Naomi Watts as the actress Lesley (and Mike’s former girlfriend) and Zach Galifianakis as Riggan’s lawyer are also wonderful. The long single-camera takes are a great device, and the drumming in the soundtrack sets the tone for the story. While this isn’t my first choice, I could understand – and support – this as the Best Picture winner.
This afternoon, we visited the Union Market redevelopment area of Washington, north of Union Station, to see Boyhoodin the Angelika Pop-up Theatre. This is another excellent movie, but to me it was flawed by being about a half hour too long. Tighter editing would have helped. However, I enjoyed this coming of age story, and thought that the mother – played by Patricia Arquette – was especially good. Much has been made of the filming of this movie over a total of 12 years. I certainly enjoyed watching the characters age, and – with only a few exceptions – become more sympathetic.
We’ve now seen six of the eight nominees. We’re planning on catching Whiplash in a few days, and we’re not going to see American Sniper. (I’ll explain that choice in my next post.)
Here are my rankings of the six we’ve seen to date (and I’ve even changed my order from the last post):
1. The Imitation Game
2. Birdman
3. Grand Budapest Hotel
4. The Theory of Everything
5. Boyhood
6. Selma
And Candice has also weighed in as well. Her rankings are:
As we entered our empty nesting period, Candice and I took the plunge in 2012 and made a pledge to try and see all of the year’s films nominated in the Academy Awards’ “Best Picture” category. We (almost) succeeded – seeing eight of the nine 2012 nominees – and every year since we’ve taken on the same challenge. While we seldom get to all the films (we generally avoid the gratuitously violent ones such as 2013’s Django Unchained), we’ve seen the vast majority and have really enjoyed talking and – in my case – writing about them.
This year there are eight nominees, and as we enter the final month we now have three under our belt. The Grand Budapest Hotel is a wonderful, lush, and very funny film by Wes Anderson, which we saw in March when it was first released. The acting by Ralph Fiennes as the concierge, along with that of the rest of the ensemble, is delicious while the plot is convoluted and crazed. This is a very good film…but not the winner!
On Saturday, we walked to the historic AFI Silver Theatre in downtown Silver Spring to see The Imitation Game. The story of Alan Turing, who helped break the German code in WWII and pioneered the computer in the process, is simply terrific. There is so much to consider when watching this movie. It covers three periods of Turing’s life – his unhappy childhood, his work during the war, and his arrest after the war for his homosexuality. His physical and mental deterioration is such a sad ending for a unique talent. The line that spurs Turing in his youth, he then uses on fellow code-breaker Joan Clarke, and she ultimately uses to encourage him during his last year of life sums up the wonderful message of this movie: “Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.” Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing and Keira Knightley as Clarke are both remarkable. They turn in top-flight, Oscar-worthy performances. Highly recommended, and a great candidate for Best Picture.
Earlier today, we returned to the AFI Silver Theatre to watch The Theory of Everything, about the life of physicist Stephen Hawking and his first wife Jane Hawking. This was another excellent movie, with incredible performances by Eddie Redmayne as Stephen and Felicity Jones as Jane. Hawkings’ diagnosis of motor neuron disease, soon after he meets Jane, sets up the challenges of increasing fame and increasing physical deterioration that drive the movie forward. Both The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game demonstrate that movies without animation and action – and focused on brilliant minds, no less – can still be gripping, powerful, and moving.
Candice didn’t have a favorite between the last two, but I feel that The Imitation Game has more depth and is ultimately more satisfying. So with three down, the completely untrained but joyfully opinionated DJB rankings for Best Picture stand as follows:
1. The Imitation Game
2. The Theory of Everything
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Come back next weekend, as we’ll have at least two others to add to the list.
Banks was playing in the “friendly confines of Wrigley Field” for the first major league baseball game I ever saw in person, against the eventual world-champion St. Louis Cardinals in 1963. The Cubs of my youth were awful. Heck, the Cubs of my entire life (and several other lifetimes) have been pretty much awful. But Banks was eternally optimistic about the club’s chances. As President Obama said when presenting Banks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, Ernie’s cheer and optimism that the Cubs would go all the way was “… serious belief. That is something that even a White Sox fan like me can respect.”
Banks was the original power-hitting shortstop and one of the first African-American stars in the major leagues. If ever there is a case to be made for asterisks in the record book, it is the fact that Banks held the record for most home runs in a season and a career by a shortstop, until they were “broken” (or stolen) by Alex Rodriquez.
I was a Willie Mays fan, but I always loved watching Banks play. Thanks for the memories, Ernie, and the reminder of how infectious optimism can be. Rest in peace, Mr. Cub.
More to come…
DJB
P.S. – The day after I originally posted this, Thomas Boswell had a very thoughtful column about Banks’ impact on his life. Recommended.
Last year I wrote a post saying I was through with the NFL. I even gave 10 reasons. (And yes, Daniel Snyder topped the list and he still holds the top spot after this year’s debacle.) I’ve pretty much kept to my promise.
But to find out today that my least-favorite teams – the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots – will be in the Super Bowl is just perfect. We have the battle of the super-egos (and with these two teams, you can pick multiple candidates). After Seattle won today, I heard Russell Wilson gushing about how God had prepared him for a game like today. I’ve got news for Russell Wilson: God doesn’t give a damn about whether the Seahawks win or lose. Or the Patriots. Or the Nationals, for that matter. (Just to prove that I’m an equal opportunity atheist when it comes to God and sports.) She has much more important things to do.
I think I’ll be watching paint dry or something else more productive come Super Bowl Sunday.
I’ve often said I have one of the best jobs on earth. I work with amazing people to save some of the best places in the country. I get to see some amazing sites. I have the chance to explain why these places matter.
Last Monday was one of those days.
The National Trust designated Nashville’s Music Row as a National Treasure. Nashville is undergoing an amazing transformation, where growth is putting pressure on some of the most important places in the history of country music. When a threat arose last summer, Musician Ben Folds and several other Nashville insiders worked hard to save historic Studio A from demolition. We joined them in this fight and – in the process – expanded our reach to all of Music Row. Knowing of my Tennessee roots and my love for roots and country music, our team asked if I would help launch our campaign. It took me about 3 seconds to say yes.
As you can see above, we had a great turnout from the media and from friends in Nashville. It was a great day professionally and personally. Ben and Mike Kopp of the Music Industry Coalition were incredibly articulate spokesmen for the preservation of Studio A and Music Row – and two very nice guys. Sharon Corbitt-House – who runs Studio A for Ben and Mike – was ready to fight the bulldozers to save this treasure. Aubrey Preston – one of the huge heroes in this saga in that he bought the building at the 11th hour – was already a preservation hero of mine for his work to save the historic Franklin Theatre, where my father had been a projectionist in the 1930s. I had a chance to talk Doc Watson and Gallagher guitars with Congressman Jim Cooper. Heck, I was even in the “Picture of the Week” from the Nashville Business Journal laughing as Ben was taking a photo of the media taking pictures of him.
(Photo credit: Nathan Morgan – Nashville Business Journal)
So, it was another great week in my job. But the threat to Music Row is real – and it isn’t going away. There’s much to be done. I know that my colleagues and I will work hard to help the good folks in Nashville to save this special place. And I hope that my words last Monday will help. Here are my remarks from the press conference last Monday in Studio A after I was introduced by Ben Folds:
Ben Folds has been one of the heroes of the fight to save Studio A – telling the story of this place as persuasively as he tells stories in his music. And he fits into a great tradition.
Singers and songwriters in Nashville have been telling stories of life’s ups and downs for decades. Some of the stories I remember are Sunday Morning Coming Down. He Stopped Loving Her Today. I Fall to Pieces. Jolene – which was recorded in this very space.
Music Row has had its share of ups and downs. But like so many characters in a country song, it survives. It is time we ensure that we tell the story of the place that produced these classics. It is time we ensure that the buildings that made that story possible have a bright future.
So as a native Tennessean who grew up with a deep love for the music of this city, I’m pleased to be with you as we look toward a future for Music Row that fits Nashville’s role as the heart and soul of country music.
We have much to celebrate today – the designation of Music Row as a National Treasure….
The formation of the Music Industry Coalition to help secure a future for this landmark….
And, of course, the fact that we are gathered here in this historically significant studio which was saved from demolition just a few weeks ago.
Although it seemed Studio A was destined to be lost, we can see today the new partnerships that emerged along with the enthusiasm and commitment to plan a future for Music Row that honors its unparalleled place in America’s cultural life.
I am delighted to be here today to officially name Music Row as one the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Treasures.
The National Trust is the nation’s largest private organization dedicated to saving America’s historic places, with more than three-quarters of a million members and supporters.
While the Trust’s awareness of Music Row’s challenges began with the short-term “save the place” campaign for Studio A, the need to address the long-term sustainability of Music Row quickly became apparent.
The challenges for Music Row are different from those we frequently see in our preservation work across the country. In many places we are faced with economic distress and a lack of jobs.
In Nashville, the opposite is true. By 2035, the city will be 20% larger. More than 12 million visitors each year come to experience Music City.
We only have to walk out this door to see the result. Construction is everywhere. Development has begun pushing toward Music Row creating pressures to sell properties to make way for new apartments, condos and hotels.
As residents have watched what is happening, a citywide conversation has emerged: What is the future of Nashville and where is the place for our culture and heritage? Particularly important for all of us here today is the question: Do we want to imagine a Nashville without Music Row? I don’t. It’s the heart and soul of this great city and a national treasure.
In 1954 Owen and Harold Bradley opened the first music business in a Quonset hut on 16th Avenue. For the last 60 years music businesses have worked here in late 19th and early 20th century residences or larger commercial buildings. This eclectic mix of buildings and businesses has created a unique environment – the kind of cultural district that cities across the country are spending millions of dollars to create as part of a creative economy. We have it here in Nashville. Right now!
Through events and activities in the coming months, the National Trust and our partners will continue to increase awareness and appreciation for Music Row’s history, the impact it has on Nashville’s economy and the worldwide recognition Music Row brings for Nashville.
Music Row joins a diverse portfolio of more than 50 places around the country that are threatened and face an uncertain future. These National Treasures include historic buildings, neighborhoods, communities, landscapes, ships, and engineering landmarks.
Our National Treasures campaigns demonstrate the value of preservation by encouraging Americans to take direct action to save places and promote their history and significance. As the Presenting Partner of the National Treasures program, American Express has pledged $2 million to help promote and enable the preservation of these cultural and historic places. The National Trust is mobilizing its more than 60 years of expertise and resources to help protect this place.
Although we know the music came from here, until now the story of Music Row has not been fully told. Nashville’s visitors know the singers and the songs that were recorded here. It is “their” music as well.
All of which bring us back to this building and the studio which holds so much of Music Row’s history. We look forward to working with the Preservation Partners as exciting plans develop to celebrate Studio A’s 50th anniversary and to position the studio for another 50 years as an irreplaceable part of Music Row.
But we will not work alone.
I want to applaud the work that Mike Kopp and the board of The Music Industry Coalition have undertaken in the past six months, bringing together property and business owners, musicians, artists, songwriters and others who will work together to plan and advocate for Music Row.
Historic Nashville, Inc. – with special thanks to Melissa Wyllie and Robbie Jones – held its annual “Nashville Nine” announcement here last September, adding more voices of support to save the studio while they contributed funds to our first project of documenting the history of Music Row. Historic Nashville is the newest official local partner of the National Trust, and we look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.
I want to thank Metro Nashville Historical Commission executive director Tim Walker for his leadership in raising funds for our historical research and documentation project, especially in his work to gain contributions from the newly formed Metro Historical Commission Foundation and our statewide preservation partner, the Tennessee Preservation Trust.
Our thanks also go to Terry Clements, vice president of government and community relations, and Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation for their financial support of the historical research project.
To Gail Danner and the Danner Foundation – thank you for your financial support of our historical research project.
I’d like to recognize Congressman Jim Cooper who is here with us today. Congressman Cooper is a hero to the music industry – thanks to his work to enact new legislation that now allows musicians to carry their instruments onto planes as carry-on luggage. For any of us who have seen our guitars disappear into the bowels of an airplane, we say “thank you!”
Finally, there are four people I would like to recognize individually:
Thank you Mayor Dean for joining us today and for your support and encouragement these last few months as we have all worked together to organize and prepare for today and the work that will come in the months ahead.
Ben Folds for sounding the alarm and making all of us aware of the impending loss of this historically significant building and the importance of planning for Music Row’s future. As he has said, “He was the one with the flashlight” shining it on this special place.
Trey Bruce for organizing a “Save Studio A” campaign that quickly built a network that included over 13,000 Facebook friends and kept the media focus on the studio throughout the summer and early fall.
And especially we say thank you to preservation hero Aubrey Preston for his understanding that this building holds much of Nashville’s music history and for stepping in to save it. We are also excited about the newly formed “Preservation Partners” with Mike Curb and Chuck Elcan joining Aubrey to renovate and revitalize this building.
The National Trust’s designation of Music Row as a National Treasure brings our commitment to demonstrate the value of preservation of this place and to plan for its sustainable future. We have assembled a team with expertise in historic preservation, real estate development, heritage tourism, community engagement and public relations to work with our local partners. Many of you have already met and have been working with our National Trust team, but I will quickly introduce them – Carolyn Brackett, who lives here in Nashville, is our project leader and an indispensable part of this effort. In addition, I want to recognize and thank Alicia Leuba, Grant Stevens and Erica Stewart. You will be seeing a lot more of them.
Four years ago I wrote an op-ed for the Nashville Tennessean, in which I said, “It matters how we build our communities and how we preserve them. When we lose the places that matter to us, we lose more than buildings—we lose the sense of community and the sense of civic pride and responsibility that follows. Being thoughtful stewards of these places is hard work. But it’s a job worth doing. We’re not just hanging on to yesterday, we’re building tomorrow.”
Some of my favorite country music songs – like the ones I mentioned earlier – are tinged with sadness. But that will not be Music Row’s fate. We look forward to working with all of you in the coming months to help forge a happy ending for this national treasure, so its studios and musicians can keep moving us with their stories for decades to come.
MORE TO COME... 