Comments for Jack Neely

Comment on Knoxville in 1990: Remarks Tendered on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Knoxville Museum of Art by tfarris

tfarris — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 21:04:24 +0000

I agree with you Jack. I’ve been in Knoxville since I enrolled at UT in August of 1968, and prior to the opening of the Knoxville Museum of Art I only remember the McClung Museum on campus and the Dulin Gallery of Art on Kingston Pike. The KMA is well located and helps us feel good about our community.

Comment on King’s Alley by jrmontgomery

jrmontgomery — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 17:13:07 +0000

As I read the piece on King’s Alley, I was reminded of all the landmarks, etc. that have been removed and/or paved over in the downtown area in the last 20 years and earlier. I appreciate your digging in to the past to “excavate” some of these almost forgotten places of interest. Thanks. Fascinating story.

Comment on Mr. Huckabee’s Adventures in Bubba-ville by JMGreen

JMGreen — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 17:38:59 +0000

I can remember having Fried Green Tomatoes in MS in the 1950s early 60s. Grits too. Try the Fried Green Tomatoes at Puleo’s they are our favorites other than those we make ourselves. I think fried green tomatoes came about when the vines were about done yet there were still green tomatoes on them. Don’t know this for sure.
I’ve always liked grits. I can remember my grandparents slicing them from the fridge the second day and frying them in homemade sausage grease. They were great with syrup and butter, like pancakes. Calories and Cholesteral were not things we cared or knew about back then.

Comment on Mr. Huckabee’s Adventures in Bubba-ville by phildaulton

phildaulton — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 02:28:59 +0000

My folks were from Pulaski County KY, and like many southerners, went to the Rust Belt in the 50’s to find work. We raised a garden as a part of our hardscrabble existence. Mom fixed fried green tomatoes during tomato season back then. This would have been sometime around 1958 to 1962. I was just a little guy back then, so I have no idea where Mom would have picked up on this dish. She’s gone now, so I can’t ask her.

Comment on Mad Pilgrimage: the new biography of Tennessee Williams, and the unfinished project of Lyle Leverich by riverdame

riverdame — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 16:29:08 +0000

My grandmother knew Miss Ella very well. Tom often visited with his sister in the summers and Miss Ella would take rooms in the Elkmont clubhouse. I once had occasion to chat with Mr. Williams in New York and I mentioned that I was from Knoxville and Elkmont. “Why, I learned how to swim in the Elkmont pool!”, he said. His love of swimming, and especially in cold water, lasted all his life. He then said, wistfully, “I suppose it is all gone now”, and at that time I was able to reply, “No, Mr. Williams, Elkmont is still pretty much just the way you remember it.” This seemed to please him enormously. Sad that it is no longer true.

Comment on Obama’s Knoxville Visit by pvwright

pvwright — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 00:44:58 +0000

Mr. Obama does have a Knoxville connection. His great-great-great-great grandfather (and mine) Obadiah Wright was married in Knoxville in 1812. The bride was Malinda Jones, whose father was a Methodist minister in Knoxville and owned a farmstead where (or very close to where) Neyland stadium now stands.

Comment on Obama’s Knoxville Visit by RDanielProctor

RDanielProctor — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 04:24:12 +0000

I believe that Monroe made a tour of the Deep South (Ga., Ala., Tenn., et al) about 1819. Don’t think he visited Knoxville, but he did travel, and by horseback at times.

Comment on Contact by DavidLauver

DavidLauver — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 22:49:42 +0000

Jack–I enjoyed your column on presidential visits. You’d mentioned talk of a Truman visit. While you may not have counted it because he was two years out of office, I was thinking about former President Harry Truman being the headliner at Cosby’s Ramp Festival in 1955. Since his plane landed at McGhee Tyson, we may be able to check the box on that alone (maybe more depending on his route to the mountains.) The planners also had invited former President Herbert Hoover to attend the following year, but he reportedly declined because of heath issues. Maybe he was uneasy about the prospect of eating a ramp–especially since Truman was quoted as saying, “the only way you’ll ever get me to eat one of those things is to hog tie me and cram it down my throat.”

Comment on What We’ve Been Up To by Carol Goans

Carol Goans — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 18:12:00 +0000

I’ll be following!!!

Comment on Gideon Fryer, 1921-2014 by tfarris

tfarris — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 02:08:07 +0000

Thanks for your gift of words about Gid. He was a remarkable person.