Southern Bookman

Farewell, Arby’s, a Buckhead landmark

After years serving Jamoica shakes, roast beef sandwiches and curly fries, the North Buckhead Arby’s is shuttered.

The restaurant at the corner of Roswell and Wieuca lies dark, its express lane empty of cars. Sheared of its brand name, the sign out front starkly says “closed” in black letters.

I liked the Arby’s better than the nearby McDonald’s. The now vacant space is a few blocks from my home. For years, I ate lunch there, ringing a large bell at the door when I left to indicate I’d enjoyed my meal. I delighted at the fast-food workers’ expressions of joy.

A few years ago, I decided to give up Jamoica shakes and turkey clubs with bacon. It wasn’t so hard, although I did miss the special Arby’s sauce.

Another restaurant probably will take over the location, perhaps even another Arby’s.

Yet part of my past will be gone.

Farewell Chris Kayser, guiding light of Atlanta theater

Chris Kayser devoted himself to Atlanta’s theater in an astonishing range of unforgettable performances, gracing the city’s stages for more than 40 years.

A beloved performer in classical and contemporary plays for a variety of Atlanta theater companies and a supportive colleague and mentor, Kayser died Dec. 3 at his Decatur home from prostate cancer.

Kayser uplifted the Christmas spirit of Alliance Theater audiences, portraying Charles Dickens’ redeemed miser Ebenezer Scrooge in 16 annual productions of “A Christmas Carol.”

As a leading member of the late, lamented Georgia Shakespeare Co. for 25 years, Kayser played Skakespeare clowns with Elizabethan comic flair. 

Displaying physical grace and an affinity for Shakespeare’s language, he also gave in-depth performances in leading roles from comedies to tragedies.

Achieving a late-career triumph in the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern’s production of “King Lear,” he explored the personality complexities of Shakespeare’s most challenging character.

A frequent presence at the Alliance and Academy theaters, Kayser showed his unique talent in contemporary plays such as “Angels in America” and “Quills.” 

Like other great actors, Kayser fully possessed his characters while maintaining his personality.

Atlanta’s audiences loved him, and he loved them in return.

 

 

 

Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” glows with John Lennon’s artistry

The Beatles’ Rubber Soul marked a turning point in their career.

Released in December 1965 following the band’s triumphant American tour, the album raised their artistry to a higher level.

Returning to the album recently, I especially marveled at John Lennon’s “Norwegian Wood,” “Girl” and “ In My Life.”

To me, Lennon’s songs display a deeper lyrical sophistication than Paul McCartney’s lovely and more pop-oriented “Michelle.”

Lennon’s work evokes Renaissance and Romantic poetry, updated to a modern sensibility.

Influenced by the California folk-rock melodies of the Byrds, Bob Dylan’s wordplay and Smokey Robinson’s Motown harmonies, the Beatles exceeded them with their landmark masterpiece, anticipating “Revolver,” “Sgt. Pepper” and “The White Album.”

I listened again to “Rubber Soul” a few days before the 44th anniversary of Lennon’s slaying.

His songs more than any others defined my generation.

 

 

 

Dreams of career as Gettysburg Battlefield guide

Like many Civil War buffs, I envision my dream job as a Gettysburg battlefield guide.

For the first time in seven years, the National Park Service has openings for the coveted positions conducting tours of the massive site in Pennsylvania where the Union army won a decisive victory over Robert E. Lee’s troops in the summer of 1863.

Those wishing to join the proud company of 150 licensed guides must pass a grueling four-part test known as one of the toughest in the world.

The exam begins Saturday, according to a Wall Street Journal article. Successful applicants must know an encyclopedic amount of arcane facts about the complex four-day battle as well as overall strategy and major developments.

Those taking the test undergo intensive study, the WSJ reported. Along with battle details, they must know preliminary causes and the aftermath’s significance to the Civil War’s conclusion.

I like to imagine that I could answer obscure questions about Cemetery Ridge, Little Round Top and Pickett’s Charge.

The battle lives in my memory from books and visits to the hallowed site.

 

Library a snapshot of American economy

The computer banks stay busy at the Sandy Springs library.

Those staring at the computer screens and typing on the keyboards work with purpose, many of them undoubtedly aspiring for better lives.

Perhaps they’re searching for jobs, or merely answering emails. Some may operate small businesses. Others probably conduct genealogical research or pursue hobbies.

In contrast, the bookshelves are almost empty. While the computer workers are young, the few people who search for new books are mostly over 60.

More and more, libraries are the graveyards of book culture.

A member of the dying book-reading generation, I wish the best for the younger people working so intently at their computers.

Farewell Lance Morrow, acclaimed Time and Wall Street Journal essayist

I looked forward to Lance Morrow’s essays in the Wall Street Journal.

A perceptive conservative, Morrow surveyed the American scene with wit, civility and deep historical knowledge.

For several weeks, I’d been wondering when a new Morrow meditation would appear on the WSJ op-ed page.

I was surprised and saddened to learn in a WSJ tribute that the 85-year-old Morrow died Nov. 29 at his home in upstate New York.

A distinguished writer for Time magazine in the Luce publication’s last glory years, Morrow wrote several acclaimed books, including “The Noise of Typewriters,” a captivating memoir of his journalism career.

The son of reporters, Morrow grew up in Washington, D.C., raised in the political atmosphere of the nation’s capital.

Like other well-known journalists, he began his career at the Washington Star, once the district’s dominant newspaper before succumbing to changing demographics.

In “The Noise of Typewriters,” Morrow mourned the similar decline of Time, the weekly news magazine once delivered to a large majority of American homes. 

Their influence dimmed, Time and other formerly dominant magazines and newspapers soldier on in the digital age.

Finding a home at the still vital Wall Street Journal, Morrow kept setting a standard as one of America’s most elegant writers.

 

 

 

 

 

Memories of Thanksgivings past

Thanksgiving brings memories of years past.

I think of friends and loved ones no longer here, their faces and voices, smiles and laughter.

Thanksgivings in Baton Rouge, Manhattan and Brooklyn, Charlotte, Nashville and Columbus, Ohio. And gatherings at home in Atlanta.

An impromptu family banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

Walking through snowflakes in the cold past Radio City Music Hall to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Discovering a collection of Chesterton essays on the bookshelf of an Air Bnb in Nashville’s 12 South.

Playing golf with my father at Sherwood Forest, parring six straight holes.

Watching the Detroit Lions of George Plimpton and Alex Karras beat Vince Lombardi’s previously undefeated Green Bay Packers.

My grandmother’s cornbread dressing,

A night at Immaculate Conception, serving a meal to the homeless and hearing their stories, especially those of an elegantly dressed Vietnam veteran.

With the men sleeping in their cots laid out across the floor, lying down in early morning besides the tomb of the priest who persuaded Sherman to spare the church from burning.

That historical echo: the U.S. Army in Atlanta and Vietnam.

Special thanks to my Southern Bookman readers, especially Joan.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

George Will marks 50 years as columnist

George Will, celebrating his 50th anniversary as a newspaper columnist, saluted readers of “op-ed” opinion pieces.

Will, a lauded columnist for The Washington Post, has gained national recognition through his syndicated pieces running in local newspapers and as a TV commentator.

Honoring his achievement, the Post is publishing tributes to Will.

A 1970s innovation of The New York Times’ Harrison Salisbury, the page opposite the traditional editorial page gave space to in-house writers like Will as well as opinion writers from academia and elsewhere.

The 83-year-old Will, a noted baseball scholar who wears bowties and elegant suits and seeks to write classic 19th century English, pointed out in his anniversary reflections Tuesday that an op-ed columnist should engage readers with interesting facts.

A conservative in the tradition of William F. Buckley, Will cited the illustrious New York columnist Murray Kempton, a Will hero although he was a liberal.

Will drolly observed that fewer people read newspapers and even fewer op-ed columns.

No longer prevalent on Sunday TV political shows, Will soldiers on, a remnant of traditional conservatism almost obliterated by Trumpism.

He’s a lonely but essential voice of civility, culture and baseball.

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address lives on after 161 years

President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address on a bright November day 161 years ago.

On Nov. 19, a crowd gathered at the Gettysburg National Cemetery to mark the anniversary of Lincoln’s brief speech, in which he honored those killed in the Civil War battle a few months before.

Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer at the end of the reenactment read Lincoln’s remarks that rededicated the union to freedom and equality for all citizens.

Before speaking the Civil War president’s words, Holzer expressed dismay that an authoritarian, disruptive president-elect now leads the party Lincoln guided to victory, ending slavery. 

In a stirring article that brought back the glories of classic newspaper writing, The New York Times’ Dan Barry captured the solemn majesty of the 161st anniversary reenactment.

Asserting their faith in the promise of America, a group of immigrants from different backgrounds joined a ceremony to become American citizens, Barry reported.

A month before Lincoln’s immortal address at the battlefield, the careworn president issued his first proclamation declaring a national holiday of Thanksgiving.

Once again, we gather together this week to express thanks for our blessings and rededicate ourselves to Lincoln’s more perfect union.

 

 

 

Remembering John F. Kennedy on anniversary of his assassination

The world changed on this day in 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas.

Kennedy’s death began a turbulent decade of civil rights progress, assassinations, generational conflict over America’s deepening involvement in the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution and exhilarating creative freedom in movies, books and art,

In the 61 years since the dynamic young president’s shattering murder, the country has swerved from right to left many times.

Now a destructive and cynical administration lurches forward, the antithesis of the progressive values that Kennedy exemplified.

His legacy lives on. The torch will be passed to new generations.