Southern Bookman

Farewell Mark Bradley, Chip Towers and other favorite writers

This has been a season of farewells.

New Year’s Eve dawned with the goodbye columns of former AJC colleagues Chip Towers and Mark Bradley.

Chip covered UGA sports, especially the Dawgs’ championship football teams, with knowledge and flair. 

Along with insightful news stories and features on games and players, Chip didn’t flinch from writing hard-hitting news stories about aTyler’s involved in unlawful behavior. A proud grad of UGA’s Grady School of Journalism, Chip always played it straight while conveying the Dawgs’ special spirit.

Bradley in 40 years at the AJC covered the full gamut of Atlanta sports, chronicling the ups and downs of the Braves, Hawks, Falcons, Dawgs, Yellow Jackets and Panthers.

A Kentucky grad, he had an affinity for SEC sports, especially basketball. Some of his best work came from writing about the Braves.

Through the years, he kept growing as a columnist, drawing upon his deep well of sports knowledge and perfecting an easygoing, witty style that gave the impression that he was your next-door neighbor giving you an insider view.

Mark joins Furman Bisher, Lewis Grizzard and Steve Hummer as AJC legends.

Other recent departures include New Work Times columnist Paul Krugman, Times science reporter Dennis Overbye, Garden and Gun columnist Roy Blount and New Orleans Times-Picayune and Gambit political writer Clancy Dubos.

When I drink my cup of kindness tonight, I’ll remember these favorite writers for their reporting, entertainment and love for the language.

 

Austin Butler’s Elvis and Timothee Chalamet’s Dylan

Austin Butler’s Elvis and Timothee Chalamet’s Bob Dylan would make an instructive double feature.

Both young actors delivered impressive performances as world-changing musical superstars.

Butler in the 2002 film “Elvis” portrayed a more complex character than Chalamet’s Dylan in the recently released “A Complete Unknown.”

Elvis was a tragic figure destroyed by fame while Dylan during his long career has found success by shifting to new directions.

In his Academy Award-nominated performance, Butler portrays Elvis from his rise to stardom to his sad last years embalmed in Las Vegas.

Chalamet depicts Dylan at the start of his career, rising to repeated triumphs rather than finding tragedy. A few boos and heckling at Newport lacks the pathos of Elvis’ long decline.

Yet Chalamet also deserves Academy Awards recognition for capturing Dylan’s moody, self-absorbed, wounded and poetic personality.

Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan displayed the kaleidoscope of American fame.

Both paid homage to the black blues musicians of the Mississippi Delta. Presley and Dylan were hailed as voices of their respective generations.

Elvis was primarily a performer, while Dylan was also acclaimed as a poet and songwriter, winning the Noble Prize for literature.

Butler and Chalamet reveal the inner depths of Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan, and how they expressed the spirit of their times.

Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and Beatles shared same roots

I’m riding a time capsule back to the 1960s and the era’s cosmic explosion of rock and roll,

Along with viewing the captivating Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” I’m reading Christmas presents “1964: Eyes of the Storm” and “Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley.”

Paul McCartney’s “1964: Eyes of the Storm” is a collection of McCartney’s photos from the Beatles’ tours to London, Paris, New York City and Miami during the heady rise of Beatlemania.

The young Liverpool singer, bass player and songwriter known as the cute Beatle snapped the pictures from hotel rooms, trains, airplanes and cars, capturing screaming teenage girls, city streets, policemen, airplane mechanics, railway workers, other entertainers and bandmates John, George and Ringo, manager Brian Epstein and various assistants, wives and girlfriends.

It’s still shocking to rediscover that the Beatles’ first burst of popularity came a few weeks before John F. Kennedy’s assassination and they made their first trip to the United States a month after the president’s slaying.

The Beatles gave a burst of light to the still grieving nation. Seeing America as the beacon of freedom, artistic creativity and prosperity, the Liverpool kids thrust into global stardom were dismayed at the persistence of segregation and the sight of police armed with guns.

McCartney’s photo album corresponds to the same time as “A Complete Unknown,” in which Timothy Chalamet brilliantly portrays the young Bob Dylan, whose rise to fame matched the Beatles’. 

The film depicts Dylan’s progress from folk prophet to rock star, with a fictionalized account of Dylan scandalizing folk purists by performing rock songs with electronic instruments at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. I’ll give a more in-depth review of the film in a future edition of Southern Bookman.

Barely touched upon in the movie is the Beatles’ influence over Dylan’s evolution.

Not shown in the film, Dylan was amazed at the Beatles’ musicality when he first heard “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The recording, with its vibrant harmonies and infectious chord changes, galvanized Dylan to move from folk anthems to raucous rock.

Peter Guralnick’s “Last Train to Memphis” traces Elvis Presley’s ascent from obscure poverty to stardom, a prototype for Dylan and the Beatles.

Presley glowed as a superhero for McCartney and John Lennon. As poignantly portrayed in “A Complete Unknown,” Woody Guthrie served the same role for Dylan.

The film slights Presley’s influence over Dylan, but cites Little Richard, Hank Williams and Leadbelly.

Guralnick records black artists’ tremendous influence over Presley, along with white country stars like Williams and Red Foley.

Like their hero Elvis, the Beatles sought to match the authenticity of black bluesmen. They also echoed the neo-country sounds of the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holley and the Crickets.

”A Complete Unknown,” “Eyes of the Storm” and “Last Train to Memphis” are chapters of the same story.

The holy trinity transformed American blues, jazz, country and rockabilly into new, world-changing music.

 

 

Judy Garland’s classic performance of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

Judy Garland’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” melted American hearts in 1944, offering a nostalgic morale booster for the World War II-weary nation.

Like Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas,” Garland’s wistful performance raised the spirits of American soldiers and the home front.

Garland sings the song to fellow MGM child star Margaret O’Brien in the movie “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

Then 22, Garland portrays the vivacious Esther Smith. O’Brien is her much younger sister, Tootie, nearly the same age as Garland’s Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.”  

The movie’s set in St. Louis during the 1904 World’s Fair. Esther and her sister are despondent over the family’s impending move from their beloved St. Louis to New York City for their father’s new job.

Garland’s performance blends melancholy with hope for the future, expressing the national mood as the war stretched on.

The song originally had a much more pessimistic message, as detailed in a New York Times article Sunday.

At Garland’s insistence, lyricist Hugh Martin changed the words to “from now on our troubles will be out of sight” instead of “this Christmas may be our last.”

Later, Frank Sinatra asked for another rewrite before recording “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

At Sinatra’s request, Martin changed “we’ll muddle through somehow” to “hang a shining star on the highest bough.”

That expressed the country’s 1960s optimism, when Christmas turned increasingly materialistic and the baby boom generation found a bounty of toys beneath garishly decorated trees.

In contrast, the nation during World War II coped with product shortages and the rising death toll.

Garland’s rendition reflected the mounting sacrifices at the end of the war and the desire to bring the soldiers home.

 

 

 

 

Water supplies under duress

The United States won’t run out of oil, but water is a different story.

Urgent action must be taken to save groundwater aquifers from rapid depletion, the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology warned in a recent report.

In Georgia, the Hyundai Corp. seeks to use millions of gallons of water each day for its massive electric vehicle factory near Savannah.

The company wants to draw supplies from the ancient Florida Aquifer. Farmers and homeowners fear the company’s water demands will dry up their wells.

As climate change worsens, battles over water will accelerate.

Rivers and lakes are receding as droughts worsen, and salt water intrusion threatens fresh water. 

Human life depends on water, which must be preserved for future generations.

 

 

Cop City almost finished despite protests

Atlanta’s police and fire training center will soon start operating near a forest in South DeKalb County.

After global media exposure and intense protests against the facility derisively branded as Cop City, the site’s imminent opening has received little attention.

The training center comprises a fire tower and a mini-village of shops and buildings where firefighters and police can simulate real world situations, according to AJC reporter Riley Branch’s story this week about a media tour of the facility.

Work is almost complete at the site, which will begin training police officers and firefighters early next year.

Police will learn how to handle hostage situations, carry out confrontations with suspects and how to safely conduct high-speed chases. They’ll even practice driving on wet roads without skidding.

The city of Atlanta, spending much more than initially allocated, rushed to finish construction, defying a petition, court challenges and vehement public opposition.

Environmentalists camped out for months in an effort to stop the construction, which they claimed would irrevocably damage the forest and a pristine creek.

After vandalism of equipment, mass arrests of protesters and the police killing of a young environmentalist camping out in the forest with other non-violent resisters, the training center is a fait accompli.

Perhaps the opponents will attempt to sabotage the site or take further legal action to try to halt operations.

For now, Cop City will be open for business.

 

Rereading Christmas favorites

Our Christmas tree lit and decorated, I’ll turn my attention to re-reading holiday favorites.

Once again, I’ll shed a tear or two at Della and Jim’s sacrifices for each other in O’Henry’s “The Gifts of the Magi,” published in 1905 in the New York World’s sumptuous Sunday newspaper.

At a special time of quiet on Christmas Eve, I’ll revisit Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” published 181 years ago Thursday in London.

For New Year’s, I’ll again attend Kate and Julia Morkan’s annual Dublin dinner party in James Joyce’s “The Dead,” the concluding story in his masterful collection “The Dubliners,” published in 1914.

After all of these years, the characters are old friends. Yet I always find something new.

The works share evocative language, memorable characters and affirmations of love and family.

Once again, Della will cut off her beautiful hair to buy Jim his watch. He will sell his watch bobs to give her combs.

Gabriel Conroy will hear about his wife Gretta’s lost love, then watch the snow fall as she sleeps.

The reformed Mr. Scrooge will surprise the Bob Cratchit family with a festive Christmas Day visit.

Tiny Tim will say “God bless us everyone.”

 

Reading Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”

Lorraine Hansberry’s characters rose to their full dramatic power when I recently read her landmark play “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Like other  great dramas, “A Raisin in the Sun” succeeds as literature on the page as well as a play acted onstage.

Hansberry’s dialogue is a bit flat when read, yet the narrative momentum builds to the end.

Set in a cramped, dilapidated apartment in a Chicago ghetto, the play examines a struggling black family’s quest for a better life.

Walter Younger, portrayed by Sidney Poitier on Broadway and in a 1961 film, works as a chauffeur and dreams of extravagant business ventures.

Overcoming his anger, frustrations and economic disappointments, Walter finds fulfillment at last.

His mother, Lena, his wife, Ruth, sister, Beneathea, and young son, Travis, orbit around him with fondness, exasperation and weariness.

The family’s humor, resilience and enduring love for each other deliver an enthralling reading experience.

Hansberry’s premature death cut short the career of a major talent. Her “A Raisin in the Sun” will endure as an American masterpiece.

 

Remembering American soldiers’ valor on Battle of the Bulge’s 80th anniversary

The heroism and perseverance of common American soldiers prevailed to turn back Hitler’s last desperate gamble to win World War II.

German forces launched a surprise attack on unprepared Allied troops on Dec. 16, 1944, beginning the Battle of the Bulge, the bloodiest American campaign of the war.

Named for the German army’s initial bulging gains of territory, the attack left young American soldiers in a desperate position.

Thousands died in the frigid Ardennes forest between Belgium and Luxembourg, many frozen to death.

Denied the use of superior air power because of bad weather, the Americans, many not yet 20, valiantly fought back against the German tank battalions.

In a famous vignette, American Gen. Anthony McAuliffe defiantly answered “nuts” to German demands that his 101st Airborne surrender the strategic village of Bastogne.

Once the weather improved, Gen. George Patton’s tank units reached Bastogne. The allies didn’t completely defeat the Germans until Jan. 25, 1945.

On the battle’s 80th anniversary, I remember Marion Bahlinger, my family’s longtime neighbor in Baton Rouge, my hometown.

Mr. Bahlinger, who died this year in his late 90s, was captured during the battle and spent several months in a German prison camp.

One of my father’s brothers, my Uncle Irving, was briefly held prisoner, escaping after the battle.

The Battle of the Bulge has been analyzed by noted historians John Toland, Antony Beevor, Rick Atkinson and Stephen Sears, receiving nearly as much attention as D-Day and Pearl Harbor.

Germany’s attack gave Americans an anxious Christmas season following steady advances across France after D-Day.

The ultimate sacrifice of American soldiers defeated Hitler at last.

 

Favorite holiday songs boost Christmas spirit

Each year I greet favorite Christmas songs like old friends.

Several of my regular satellite radio channels have switched to holiday music, which also fills stores.

I marked the start of the season with the first song I heard right after Thanksgiving, “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” by Dean Martin.

Each time I listen to a recording by old Dino, I think he was underrated. 

Perhaps because of his careless, love-to-party act, Martin’s considered inferior to his Las Vegas pal Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby and other acclaimed singers.

Yet Martin’s recordings also exhibit artistic discipline, an expressive, supple voice and imaginative interpretation of lyrics.

This season, I’ve also been delighted by Martin’s cover of “Winter Wonderland,” which I’ve heard several times by different artists.

Most of my favorite Christmas songs date to the 1940s and 1950s, an optimistic time of romance reflected in holiday love songs.

I also love later Christmas songs such as the Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride” and Willie Nelson’s “Pretty Paper.”

Hearing Ronnie Spector’s charming Washington Heights accent delivering “Sleigh Ride’s” romantic words always melts my heart.

And Roy Orbison and Randy Travis’ covers of “Pretty Paper” heighten the poignance of Nelson’s story about a disabled man trying to sell holiday knick-nacks on a busy downtown street as uncaring crowds rush by.

The song rivals Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” in its reminder for us to pause and care for others.

During the holidays, I also try to play Christmas songs on my old piano. Perhaps this year I’ll master at last Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmastime Is Here.”