In the morning last Saturday, I witnessed scores of volunteers of all races come together in a huge event to help the less fortunate — also of all races.
In the afternoon, I stood on Market Square and watched hate mongers shout “White Power!” while surrounded by police and counter-protesters.
The contrast could not have been more [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville, Politics | 3 Comments »

I don’t know why I was worried, but I was. I guess it’s because I’ve seen the electorate do so many wrong-headed things (as they did in at least one case in Knox County last night — but that’s not my story here).
A group of us braved literally blinding rain storms and — after stops at several [...]

Filed under: Events, Knoxville, Politics | 13 Comments »

Some of us (including me!) shook President Obama’s hand.
We cried when national treasure, poet Maya Angelou, recited a poem about slavery and black history with rapper Common.
We were astounded to see the media crush around Congressman Charles Rangel, who sat at a table next to us at lunch the day before a House ethics committee announced 13 charges against him.
We [...]

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Wow! I love our nation’s capital!
Alan and I spent last week in Washington, D.C., with our friends Phyllis and Jim Nichols and Peyton Hairston. The purpose of the trip was to attend a National Urban League convention (which I’ll write about in the next blog post), but during the course of a week in such [...]

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There was so much material this year that the annual Front Page Follies show was bound to be funny! Held Saturday at the Knoxville Convention Center, it did not disappoint.
The Follies show is the annual performance by area journalists and PR folks to raise funds for communications scholarships and poke fun at area newsmakers in the [...]

Filed under: Events, Journalism, Knoxville, Media, Music, Politics, Public Relations, UT sports | 2 Comments »

Last night was the second annual “Peeling, Eating and Politicking” event sponsored by the Knoxville Chamber. Things worked out much better this year.

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Who doesn’t love a trivia quiz? Especially when there are prizes involved!
Last week, as part of the 30th anniversary celebration of the Executive Women’s Association, members Dawn Ford and Jeannie Dulaney challenged us to a trivia quiz about the history of women in Knoxville. Prizes? Susan B. Anthony dollars: one for each correct answer and [...]

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In 1985, I was assigned to write a series of articles for The Knoxville Journal about women in power in Knoxville. The conclusion of the series, which was called “Silent Majority: A Woman’s Voice in Knoxville,” was that women were not at all powerful in Knoxville.
There had never been a woman mayor, UT President or [...]

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I knew the Knox Heritage Patrons’ Luncheon at the Lyons View Pike home of Kreis and Sandy Beall on Saturday would be lovely. But I didn’t know it would be quite so interesting! Here’s what I heard in the hour-and-a-half I was there:

Dorothy Stair’s vision is that East Tennessee become known as “the Tuscany of [...]

Filed under: Events, Historic preservation, Knoxville, Politics | 1 Comment »

Take a breathtakingly beautiful day.
Add a fantastic house on the water and charming hosts.
Stir in a little good music and a heaping helping of fabulous food. 
Top with an articulate, affable candidate and a very SHORT speech.

And voila! At more than 300 people at $125 each, you’ve raised yourself some money! And you’ve shown everyone a good time in [...]

Filed under: Events, Knoxville, Politics | No Comments »