Bill's Blog
BLACK-EYED PEAS COVERED WITH HOPE
On Friday, I will do what I do every year on New Year’s Day. I will eat a large serving of black-eyed peas while I watch football games on TV.
I am a southerner and superstitious. Accordingly, I firmly believe that beginning a New Year with a bowl of black-eyed peas can bring good luck. And do we need a large serving of luck in 2021!
AS I ZOOM THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS IN 2020, HERE IS WHAT I'M GRATEFUL FOR
During these silent nights, I will be dreaming of Christmases yet to come after the advent of vaccines and the epiphany that the pandemic has passed.
SAYING GOODBYE TO MY FRIEND WHO HAD ALL THE ANSWERS
Last weekend I lost a very close friend. I never met him. I never even had a conversation with him. But he came into my home every weeknight for over 35 years for a half hour long visit.
REMEMBERING JUDGE PAMELA REEVES
On September 10, 2020, Judge Pamela Reeves lost a long and courageous battle with cancer.
We lost her too soon, but she left us a legacy of law and grace.
MY FAMILY HISTORY OF VOTER FRAUD, AND WHAT IT TAUGHT ME
I cast my first vote for President in 1956. I voted for Adlai Stevenson even though I could not read his name on the ballot as I was only four years old.
I cast my next vote for President in 1960 when I was eight. I voted for John F. Kennedy.
In 1964, at the age of 12, I voted for Lyndon Johnson.
Clearly, I was a young Democrat. A very young Democrat.
CORNBREAD, BOURBON, AND A ROUND OF GOLF
SOUTH PITTSBURG, TENNESSEE – This pretty little town (population 3,018) about 20 miles west of Chattanooga, is not Rocky Top. But you can get corn from a jar here. You can also get a slice of cornbread and a round of golf, maybe even with Peyton Manning.
HOW THREE MEN, THE 'SUFFRAGENTS,' WERE PIVOTAL TO ENACTING WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE
In 1920, Tennessee House members Joseph Hanover, Banks Turner and Harry T. Burn helped pass the 19th Amendment despite powerful opposition.
THE FAKE CROWD GOES WILD!
Major League Baseball returns next week. The Boys of Summer will be the boys of half a summer in a 60-game season condensed by the pandemic. They will play in empty ballparks. There will be no spitting, and it may be that it won’t be just the catchers who will be wearing masks.
WATCHING KOREAN BASEBALL UNTIL MY CARDINALS FLY HOME
I can tell you exactly where I was when I fell in love with baseball. Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.
It was the summer of 1960, and I was just 8 years old. My father took me to St. Louis to see the Cardinals play the Milwaukee Braves. Dad taught me that day how to keep a score card, something all real baseball fans do.
REMEMBERING JOHNNY MAJORS
On a cold November day in 1956, I attended my first college football game. I saw the Tennessee Volunteers defeat the Kentucky Wildcats 20-7 at Shields Watkins Field on the campus of the University of Tennessee.
THE CRUSADE: WHEN BILLY GRAHAM BROUGHT RICHARD NIXON TO KNOXVILLE
Reliving Billy Graham's 1970 East Tennessee Crusade at Neyland Stadium, featuring the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon.
REMEMBERING EDDIE HASKELL
When I was a child growing up in the 1950s, I watched a lot of TV. Too much, in fact, but my parents let me watch TV every night so long as I finished my homework first.
My favorite TV show was then and remains now Leave It To Beaver, the adventures of Beaver Cleaver, his brother Wally, and his parents Ward and June.
THE POWER OF A HAND-WRITTEN LETTER DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
A hand-written letter or note is a powerful means of communication.
EASTER, THEN AND NOW
One of my prize possessions is a photograph of my father and mother and me that was taken on Easter Sunday, 1956. I was 4 years old.
Mom and Dad and I are standing in our driveway by our Ford Fairlane about to head to church. Dad is wearing his navy blue preacher’s suit that he wore every Sunday. He is clutching his Bible in his right hand.
WILL THE NEW SOCIAL DISTANCING BRING US CLOSER TOGETHER?
Just a few weeks ago, most Americans had never heard the term “social distance.” Now we are told we must practice it. Until the Coronavirus curve is flattened, we must stay at home. The offices are closed. The schools are closed. Even the church doors are shuttered. We are to work from home, homeschool the kids, and stay in our houses and apartments except for occasional scavenger hunts for groceries and toilet paper.
SOMETHING IN THE AIR
JUPITER, FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 22–In his wonderful book, “Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend,” James Hirsch frequently quotes the “Say Hey” kid saying something other than “Hey!” “There’s something in the air, “ a beaming Willie would say each February at the start of Spring Training.
Your Resolution to Stay Slim Might be At Risk Once Girl Scout Cookie Season Begins
This column was published in the January 31, 2020 edition of the Tennessean, and is republished with the permission of the Tennessean.