NATASHA THRETHEWEY AT AJC DECATUR BOOK FESTIVAL

America’s Poet Laurete is Keynote Speaker

By Doc Lawrence

 

DECATUR, GA—This is the little city that could and did. Literally surrounded by Atlanta, it is one of the country’s most livable and enlightened towns, totally urban, full of academics and brimming with rather good restaurants. It’s the Labor Day weekend home of the wildly popular AJC Decatur Book Festival, the largest community supported, independent book festival in the nation. The festival is run by a small, non-profit organization that operates the event in trust for the general public, who are, according to festival managers, the actual owners.

This year’s festival keynote speaker is Natasha Trethewey, the new U.S. Poet Laureate who will deliver her address at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts at Emory University. Rumor has it that she will introduce her newest collection of poems, Thrall, to the standing room only audience. Ms.Trethewey received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 and is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory, and is also the Poet Laureate of Mississippi, her native state.

On a cold winter morning not long ago at Emory, I sat in a class led by the engaging professor as she talked about growing up in the Deep South, the child of a racially mixed marriage, the murder of her mother and that tumultuous day when the student killings at Virginia Tech occurred just before she learned of her Pulitzer award. Her daughter, unharmed she later learned, was a student at Virginia Tech. I asked Ms Trethewey while she was inscribing my copy of her 2006 collection, Native Guard, where she wanted to live during her final days. “Mississippi,” she replied with a smile. “It will always be my home.”

Decatur, with its romantic courthouse in the middle of everything nice, is home to Agnes Scott College, a close neighbor to Emory University, the childhood home of humorist Roy Blount, Jr. and has emerged as one of the most popular places for fine dining in the Atlanta region. Try Café Alsace on Ponce de Leon just off the square if you yearn for some authentic French cuisine with a bottle of wine from Burgundy.

Launched in 2006, the festival brings more than 300 authors to Decatur for the holiday weekend, attracting crowds estimated to be beyond 40,000. The authors give readings, talks, and panel discussions. The event is free and open to the public. www.decaturbookfestival.com

MOVIE MAKING IN STONE MOUNTAIN

“GRANTHAM AND ROSE” FILMING BRINGS BIG STARS TO GEORGIA

By Doc Lawrence



Dr. George Coletti with Actress Marla Gibbs



STONE MOUNTAIN, GA--Stone Mountain, the giant monolith forever remembered as part of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech and one of the most popular parks in America, can now add another triumph to its trophy chest. The area is a major part of a highly-anticipated movie, “Grantham and Rose,” now being filmed here and a prominent couple Susan and George Coletti extended a taste of true Southern hospitality to the cast, director and producers at their historic home that literally sits in the shadow of the mighty mountain.

With actress legend Marla Gibbs and young superstar Jake T. Austin in their 1820’s-era home, joined by the movie cast and production staff, Dr. Coletti, author of the acclaimed Civil War historical novel, “Stone Mountain: The Granite Sentinel” and wife Susan, a Stone Mountain city councilwoman, served an old-fashioned Low Country Boil accompanied by fine wines from France, Italy, Spain and the United States.

Marla Gibbs, famous for her dry wit, soared to stardom in the feisty maid role on the popular ground-breaking CBS comedy "The Jeffersons," is cast opposite Jake T. Austin in "Grantham and Rose." The 17-year-old star portrays a young man struggling to find his way as an adult in New York City when a petty crime thrusts him into the company of a feisty 81-year-old African-American woman (Gibbs), who teaches him about life and love, and together they take a road trip back to their Georgia roots.

The film also stars Tessa Thompson ("For Colored Girls"), Lisa Winters and Ryan Spahn, who also penned the script, and is directed by Kristin Hanggi, a 2009 Tony Award nominee as Best Director for the Broadway musical "Rock of Ages." 

Sharing stories laced with laughter with local dignitaries including Stone Mountain Mayor Pat Wheeler dominated the lovely late summer evening. “We’ve had so much fun with these easy-going new friends,” George Coletti said, “and we are thankful they gave us the time to show them our amazing community’s history and heritage. Marla Gibbs radiates goodness and beauty and the entire production unit’s presence has been a treat for the city.”

MALBEC WITH FRENCH QUALITY

ALTA VISTA’S PATRICK D’AULAN

By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA. Bring an esteemed French winemaker like Patrick D’Aulan to Argentina, let him work magic with the land growing and harvesting his selection of grapes with a goal of making fine wines you will get New World wines that have many of the characteristics of a noble Bordeaux.  “I work with wine,” the ebullient D’Aulan said during lunch,  “because it’s in my DNA and my family has been making wine for 150 years.” The owner of Alta Vista winery in Mendoza, Argentina Patrick D’Aulan uncorked a few of his bottles for a trio of journalists last week at Chops in Atlanta’s Buckhead, and no matter the dish served, the wine fit nicely.

Patrick D’Aulan is philosophical about the future of his wines in Argentina, particularly Malbec. He views it as a relationship built from “expressing a terroir through a single variety. Malbec is our focus and we produce it in different styles according to different terroirs.”

Patrick’s family once owned Champagne Piper-Heidsieck and said that he “was probably born with Champagne in my blood.” His high regard for Malbec, a varietal with origins in Bordeaux, took him to Argentina where Malbec has gained global prominence. D’Aulan, the first winemaker to create single vineyard Malbec, proceeded to lead us through a lunchtime tasting of Alta Vista’s Classic, Premium, and Luxury tiers, including its famous flagship wine, Alto,

In quality, Alta Vista is a league above earlier omnipresent and very ordinary Malbec that once fought for bottom shelf retail space. This regal wine from Argentina reflects all the attention to detail you would expect from a man who, when he was born, had a drop of Champagne placed behind his ear. True to his mission to produce Bordeaux quality wine in Argentina, Patrick D’Aulan brought the best of both the old and new world to lunch in Atlanta.

2012 is "The Year of Alabama Food." Here's one of the culinary adventures in Mobile:

http://mycookingmagazine.com/gourmet-highway-alabama-celebrates-its-food/

FOLK ART GALA IN ATLANTA

FOLK FEST THIS WEEKEND

By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA-“Always remember,” the frail old man with twinkling indigo eyes told me, “that God loves you and will never abandon you no matter what.” Anyone else who said that to me while I was reading a newspaper in a storage room next to a loading dock would have been met with a little skepticism. But this was the Reverend Howard Finster, the world’s most famous folk artist, who told everyone he was a man of God, adding that he was “not of this world.” The encounter was at Folk Fest many years ago, and each year as I return for stories and to buy some art, I remember those words from the man who became a friend.



PAINTING BY MISSIONARY MARY PROCTOR



 The 20,000 or so people flocking to this year’s edition of Folk Fest, the world’s largest folk art exhibition, won’t see Finster, who died in 2001, but many of his amazing works are here along with collectibles by Ab the Flagman, Missionary Mary Proctor, Lorenzo Scott, Eric Legee and a few hundred more self-taught painters, sculptors, potters and wood carvers.

There is no family-friendly event anywhere that remotely approaches the excellence of this three-day art celebration just outside Atlanta. Good-will permeates everything. Laughter dominates. You see a painting that foretells Armageddon juxtaposed with a flying alligator made of tin, or a scene depicting a creek baptism. The artists and galleries embody multiculturalism at its best. Different people from vastly different places and backgrounds show off their works to total strangers. A painting of a sunrise over a rural church brightens the wall of a gloomy office. A painted face jug becomes a conversation piece in a faraway kitchen.

"For a long time this art has been kept out of the mainstream art community," says Folk Fest Show co-founder, Steve Slotin. "Self-taught art is the most important visual culture America has ever produced. Because many of the world’s most important folk artists are from the South, and the phenomenal success of Folk Fest, Atlanta is now recognized as the hub of folk art.”

Folk Fest’s acclaimed success has propelled the annual exhibition to a higher level ordinarily reserved for museums. As Steve Slotin has said, self-taught artists do not seek out the art world, the art world “passionately seeks them out.” Folk art comes from untrained people like Rev. Howard Finster who draw on their culture and experiences in an isolated world; and is made with a true, untutored, creative passion.

Like most of the authentic South, folk art’s existence is threatened by urbanization and homogenizing popular culture.  Folk Fest celebrates these artists and their works by showcasing unbridled creativity and majestic vision that may soon disappear.

Directions to Folk Fest:

http://slotinfolkart.com/folk_fest/folk_fest.html

The Year of Alabama Food:

http://mycookingmagazine.com/gourmet-highway-alabama-celebrates-its-food/

TAILGAING DOWN SOUTH 2012

 

    THE FOOTBALL FEAST RETURNS

By Doc Lawrence

TUSCALOOSA-Soon the grills will be set up outside college football stadiums and the pre-game tailgating tradition will begin all the way into next year. The tailgating feast, born in the Civil War, is pure Americana and showcases some of the best late summer and fall food and beverages.

 I’m searching for the best of the best for my annual series of tailgating stories: Favorite recipes. Beverages with names that reflect a school’s mascot or nickname. Especially photos that capture the tailgating spirit. Cocktails with names like Seminole Sangria, Bulldog Big Bite, 'Bama Bloody Mary, Clemson Cooler, Auburn Eye-Opener, Miami Martini, Gator Snapper, Carolina Cooler or Tennessee Stud and what’s in these and the others we don’t know about yet but would want to drink and enjoy?

Recipes including casseroles, grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon, fried chicken, catfish, homemade and artisan sausage, desserts, and all things delicious will be featured with credits given to the originator. Plus potent punch creations, different Sangria recipes, appropriate wines, craft beers, new cocktails and anything that helps tell the tailgating story. Priority will be given to originality and imagination. These stories and recipes plus colorful photos will appear in my regular food, wine and spirits columns, broadcasts and television shows, now through the end of this year.

Photos of enthusiastic fans feasting in stadium parking lots are always welcome! Send them to me: editors@docsnews.com.

                 May your team go undefeated!

Just published. The Year of Alabama Food:

http://mycookingmagazine.com/gourmet-highway-alabama-celebrates-its-food/

East Tennessee Vacation:

http://global-writes.com/2012/07/navigating-tennessees-thunder-road.html

Wines Down South

http://winesdownsouth.blogspot.com/

FOLK FEST 2012-FAMILY FUN IN ATLANTA

HERALDED FOLK ART SHOW THIS WEEKEND

By Doc Lawrence





PATRIOTIC WORK BY AB THE FLAGMAN

ATLANTA-“Always remember,” the frail old man with twinkling indigo eyes told me, “that God loves you and will never abandon you no matter what.” Anyone else who said that to me while I was reading a newspaper in a storage room next to a loading dock would have been met with a little skepticism. But this was the Reverend Howard Finster, the world’s most famous folk artist, who told everyone he was a man of God, adding that he was “not of this world.” The encounter was at Folk Fest many years ago, and each year as I return for stories and to buy some art, I remember those words from the man who became a friend.

The 20,000 or so people flocking to this year’s edition of Folk Fest, the world’s largest folk art exhibition, won’t see Finster, who died in 2001, but many of his amazing works are here along with collectibles by Ab the Flagman, Missionary Mary Proctor, Lorenzo Scott, Eric Legee and a few hundred more self-taught painters, sculptors, potters and wood carvers.

There is no family-friendly event anywhere that remotely approaches the excellence of this three-day art celebration just outside Atlanta. Good-will permeates everything. Laughter dominates. You see a painting that foretells Armageddon juxtaposed with a flying alligator made of tin, or a scene depicting a creek baptism. The artists and galleries embody multiculturalism at its best. Different people from vastly different places and backgrounds show off their works to total strangers. A painting of a sunrise over a rural church brightens the wall of a gloomy office. A painted face jug becomes a conversation piece in a faraway kitchen.

"For a long time this art has been kept out of the mainstream art community," says Folk Fest Show co-founder, Steve Slotin. "Self-taught art is the most important visual culture America has ever produced. Because many of the world’s most important folk artists are from the South, and the phenomenal success of Folk Fest, Atlanta is now recognized as the hub of folk art.”

Folk Fest’s acclaimed success has propelled the annual exhibition to a higher level ordinarily reserved for museums. As Steve Slotin has said, self-taught artists do not seek out the art world, the art world “passionately seeks them out.” Folk art comes from untrained people like Rev. Howard Finster who draw on their culture and experiences in an isolated world; and is made with a true, untutored, creative passion.

Like most of the authentic South, folk art’s existence is threatened by urbanization and homogenizing popular culture.  Folk Fest celebrates these artists and their works by showcasing unbridled creativity and majestic vision that may soon disappear.

For directions to Folk Fest:

http://slotinfolkart.com/folk_fest/folk_fest.html

TAILGATING DOWN SOUTH 2012

  

THE GREAT SPORTS FEAST RETURNS

By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA-Soon the grills will be set up outside college football stadiums and the pre-game tailgating tradition will begin all the way into next year. The tailgating feast, born in the Civil War, is pure Americana and showcases some of the best late summer and fall food and beverages.

 I’m searching for the best of the best for my annual series of tailgating stories: Favorite recipes. Beverages with names that reflect a school’s mascot or nickname. Especially photos that capture the tailgating spirit. Cocktails with names like Seminole Sangria, Bulldog Big Bite, 'Bama Bloody Mary, Clemson Cooler, Auburn Eye-Opener, Miami Martini, Gator Snapper, Carolina Cooler or Tennessee Stud and what’s in these and the others we don’t know about yet but would want to drink and enjoy?

Recipes including casseroles, grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon, fried chicken, catfish, homemade and artisan sausage, desserts, and all things delicious will be featured with credits given to the originator. Plus potent punch creations, different Sangria recipes, appropriate wines, craft beers, new cocktails and anything that helps tell the tailgating story. Priority will be given to originality and imagination. These stories and recipes plus colorful photos will appear in my regular food, wine and spirits columns, broadcasts and television shows, now through the end of this year.

Photos of enthusiastic fans feasting in stadium parking lots are always welcome! Send them to me: editors@docsnews.com.

                  May your team go undefeated!

Just published. The Year of Alabama Food:

http://mycookingmagazine.com/gourmet-highway-alabama-celebrates-its-food/

East Tennessee Vacation:

http://global-writes.com/2012/07/navigating-tennessees-thunder-road.html

JOHNNY CASH-GOD'S MESSENGER

Man In Black’s Gospel Recordings

Like a bird on the wire,
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.

             By Leonard Cohen, as recorded by Johnny Cash

By Doc Lawrence

NASHVILLE. In life and death, Johnny Cash remains almost impossible to categorize. Complex, paradoxical, contradictory and often controversial are, regarding his career and music, hollow adjectives. Country? Yes. Rockabilly? One of the founding fathers right along with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis and Sam Phillips. He hobnobbed with preachers, Hollywood stars, rock and roll greats and bounced, according to his own pain-filled words, between sin and salvation. Few who knew him or saw a live performance could doubt his truthfulness.

His flaws defined his everlasting greatness.

 Johnny’s gospel recordings are featured on a just released CD: “Johnny Cash- The Greatest Gospel Songs.” Nothing unheard before, but for the uninitiated, it’s worth a listen. I believe that Johnny would have been a wonderful college lecturer at a great university like Vanderbilt, teaching a course about understanding the South (and the South understanding itself.) The mix of gospel with other popular music forms from white and black cultures would likely have been presented as naturally by this farm kid from Arkansas as eating catfish with fried green tomatoes. The great journalist Marshall Frady described the South as “America’s Ireland” and that’s just about a bull’s-eye.

I met Johnny several times and interviewed him. He was engaging and friendly. His voice was what I imagined as like the voice of God. He was remarkably empathetic and from what I gather quite generous. The live concerts included his singing to prisoners in Georgia during the early 70’s, and along with my mother, watching him sing as an introduction for Rev. Billy Graham at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. I saw a BBC television interview in London with David Frost where Johnny was crusading for AIDS research

He was, without any effort, dominant, overshadowing all celebrities. I think his power-so terrifically magnetic—war rooted in his simplicity. The all black clothing, dark hair and eyes, songs with uncomplicated lyrics but loaded with power and irony, and an unyielding respect for truth.

Johnny Cash did not talk down to anyone. His best works are songs about his own failures, his sins, his duplicity, his ongoing fight with the devil where the devil often won, and from time to time a warning that he had the capacity to inflict pain. I held on to every single word. Johnny, to quote Carl Sandburg, was “all men, every man.”

There are wonderful songs on the new release including Rev. Thomas Dorsey’s masterpiece, “Peace in the Valley.” Johnny was not bound to music forms and recorded what he liked with whom he admired. Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and of course, his beloved June. U2’s Bono, another friend of Johnny’s said  that “not since John The Baptist has there been a voice like that crying in the wilderness”

Johnny Cash sings some terrific gospel on the new recording and stays true to how he described himself:

“Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.”