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Issue 37, January / February 2001

“I considered and rejected such words as calm and dignified and quiet-spoken, though true enough, as not being quite right for the man whose presence I had been in.” — Robert Lacy on Martin Luther King Jr.

Features by Rodney James and Todd Hanson. Fiction by William Gay. Hal Herring on Athletics. Poetry by Charles Wright, David Bottoms, and Jane Hirshfield.

Other contributors include Anthony Walton, Dennis Drabelle, Tom Piazza, Vicki Covington, Hal Crowther, Roy Blount Jr., and more.

FEATURES

A HALF MILE OF ROAD IN NORTH ALABAMA
A poet searches the mysteries of home for the stories written into its landscape.
by Rodney Jones

OH, YOU WANT THE TIME-TRAVEL SPINNING HEAD!?!
A subversive cartoon talk show from Atlanta proves that there is something good on TV.
by Todd Hanson

SHORT STORY

GOOD 'TIL NOW
An affair with a troubled musician changes the life of a married woman.
by William Gay

DEPARTMENTS

LOCAL FARE

LUNCH WITH JIM CROW AND MISS AMERICA
Love and politics in a Delta diner.
by John T. Edge

ATHLETICS

FIGHT CLUBS
Kung fu, country style, sweeps the South.
by Hal Herring

HISTORY

ARGUING WITH MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
A young reporter goes toe-to-toe with a legend in the making.
by Robert Lacy

POLITICS

TROUBLE IN MUSIC CITY
The scandal-plagued reign of Nashville’s notorious mayor.
by Will Pinkston

BOOK VIEWS

THE JOURNEY WITHIN
Charles Wright’s poetry evinces and unforgettable power.
by Anthony Walton

LOST CLASSICS

A NOT-SO-INNOCENT ABROAD
The Virginia expatriate Julian Green wrote Southern novels that only the French appreciated.
by Dennis Drabelle

SOUTHERN MUSIC

NOTE IN A BOTTLE
The true confessions of a fanatical record collector.
by Tom Piazza

COLUMNS

MEDITATIONS FOR BAD GIRLS
by Vicki Covington

DEALER'S CHOICE
by Hal Crowther

GONE OFF UP NORTH
by Roy Blount Jr.

POETRY

IN MY GRANDFATHER'S GROCERY, A MOMENT FOR DR. KING
by David Bottoms

WALKER EVANS INTERIOR, 1936
by Jane Hirshfield

SUMMER MORNINGS
by Charles Wright

SOUTHERN SCENES

Cover by The Cartoon Network, TCS