Journalism
January 17, 2024
How do you measure a new year in the life of a redwood tree? I found myself walking under this thought bubble last month as I explored northern California’s towering rock stars (wood stars?) for the first time. A redwood can live as many as 2,000 years, growing continuously to heights as tall as 350 feet.
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The diameter of the famous “Boy Scout Tree” in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park measures more than 23 feet. That gargantuan organism began as a tiny, solitary sprout … many, many new years ago. What can we humans learn from such age, size, and beauty? Three redwood qualities will stick with me.
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Redwoods are dignified.
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November 8, 2023
We humans learn a lot from dogs. When we pay attention, that is. Live in the moment. Let a loved one know you’re happy to see them. Naps are good. Snacks are good, too, in moderation. Most importantly … be there.
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I’ve learned much over the last two years from the lone canine in my family, a 9-year-old Goldendoodle we know as Rita. There’s been some heartache and stress in the learning, but far more inspiration, even admiration. In the spring of 2022, you see, Rita lost ten pounds, nearly 25 percent of her body weight. And she lost it fast. Her breed has lengthy fur (until trimmed), so the weight loss hid itself visually. Once discovered, it was more than a little scary.
February 18, 2021
This is a sports column, so let’s start with this: The best athlete I know over the age of 50 happens to be my wife. Sharon has run a pair of marathons since hitting the half-century mark, the second one faster than the first. We’ve run dozens of 5Ks, Sharon always patiently waiting for me — her sweat nearly dried — at the finish line. And this isn’t a recent development. Sharon was an all-state soccer player during our high school days in Vermont and helped our Northfield Marauders win a state championship as a senior. High school boys challenged Sharon to races when she was in middle school. Her list of names taken while kicking ass is, shall we say, lengthy.
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But back to the present. Sharon will cross the finish line of her next marathon with a pacemaker in her chest.
April 1, 2020
World-changing events are rare, to say the least. But when we experience them — when we live them — the world-changing nature of the event is overwhelming. I count four of these events over my 51 years, “game changers” that took place before the current pandemic that has, indeed, altered our world. I’ve found myself measuring what’s to come by, in part, reflecting on how mankind reacted to the other pivot points of my lifetime.
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I barely arrived in time for the Apollo 11 moon landing (July 20, 1969). But I grew up in a world — on a planet — that was merely part of something larger, and reachable by mankind.
City Beat: My KISStory
Reflections from a longtime member of the KISS Army as the “End of the Road” tour hits Memphis.
February 20, 2019
FedExForum’s lid will be in jeopardy on Saturday, February 23rd, when KISS takes the stage for the 15th show on their “End of the Road” world tour. This will be the 15th concert the masked rock heroes have played in the Bluff City since 1974 and, if Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are serious this time, the last. (They played the Pyramid in 2000 on what they called a “Farewell Tour,” and again in 2004.) I’ll be there, a 40-year member of the KISS Army, convinced certain songs played in bombastic style keep a man young in ways no fruit or pharmaceuticals can. It’s one thing for a Hall of Fame rock band to reach the end of the road. What of us fans?
December 10, 2018
For embodying the spirit of a region starving for the championship that eluded him as a player, Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway is our 2018 Memphian of the Year.
There’s a counter that runs the full length of a conference room wall on the second level of the Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center, just outside the head coach’s office. On this counter — on any day one might visit — rest basketball cards, glossy photos, a basketball or two, and often an authentic Lil Penny, the most popular stringless puppet in basketball history. These are what amount to fan mail for the rookie head coach of the University of Memphis Tigers, one Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. They are a testament to the profound popularity of a 47-year-old former player.
The 2017 Memphis Redbirds won an astounding 91 games (and six more in the Pacific Coast League playoffs) on their way to the franchise’s third PCL title. No Memphis team had won as many games since the 1948 Chicks went 92-61 the year after Jackie Robinson first suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers. ...
2017 will forever be a significant year in Memphis history for a pair of statues that came down. Let’s make 2018 (or at least 2019) a significant year for a statue we erect.
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I’ve been campaigning for 10 years now to see Larry Finch in bronze, a life-size statue of a larger-than-life Memphian we lost too soon. (Finch died in 2011 at age 60 after being confined to a wheelchair for almost a decade after a damaging stroke.) After years of uncomfortable and divisive debate about statues that represent a form of history to some and racial oppression to most, let’s make this city better by saluting one of this city’s great unifiers with the ultimate, perpetual tribute.
June 25, 2009
The uniforms. The first thing you'd notice if you could rewind 30 years to watch a baseball game would be the uniforms. More snug, rarely button-down, and with more colors than belong on a baseball diamond, uniforms circa 1979 were a product of their times. (When you pray to the baseball gods, be sure and ask them to forgive the Houston Astros.) ...
July 19, 2016
Even seven years later, 40 is a big birthday. In the spirit of the magazine's 40th anniversary, here are 40 life tips to consider, nuggets of wisdom that just might help the trip to 50 (and beyond) go a little smoother.
Hall of Fame baseball player Satchel Paige famously had his "Six Rules for Staying Young." (The most memorable: Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.) Well, I'm turning 40 next month, and as midlife wraps (squeezes?) her loving arms around me, I feel the least I can do is share my own nuggets of wisdom for those on either side of the Great Four-Decade Divide.
These rules, mind you, are not made to be broken.
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1. Smile when you say hello.
2. Never kick a sand castle.
3. Always have a frisbee in the trunk of your car.
4. There are three gifts a parent must give a child: love, confidence, and an education. Yes, these are gifts.
5. Read the prescription label. And ask questions.
6. However you measure wealth, multiply it by pi and you have the value of your child's smile.
7. The most important skill in business: listening. The most neglected skill in business: listening.
8. The most exciting play in sports: a bases-loaded triple.
9. When there are no words, don't force them. Just be there.
10. Pay attention to your tires and brakes. And remember these words: "Just an oil change, please."
WKNO Memphis interviewed Frank in January 2016.
More articles from the archives
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Order Up! Even a brief stint in the restaurant business will shape you.
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St. Jude's James Downing: Helping revolutionize the way we fight childhood cancer
Jamie McMahan: How one Memphian created his own career as one of America’s foremost portrait painters
“The Game Chose Me”: Joe Jackson enters his final postseason as a Memphis Tiger carrying the weight of big expectations
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Star Power: Truly rare is the city that becomes a celebrity
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The Capital Gazette & Ripples of Hope
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I Am a Memphian: Coming of age in a city still coming of age
Softball Sisters: A softball dad reflects on one magical season
Suggestions for Sofia: A father's note to his firstborn as one life stage gives way to another
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