The 4th & Gill Teapot

Matt Edens' article ["The Winter of Their Discontent," Vol. 8, No. 3] on the latest tempest in the 4th and Gill teapot seemed to assume that there are only two kinds of houses in the neighborhood: Mark Davis' ersatz restorations (the rental houses in the black hats) and scrupulously redone owner-occupieds (white hats every one). That's a false and unfair dichotomy. There are plenty of other rentals in 4th and Gill besides Davis', and many of them are falling apart—why weren't Davis' houses compared with those, apples to apples? Some owner-occupied houses are badly neglected or tastelessly renovated—why weren't they mentioned? Why no comparison with institutional group homes, another fate that awaits big, cheap houses in old neighborhoods (for instance, the group home for adolescent sex offenders that is smack in the heart of 4th and Gill)?

I lived in 4th and Gill for three years in a wonderful, turn-of-the-century Arts and Crafts house I bought on a seedy block of Gratz (midway between the oasis of Luttrell and the cesspool of Broadway). Most of the other houses on my block were run-down rentals—owned by someone who cared far less (or at least fixed far less) than Mark Davis.

Eighteen months after I moved out of the neighborhood, Davis bought my house. He wasted no time renting it, but he also wasted no time repairing and rebuilding things: porches, foundation, even the old Model-T garage, which I—like the owners before me—had never found time or money to reclaim. (There are many crumbling historic garages in 4th and Gill, by the way, including one immense carriage house that presides over an alley with sagging grace and drooping dignity—Jack Neely, take note.)

Since selling the house to Davis, I've driven past several times to see what he's done to it. Do I like everything I see? Frankly, no. But I do like knowing that the house has a new lease on a very long life—something that probably few other people in Knoxville could have, or would have, given it.

There are many threats to the continued renewal of 4th and Gill. Surely Davis, who has invested millions in shoring up properties there, does not belong at the top of the list.

Jon Jefferson
Knoxville

See Live Gerbils

The Metro Pulse must be taken to task for its coverage of the Bottom-Z-Up brouhaha ["Rainbow Coalition?" Vol. 8, No. 2]. The reporter assigned to the story neglected to mention the most potentially offensive (or humorous) element in the story's questionable stock of merchandise—the display and presumable sale of live gerbils. Surely "Mrs. Gray's Pickled Peckers" shrink in comparison to these rodents, which to those in the know are either a serious product for extremely esoteric sexualists or an incredibly funny joke. Our fair city should take pride in its sexual adventurism; Knoxville—where nature and proctology meet!

Phillip Rhodes
Knoxville

Editor's Note: Bottom-Z-Up has eight gerbils behind the register, but they have never been for sale, says owner David Walker. They are pets, like the two cats also kept at the store. The gerbils started out as a couple, but had six babies, which Walker wants to give away. Asked about the rumor that gay men use gerbils as sex toys, Walker says he always thought that was a joke. "Forget people's perceptions. Their mind is in the gutter, mine isn't," he adds.