Fair [to Partly Cloudy] Editorial Comment
This letter is in regard to the "Spotlight" that Metro Pulse entertainment writer Matthew Everett gave the Cradle of Country Music Festival (Oct. 12). This was a charity fundraiser for the East Tennessee Historical Society and it took place in the Old City courtyard this last Saturday. The organizers were the Old City Association, and us, we booked the talent.
We were kind of pressed for time in the promotion dept., so we faxed just the bios from the press kits of the artists that were scheduled to perform. We were trying to get this event listed in the entertainment calendar, and would have been grateful for a simple whowhatwhenwhere spotlight; instead Mr. Everett decided to show his disdain for our efforts and his lack of respect for the musicians.
Is the entertainment calendar an editorial section of this paper? Is it Everett's personal column to write whatever he feels like? When we spoke with Mr. Everett on the phone, he refused to apologize and then suggested that we had misunderstood his words. We (and the musicians we invited to Knoxville) can find no other way to interpret comments like "seemingly talented, but breathtakingly little known country artists" other than insulting, and to imply that we misunderstood is a further insult.
Never mind that the performers included the writer of one of the top selling country singles of all time (Shawn Camp), the first female record producer in the country music industry (Gail Davies), and the grandson of Earl Scruggs (Chris Scruggs, man did that kid rock). John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny Cash and June Carter, and whose grandmother is on the mural in the Old City, received his own individual insult, Everett seemed to think we should have booked his mother even though she would have cost our entire budget. We had a small but enthusiastic turnout (thank you folks), and anyone there will tell you that the music was incredible.
The long and short of it is this: Everett ridiculed a charity fundraiser in the Metro Pulse, and if it kept one person from attending that is a crime. It was just plain ugly and he should apologize.
Jeff Barbra and Sarah Pirkle
Knoxville
The Dew is Never Off This Rose
Jack Neely's article on the origins of Mountain Dew really hit home. What a story!
I went to Knoxville Catholic High School with one of the Hartmans' descendants, John. He was extremely intelligent, and we were pretty good friends. Most people knew his family was involved in the local Pepsi bottler (Knoxville's Catholic community is relatively small) but I had no idea that his grandfather ideated the Nectar of the Gods. Had I known this, I would have carried him around on my shoulders!
I haven't seen John in many years, but if I were to see him on the street today, I would say, "John, man, why didn't you tell me."
People brag about many things: their money, their education, their business acumen, blah, blah, blah. But John can say that his grandfather invented Mountain Dew. Now that's something to brag about!
Jon Sharpe
Knoxville
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