From the Savannah Morning News
Amy Grant to perform first new music in decade along with hits at Lucas Theatre, June 24
Amy Grant and I barely discuss music or her upcoming concert on June 24 at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts. We were given only 15 minutes, but we stole 45 as our conversation over the phone turned toward the setbacks and sublime moments she has experienced over the past few years and what gifts can be found within struggle.
From the Savannah Morning News
Natalie Chanin tried to quit Florence, Alabama, many times.
She left her hometown in the fertile delta when it was still the t-shirt-making capital of the world for design school in North Carolina. Afterward, she traveled the world, working in fashion and film, living abroad and in New York’s fabled Chelsea Hotel until the moment she stood at a literal and figurative crossroads, filled with fear and vulnerability, and realized Florence, Alabama, might be the only way home to herself. READ MORE >>
From the Savannah Morning News
Wynonna Judd was so overcome by the love emanating from the fans attending her concert in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 26, she grew dizzy on stage.
“It literally knocked me over, almost.”
To steady herself, she spread her barefoot toes, anchoring herself to the stage, and rocked back and forth.
URBAN AFFAIRS & CURRENT EVENTS
This Little Light of Ours
The mission for the Beacon Project, as it became known, was two-fold: to present a common set of facts to ground the topic and to offer solutions to our most persistent problems. Through the magazine and a weekly podcast, the hope was that Beacon’s long-form style of service journalism would spur continued community conversations and place the daily news in a larger context.
What Would Howard Do?
His boundless curiosity, egalitarian ethos, wit and wisdom enjoined people of all stripes and persuasions on causes as diverse as technology and the environment, women’s health and historic preservation, energy innovation and youth enrichment, ginger and turmeric. Stalwart programs we now take for granted, such as the Oceans Exchange, Creative Coast, Savannah Children’s Choir, and Loop It Up, all began in conversation with Morrison.
Two Ears, One Mouth
In Dare to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts, author Brené Brown writes, “People are opting out of vital conversations about diversity and inclusivity because they fear looking wrong, saying something wrong, or being wrong. Choosing your own comfort over hard conversations is the epitome of privilege, and it corrodes trust and moves us away from meaningful and lasting change.” So, how do we get better at those tough conversations?
Want Better Leaders? Look in the Mirror.
Throughout this issue, we have sought neither to demonize those who have had the courage to run for office nor king-make. We have tried, however, to illustrate how each one of us has the opportunity and the honor to take responsibility for the future of our community. Here, we offer a recap of what we can do collectively and as individuals to assemble “a deeper bench.”
Taking Stock: The City’s Ambitious Plans for Affordable Housing
Not far from the proposed canal district on the city’s west side, Martin Fretty parks his car on Cummings Street in front of a lot where the ruins of a concrete foundation and front porch steps rise out of a tangle of weeds. From behind the wheel of his car, Fretty points to the house next door, abandoned with a roof caved in by fire. A few houses down the street, another dilapidated cottage is marked by an orange placard declaring the house unfit for habitation.
Tightening the Belt: Time to Rethink How to Move Through the City
It sat there on the desk, this uncredited, institutional-looking brochure with a most innocuous title: Chatham County Regional Transportation Improvements Concept Plan. The pages inside, however, traffic in the big, dreamy ideas that make this former urban and parks planner a little giddy, because the conceptual drawings and potential solutions presented simply ask, “Is there a better way?”
Nonprofit Helps Refugees Find Safe Haven in Savannah
If ever there were a classic American bootstrap story, Sarmad Al Khazraji’s would be it. He grew up the only boy with five sisters in a middle-class neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq. His father was an English teacher at the military school where his son attended. His mother was a homemaker. They were Muslims living among mainly Christians neighbors, but those distinctions hardly mattered in the Baghdad of the late-1970s and early-1980s, which enjoyed a thriving economy, a rich and storied history, and served as a cultural crossroads for food, arts and intellectual exploration.
School lottery can seem like game of Win, Lose or Draw
In a surprisingly candid moment during an interview three years ago, Savannah’s Mayor Eddie DeLoach and former mayor Otis Johnson agreed that the most important municipal election was not who would lead the city, but who would lead the board of public education.
PERSONALITIES
For “Mayor Joe,” Tough Moments Offer Best Opportunities to Serve
I have been told it’s not a good thing to meet your heroes. That may be true in some cases, but not in [Joseph P.] Riley’s. He’s every bit as gracious and humble in person, even as he talks about the lessons gained from such tempests as Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and the murders of nine members of Mother Emanuel in 2015, bookends of his 40-year tenure as the Holy City’s mayor.
Oracle of Fashion: Fern Mallis
A frequent guest of the Savannah College of Art and Design’s School of Fashion, Fern Mallis sat down with Savannah magazine before her freewheeling conversation with colorful designer Betsey Johnson to discuss her endless curiosity and seemingly boundless energy when it comes to fashion.
Of Time and the Island
The summer of 2012 marked 40 years since Pat Conroy’s The Water is Wide introduced the world to Daufuskie Island’s children. Amy Paige Condon crosses the river to see what time has wrought.
St. Francis of Savannah
A prodigal son returns to the fold and finds his calling as a pet minister.
Garden & Gun
Savannah’s Hot Spots: A Surging Tide
Travelers have always flocked to this charm-laden river city, and nowadays there are more reasons to visit than ever.
Savannah’s Welcome Committee
Four locals bringing people together in the Hostess City.
FOOD & DRINK
The South’s Florence
When his restaurant opens this May, celebrated Top Chef Hugh Acheson will make his move on Savannah. Amy Paige Condon breaks bread with the talented culinary team leading the city’s Italian Renaissance.
Killer Crab
Under the tutelage of a Daufuskie Island native, Amy Paige Condon sinks her claws into some Gullah home cooking.
Nita’s Place
Back in the ‘90s, Juanita Dixon helped usher in Savannah’s soul food revival, winning over the passions and palates of celebrities, city leaders, and simple folk alike. Amy Paige Condon gets the gravy.
Off the Menu
Beyond the beach-fare standards, a Tybee Island chef reveals his true heart in chalk. Amy Paige Condon shakes off the sand and pulls up a chair.
Simple Math
Savannah is filled with pockets of get-real grub—modest establishments where the patrons are city workers who plant trees, street lawyers with rolled-up shirtsleeves and ties askew, and moms toting a kid on each hip. These outposts—meat-and-threes—are where you can still find authentic, unfussy food that is humble, hearty and made with heart by self-taught cooks. With origins in the backs of corner stores and neighborhood grocery stores, meat-and-threes combine the convenience of fast food with the flavor of slow cooking.
Grape Expectations
I’m hammered. Maybe that’s an overstatement, but I’m definitely a shade past happily buzzed by the end of a tasting session with Michael Jaeger, Michael Ambrose and Stan Ray—the self-described “cork dorks” at the Savannah Wine Cellar. This trio of oenophiles tries hundreds of wines a month and is smart enough to spit out the 10 different wines we sample on this day. By contrast, I’m a novice when it comes to discerning balance, body and bouquet. I’m all in and here to learn.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
First Flying Cars to Roll Off Production Lines
Inventor and science fiction writer Hugo Gernsback first proposed the concept of a two-wheeled helicar in a 1923 issue of Science and Invention magazine. Since then, we have imagined all manner of flying automobile, from “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” to hovercraft to “The Jetsons.” Save for special effects and animation, however, our cars and trucks remain planted on terra firma as traffic continues to frustrate and our carbon footprints expand. But, the future of car flight may be upon us, just in time to mark the 50th anniversary of man’s walk on the moon.
HOME & DESIGN
Object Lessons
Free from the constraints of Victorian formality, a fashion-forward couple makes an elegantly lighthearted retreat.
Storybook Cottage
After leading a nomadic life—24 houses in 10 years—a local writer transforms an early 1900s Thunderbolt cottage into a creative haven.
Go Big, Go Bold
Vintage advertising posters from the early 20th century are the Shelby Cobras of wall art—exuberant, muscular and ageless—and just as collectible. Their pointed visual messages resonate today, whether extolling the virtues of quick-dry paint or trumpeting the “green devil” aftermath of absinthe. Because of the precision of stone lithography printing, their colors still ring true.
TRAVEL & DISCOVERY
Blaze A Trail
The 400-mile stretch of southeastern coast between Cape Fear, North Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida is an irreplaceable geography, marked by the meeting of sea and soil that is low and lush. And, it is as distinctive for its impacts on more than 300 years of American history. It is the only place in the world where the remnants of indigo, cotton and rice plantations—and the West and Central African slave labor that supported them—has yielded a singular culture of folklore, family, food, music, language and dance that has been kept alive by the first freedmen’s descendants—even today. But, it is a culture in danger of fading for good.
Paranormal Activity
Ambivalent about specters, Amy Paige Condon encounters the inexplicable and begins to wonder if there’s more to the afterlife than meets the eye.
Against All Odds
On Wassaw Island, a plucky nonprofit helps Georgia’s loggerhead sea turtles make a stunning comeback.
New Leash on Life
Behind the bars (and barks) at the county jail, prisoners find hope.