77 articles by Dan Conaway :

• March 2019

  • Conaway: Vouching for innovation, not vouchers

    Vouchers would take money and support out of the public school system. Public education is a right, and if we give up on it, we abandon our responsibility to the future.

    By Dan Conaway March 07, 2019

• February 2019

  • Conaway: If you want to help, then help

    This city already pays less for light, gas and water than any other in Tennessee, and less than most cities in the country. If we really want to help the poor with their utilities, there are subsidies, sliding scales and credits. 

    By Dan Conaway February 28, 2019

  • Conaway: Ode to the olive boat captain

    John Simmons gets a tribute that recognizes that he, not his imaginative inventory, was the treasure in his Memphis shops. 

    By Dan Conaway February 21, 2019

  • Conaway: A New Orleans story

    Some cities just naturally make stories. Others just make noise. Orderly and predictable are safe, but funky and unique are a lot more fun. New Orleans and Memphis are what they are because of those latter traits.

    By Dan Conaway February 14, 2019

  • Conaway: Right there in the parking lot

    Despicable behavior isn’t new, people at their worst doing what they do because they can. What’s new is the lack of national outrage, the shrugging of our national shoulders, a coast-to-coast “so what.”

    By Dan Conaway February 07, 2019

• January 2019

  • Conaway: Life is a song

    On the 50-mile drive over to Brownsville, Marsha Thompson told us a story.

    By Dan Conaway January 31, 2019

  • Conaway: The Ogle of us

    Historian Jimmy Ogle has an encyclopedic knowledge of Memphis – and he generously shares it with anyone he thinks might want to know. As he prepares to move closer to family, he's leaving us with what he calls his "bicentennial gift": a farewell storytelling series.

    By Dan Conaway January 24, 2019

  • Conaway: An unforgettable itinerary

    Mike Lupfer wore many hats: University of Memphis professor, leader, world traveler – and most of all, friend.

    By Dan Conaway January 17, 2019

  • Conaway: Something wild. Something beautiful.

    CLAIMING OUR ISLAND. I said I’d start the year with a couple of ideas.

    By Dan Conaway January 12, 2019

  • Conaway: World-Class Idea

    “OF OUTSTANDING UNIVERSAL VALUE.” I thought I’d start this year – our bicentennial year – with a couple of ideas. Seems like a good time for new ideas, and some reminders that this place is special – even if so many of us have forgotten that. It was, in fact, special long before any of us arrived.

    By Dan Conaway January 04, 2019

• December 2018

  • Conaway: Jud Strunk made me cry

    A DAISY A DAY. A couple of weeks ago, a friend made a request for one of my former columns ­– like a song request. That’s only appropriate since it was a column about a song, and I think an appropriate column for the end of a year, and particular ends and particular memories for each of us. So this one is for you, Dick. And for me.

    By Dan Conaway December 28, 2018

  • Conaway: My Christmas Story

    CHRISTMAS TIME. Every Christmas I tell this story, and in the telling Christmas comes home. This year, I’m telling it in memory of my big brother, Frank. His pub – or as they say in England, his local – is central to the story.

    By Dan Conaway December 21, 2018

  • Conaway: The soluble problem

    Every day in the U.S. there are 10 accidental drownings – 3,500 a year – and it’s the second-leading cause of death among children 1 to 14.

    By Dan Conaway December 18, 2018

  • Conaway: Our other riverfront

    OUR FORGOTTEN TENNESSEE. Ray Skinner called me the other day and told me a story. He has a bunch of them.

    By Dan Conaway December 07, 2018

• November 2018

  • Conaway: Gravy. Maybe.

    LET’S SEE IF WE’VE GOT GRAVY. I’ve been part of the breakfast cooking team at my church for decades, and for the first 20 years or so I stood next to Dr. Fred Sage. Fred did sausage gravy. I did eggs, 72 at a time.

    By Dan Conaway November 30, 2018

  • Conaway: Ginkgoes and thanks

    LOOK FOR THE WONDER. REPEAT. Every year, no matter what. And it’s happened again. Despite it all.

    By Dan Conaway November 23, 2018

  • Conaway: Just imagine

    I’m feeling better, thanks.

    By Dan Conaway November 16, 2018

  • Conaway: There’ll be another train

    I’m taking a breath. The election is over, and however you may feel about the outcome, the sun has managed to come up the last three days regardless. My back hurt before, during, and after the voting, and nobody running helped me get my socks on in the morning. The person who does that got my vote a long time ago, although she may be looking for another candidate.

    By Dan Conaway November 09, 2018

  • Conaway: You’re being insulted

    If you’re not mad, you’re not paying attention.

    By Dan Conaway November 02, 2018

• October 2018

  • Sounds of note

    I was having a pint in the Eagle when I heard them.

    By Dan Conaway October 26, 2018

  • Conaway: The women. Still.

    UP TO THE WOMEN.

    By Dan Conaway October 19, 2018

  • Conaway: Not No, But Hell No

    We, my friends, are being had – and we should have none of it.

    By Dan Conaway October 12, 2018

  • Conaway: It all depends on your point of view

    Coming from Arkansas, it looks like Oz.

    By Dan Conaway October 08, 2018

• September 2018

  • Conaway: How can a place so warm and soulful in so many ways be so cold and soulless

    Thursday night, Memphis took a bullet.

    By Dan Conaway September 29, 2018

  • Conaway: Memphis is one of a kind

    Really unique is really not. Memphis is.

    By Dan Conaway September 28, 2018