Conaway: Mongo, the chimp, a new suit and all our Memphis stories
Dan Conaway
Dan Conaway is a lifelong Memphian, fascinated and frustrated with his city, but still in love. A columnist since 2010, his distinguished advertising career has branded ribs in the Rendezvous and ducks in The Peabody, pandas in the zoo and Grizzlies in the NBA. Stories in Memphis tend to write themselves. He’s helped a few along. Two book collections of his columns have been published.
Last Monday, Jody Callahan had a fine piece in The Daily Memphian headlined, “Who the heck is Prince Mongo? And he ran for Memphis mayor?!”
To many of us — those of a certain age (say, Mongo’s) and some much younger (say, my kids and my grandkids) — the headline should be, “Who the heck is Robert Hodges? And what does that have to do with Prince Mongo?!”
Mongo is the stuff of stories. Memphis is the stuff of stories.
Mongo and I once stood next to each other one cold winter day at the original Seessel’s grocery store meat counter debating the qualities of bacon. I was in jeans, a sweatshirt, a wool jacket, a baseball cap and Timberlands. He, too, was in jeans, but he was also wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt, fur vest and buffalo head hat complete with horns. He was, of course, barefooted.
That was a normal Midtown Memphis afternoon.
Topics
Dan Conaway Subscriber Only Robert Prince Mongo HodgesThank you for supporting local journalism.
Subscribers to The Daily Memphian help fund our not-for-profit newsroom of nearly 40 local journalists plus more than 20 freelancers, all of whom work around the clock to cover the issues impacting our community. Subscriptions - and donations - also help fund our community access programs which provide free access to K-12 schools, community organizations, and more. Thank you for making our work possible.
Dan Conaway on demand
Never miss an article. Sign up to receive Dan Conaway's stories as they’re published.
Enter your e-mail address
Related stories
Conaway: Let’s praise the healing and recognize the healers
“Here are just three Memphis medical miracles, three that have touched my life, brought about by people who have touched the lives of literally millions. Nowhere do we recognize all of our medical professionals, but there could be a way — and a place — to do so.”
Conaway: Imagine, the state of West Tennessee
Announcing the birth of our nation’s 51st state:
The State of West Tennessee.
Conaway: In the Sunset Symphony, then and now, there is magic
The Sunset Symphony at the Overton Park Shell was testimony that people, thousands of them, will rise above the claims and clamor of crime to gather in Overton Park at night for the reality of a shared and celebratory experience.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.