Calkins: Memphis Rox reopens with ‘climb for Mond’
Climbers head up a wall during a climb in memory of Jarmond Johnson at Memphis Rox on Sunday, July 13, 2025. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
Geoff Calkins
Geoff Calkins has been chronicling Memphis and Memphis sports for more than two decades. He is host of "The Geoff Calkins Show" from 9-11 a.m. M-F on 92.9 FM. Calkins has been named the best sports columnist in the country five times by the Associated Press sports editors, but still figures his best columns are about the people who make Memphis what it is.
Sometime after 2 p.m. Sunday, July 13, at Memphis Rox, hundreds of Memphians joined in something this city had never seen before: A mournful, joyful — and ultimately hopeful — ceremonial climb.
Exactly two weeks earlier, on June 29, Jarmond Johnson was shot and killed at the entrance of Memphis Rox, the climbing gym at 879 E. McLemore Ave. in South Memphis.
Jason Mulligan, the interim executive director of Rox, has said that Johnson — who everyone knew as “Mond” — died while “protecting the community and keeping others safe.”
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Memphis Rox Jarmond Johnson Tom Shadyac Subscriber OnlyAre you enjoying your subscription?
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