By Renée Massey

I can think of several reasons why you or I might want to pick up a meal or a nice appetizer on our way home any time of the year – a friend just had a baby and could use a break from daily chores like cooking, a neighbor is ill and could use some help with dinners, or an acquaintance is having a potluck. In every case, we might want to help or participate, but we’re busy! During the chaos of the holiday season, that is even more true. However much we love the holidays, it leaves most of us with packed schedules and little time to prepare a meal for ourselves and our families, even when there’s not something special going on like a new baby, an illness, or a party. And as you’ve been learning all year, your Cooper-Young Community Association membership has more to offer than just supporting the mission of making Cooper-Young a safer and more desirable place to live, worship, work, and play. It can get you a discount on that meal that you pick up on the way home!

Fork It Over Catering at 2299 Young Avenue offers a 5% discount on any in-store food purchase when a CYCA membership card is presented. Perfect! Michelle Campbell, owner of Fork It Over, told me, “I am a firm believer that you should support the community that you are in. This community is very supportive of small, local businesses. It is a close-knit community with people who take great pride in where they live and who they are.”

She describes Fork It Over as a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to food. If you are not acquainted with Fork It Over, they provide prepared meals that are ready to heat and eat. Their menu, offering four entrées and six side dishes, changes weekly and is updated every week on their website, forkitovercatering.com. They carry frozen entrées, casseroles, and appetizers in their freezer case. They can cater large parties (think weddings or business cocktail parties) or small book club dinners at home. Catering menus are also on the website. As you head into the holiday season, think about Fork It Over for Christmas and New Year’s parties. They do fried turkeys, spiral hams, and all the fixin’s. In addition to being a membership sponsor, Fork It Over has provided food for CYCA events like the Art for Art’s Sake Auction art preview. So show your thanks for their support by supporting Fork It Over!

Now back to that holiday season. Part of what keeps us so busy during the holidays is, let’s be honest, holiday shopping. Keep it simple this season by shopping close to home. You will be supporting your neighborhood businesses, and at Burke’s Books that CYCA membership card gets you a discount again. Burke’s Books is at 936 South Cooper, and CYCA members get a 10% discount. Owner Cheryl Mesler says that after living in the neighborhood for nearly 20 years, she and husband Corey jumped at the chance to move Burke’s from Poplar Avenue to CY when the opportunity came up. They love the foot traffic in the neighborhood, which encourages patrons from other businesses and restaurants to come in and browse. Browsing at Burke’s Books is encouraged! The Meslers are especially excited about the new coffee-table book Memphians, which features over 200 notable Memphians (including some from Cooper-Young). Stop by Burke’s Books and let the staff show you the new book or maybe buy the Tsunami cookbook or the Cooper-Young history book as a Christmas gift for a friend or neighbor. Shop and give local this year and remember to thank Burke’s Books for being a CYCA sponsor when you go in.

The membership year is ending but a new one is right around the corner. If you are a CYCA member, you will be seeing a membership renewal in your mailbox soon. Please renew to support the unique things happening in this neighborhood. If you are not a member, consider joining us in 2012. You not only receive great discounts like the ones at Burke’s Books and Fork It Over Catering, but you will be supporting the Community Association whose mission is to make Cooper-Young a more desirable place to live, worship, work, and play. You can join by visiting us online at cooperyoung.org, by filling out the membership form on page ? of this paper, or by contacting our office at 2298 Young Ave or 901-272-2922. Thank you for your support!

By Kerri Guyton

Literacy Mid-South will host its inaugural Super Gala Fundraiser Friday, October 21 from 7 to 11pm at its office located at 902 S. Cooper St. in Cooper-Young. A festive party with a unique message, Super Gala serves a dual purpose, allowing supporters to revisit fond childhood memories of superheroes while helping further Literacy Mid-South’s mission to produce a fully literate Mid-South.

Guests are encouraged to create their best rendition of childhood superheroes from their favorite comic books and come dressed for action as the event will feature a costume contest. The all-inclusive night out will feature music by DJ Lil’ Eggroll, an extensive silent auction, open bar serving beer and wine, as well as food catered by Celtic Crossing. Guests must be 21 years of age or older to attend.

“What better way to reiterate the integral role literacy plays than by creatively addressing the issue through a form of pop culture that requires basic reading and comprehension skills to appreciate?” said Kevin Dean, executive director of Literacy Mid-South. “Reading is a foundational tool that hinders a high quality of life if the skill is lacked. And, with Super Gala speaking to a generation that understands the value of a great comic book, we expect supporters to connect with the overall purpose, and we anticipate a great event.”

Admission to the event is $50 per couple and $35 per individual and can be purchased online at literacymidsouth.org or by calling 901-327-6000. The event sponsors include Obsidian Public Relations; Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC; Celtic Crossing; and brg3s Architects. For more information about Literacy Mid-South, call 901-327-6000 or visit literacymidsouth.org.

By Corey Mesler
On September 23, Burke’s Book Store welcomes The Memphis Creative Non-fiction Workshop for a group of faculty readings. The readings will begin at 5:30pm. Those participating are Kristen Iversen, Neil White, Bob Cowser, and Kory Wells.
Kristen Iversen is the Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Memphis and is also Editor-in-Chief of The Pinch, an award-winning literary journal of prose, poetry, art, and photography. Her first book, Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth, won the Colorado Book Award and the Barbara Sudler Award for Nonfiction and led to extensive work with A & E Biography and The History Channel.
Neil White has been a newspaper editor, magazine publisher, advertising executive, and federal prisoner. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi where he operates a small publishing company, writes plays and essays, and teaches memoir writing. His memoir, In the Sanctuary of Outcasts (Morrow/HarperCollins), is about the year he lived with the last victims of leprosy in the continental United States and was released in June 2009. The book was described by Publisher’s Weekly as having “brisk, ironic, perceptive . . . White’s introspective memoir puts a magnifying glass to a flawed life, revealing that all of life is to be savored and respected.”
Bob Cowser, Jr. was born in New Haven, Connecticut and grew up in rural west Tennessee where his parents worked as college English teachers. Bob’s first book, Dream Season, published in 2004 by the Atlantic Monthly Press, was a New York Times Book Review “Editor’s Choice” and “Paperback Row” selection and was listed among The Chronicle of Higher Education’s best-ever college sports books.
Kory Wells is a mentor at Writer’s Loft at Middle Tennessee State University where she provides one-on-one guidance to students in this unique, low-residency creative writing program. Kory’s first poetry collection, Heaven Was the Moon, was published by March Street Press in fall 2009.
If there are any questions concerning this event, please contact Corey Mesler at 901-278-7484.

By Barb Elder
When I first moved to Cooper-Young I met Courtney Miller Santo before I ever picked up a copy of the LampLighter. When we met I remember someone saying, “She’s editor of the LampLighter.” I had to ask “What’s the LampLighter?” Over the next few years I because well acquainted with the CY neighborhood paper and with Courtney’s amazing work for our community.
Well, Courtney’s life has taken off in a new direction since moving on from the LampLighter. In the September 2011 issue of Memphis magazine there is a beautiful piece about the upcoming fiction book that Courtney is honing. Fresh out of the University of Memphis with a MFA in Creative Writing, she already has attracted an agent, a publisher, and a sweet contract for not one, but two books. Suffice it to say, many people are excited about her work! The title of her first book is Roots of the Olive Tree and is due out in summer 2012 from publisher William Morrow.
We will certainly keep the neighborhood up-to-date on Courtney’s accomplishments, but for now, congratulations Courtney! We are cheering you on and couldn’t be prouder!

By Mesha Crump
Literacy Mid-South will host its annual Cooper-Young Book Sale, sponsored by The Commercial Appeal, Saturday, September 17 from 9am to 5pm. The sale will take place at the Literacy Mid-South office located at 902 S. Cooper St. during the Cooper-Young Festival.
An appropriate reminder that reading is fundamental and essential to productivity in society, the Cooper-Young Book Sale aims to heighten awareness of illiteracy in the Mid-South and raise funds for the organization. More than 5000 books will be available for purchase, and each donation directly impacts a Literacy Mid-South student wanting to own basic reading and comprehension skills. In addition, literary enthusiasts are encouraged to donate $10 to attend the Book Sale Preview Hour from 8 to 9am, where book lovers will get first pick of amazing titles, as well as enjoy coffee and donuts.
“Literacy is an overpowering obstacle for many in our immediate community, and we host the Cooper-Young Book Sale to help further our mission to produce a completely literate Mid-South,” said Kevin Dean, executive director of Literacy Mid-South. “Reading ranks high on many hobby lists, and so does supporting a worthy cause. With the Cooper-Young Festival taking place in our midst, we anticipate a great event.”
Literacy Mid-South is a not-for-profit organization mobilizing the community to maximize the impact of child and adult literacy and learning through advocacy, research, family literacy workshops, and resource development. The organization boasts 50 years of devotion to the creation of a literate community through its comprehensive curriculum of programs that include the Academy Tutoring Project, adult learning, family literacy, community-wide reading initiatives, and the Literacy Mid-South Coalition. For more information about Literacy Mid-South, call 901-327-6000 or visit literacymidsouth.org.

By Mary Baker

The Idlewild Historic District Association gathered at Chimes and Occasions, 201 South Cooper, for a potluck dinner on July 5. Idlewild neighbors brought dishes that included spaghetti, fried chicken, vegetable salads, and deviled eggs. It all added up to a delicious and fun meal. Everyone was especially thrilled when Anne and Douglas Wood came in with a basket full of Ripley tomatoes.

Jerry Brown was in charge of selling raffle tickets for two raffle drawings: one for an Idlewild Historic District Plaque and one for an Idle While You Cook cookbook that features favorite recipes of Idlewild neighborhood residents. The plaque raffle drawing was all fair and square, not in any way influenced by the Ripley tomatoes. Nevertheless, everyone was pleased when Anne and Douglas Wood’s ticket was picked as the winner. Margo Mueller, Vice President of the Idlewild Association, won the cookbook.

Emily Bishop of Cooper-Young attended the potluck dinner as an invited special guest representing the LampLighter. Emily received a round of applause and an Idle While You Cook cookbook for helping Idlewild get our events, stories, and pictures in the LampLighter.

By Kimberly Richardson

Emile Zola’s powerful novel The Masterpiece is one that strikes me to my very core. As an award winning author and editor, I strive to deliver the best manuscripts to my publishers and will accept any form of criticism necessary to ensure sellable work. Yet, I refuse to allow my creative gift and the underlying passion to completely consume me. How many times have people given up everything for the sake of their art?

Claude, the main character of The Masterpiece, does exactly that. His obsession with painting the perfect female leads him down a path of blind fury, disdain for his wife Christine, and total blindness towards his sickly son Jacques. His love for women, naïve and somewhat twisted, reflects the fact that he is in love with the “perfect” woman, one that is impossible to paint and even more impossible to conceive. When he first meets Christine on the steps leading to his studio, she is a pale and sickly. He later discovers her to be a budding beauty not yet sullied by the ways of the world. He becomes obsessed with her form and figure, ultimately treating her as only bits and pieces of a body. Yet, even she does not compare to his ideal woman, for Christine eventually changes as she matures and bears their child while living in the poverty created by her ever absent husband.

Claude, like his fellow Bohemian friends, is driven by his obsession to be creative. It will kill them in the end, but they feel it is a death worth having. They will die doing what they truly love and yet hate at the same time. For as his closest friend Sandoz tells him, his life is nothing more than endlessly perfecting his art of writing all the while realizing that it will never be perfect. And yet, it is his life. While some of Claude’s friends turn their creativity into employment where all the passion is squeezed out, he continues down his maddening path of perfecting his woman in his never perfect painting of Paris. She must be perfect, no matter the cost. And, what is that cost? Is the price truly worth the “gift” of being creative and showing to the world what lies within the not-so-normal brain?

Art for art’s sake; that’s how the saying goes. And yet, it is more than that. Art for Life’s sake. Art for Sanity’s sake. Art for Not Dying’s sake. For Claude, it is for Woman’s sake, a woman that will never be his and will never appreciate him as an artist, lover, and husband. She will only be his Muse, taunting him from behind the curtains, revealing only a little bit of pure white flesh or a pink nipple to lure him and keep him guessing until the bitter end. She will love him from afar, always barely out of his reach for that is what she does. The Muse is here to play, taunt, tease, and keep the creative beings burning with passion of their gift, and they will always love her for it. I know I do.

By Sarah Falter

The grocery business began as a complicated service industry. Random pricing, inconsistent quantities, and prescriptive salesmen made grocery shopping burdensome. It took one brash Memphian with uncommon vision and unbridled ambition to change everything. Clarence Saunders worked his way out of poverty and obscurity to found Piggly Wiggly in 1916. With an unprecedented approach, he virtually invented the concept of the modern self-service grocery store. Stores flourished, franchises spread, and Saunders made millions. Yet just as the final bricks of the Pink Palace were being laid, Saunders went bankrupt, and he was forced to sell Piggly Wiggly. A variety of new ventures helped Saunders out of bankruptcy, but he never duplicated his prior success. Memphis historian Mike Freeman tracks the remarkable life of this retail visionary in Clarence Saunders & the Founding of Piggly Wiggly.

For over thirty years, Mike Freeman has made a career out of his love for Memphis and regional history. He and Cindy Hazen co-wrote two books about Elvis Presley – The Best of Elvis in 1992 and Memphis Elvis Style in 1997 – and a book based upon Patsy Cline’s letters, Love Always Patsy, Patsy Cline’s Letters to a Friend in 1999. Mike has also written or co-written magazine articles about the area’s fascinating personalities. In 2007, Mike helped create three DVDs – Elvis’ Memphis and Beyond Elvis’ Memphis with Artsmagic, Inc. (UK) and Elvis: Return to Tupelo with Michael Rose Productions. With his partner, Sue Mack, Mike continues to do research today and offers guided tours of the region. This biography of Clarence Saunders was actually his first project and his MA thesis. Until now only excerpts of this work were published in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly (1992) and Tennessee Encyclopedia (1997).

You can meet Mike at The Booksellers at Laurelwood (387 Perkins Road Extended) on July 26 at 6pm. This 160 page book is available in paperback for $19.99 through The History Press.

By Bard Cole

On Thursday, June 23, 7pm at First Congregational Church (1000 S. Cooper) writers from the University of Alabama’s Creative Writing program will be holding a fundraising event called “Tuscaloosa Ink: Alabama Writers in Memphis.” Proceeds from this event will go to the University of Alabama’s Acts of Kindness fund to assist students, faculty, and staff affected by the tornado in Tuscaloosa this past April.

The evening’s lineup will feature University of Alabama professor Michael Martone, author of Fort Wayne is Seventh on Hitler’s List, along with former and current students from Alabama’s MFA programs. The evening will also include a silent auction featuring signed work by notable Alabama authors such as Mark Childress (Crazy in Alabama), Warren St. John (Rammer Jammer Yellowhammer), cartoonist Howard Cruse (Stuck Rubber Baby), and other items including a gift subscription to Alabama Heritage magazine.

Admission to the event is $10. The event is co-sponsored by Bama on the Bluff (Alabama Alumni Association, Memphis Chapter).

By Kimberly Richardson
My review of Alexander Brown’s book Traumatized begins with a funny story. While I was a guest at the Southern Fried Comic Conference in Jackson, Mississippi last June, I had the pleasure of meeting Alex and picking up a copy of his book. It is a collection of short stories, so I thumbed through it and settled on a story entitled “From Midnight to One.” Fifteen minutes later, I was absolutely scared out of my mind and refused to read the rest of the book. Not only had Alex scared me beyond belief with such detail regarding three witches and their victims, but he had also shown just how far into the darkness he was willing to write. When I saw him at another conference, I politely told him that his book had scared the absolute crap out of me and that I could not read the rest of it. He, much to my surprise, found it to be quite a compliment that the Goth Librarian was terrified of his work.
Traumatized is not for the faint of heart. The stories are beyond conventional horror and yet done with an original style not to be matched by many others in the genre. The stories drip with great helpings of Southern Gothic while the unrelenting gore is just behind that door, curtain, or even shoebox. The stories begin with the set up of the plot and characters; however, one realizes quickly that all is not well and will not even resemble a fragment of sanity once the stories come to their own ends. Several stories that stood out in originality were “From Midnight to One” (of course!), “Live Through This” (a tale of obsession gone horribly, horribly wrong), “Two Miles” (Judgment Day in Hell), and “The Acquired Taste” (you’ll never want sushi again). These stories are excellent representatives of Splatterpunk; each story forces the readers to stare into a dark abyss that will not go away, no matter how many times we say our prayers at night.
If you like reading books that make the things that go bump in the night quiver in their boots, then Traumatized is for you. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.