READERS SPEAK OUT

Dish Readers Speak Out!

Thanks to all of you who have e-mailed us with your comments, observations, criticism (and praise, from time to time). We appreciate the time you have taken to communicate with us, and encourage you to continue to let us know what you are thinking! Please, don't be shy!

Following are some e-mails we thought you'd find interesting!

On TAD PIERSON'S MEMPHIS, in the TRAVEL SECTION of this issue:

Your article on Memphis and Tad Pierson was very well done for the most part. However, to say downtown Memphis is "essentially unchanged since the day Martin Luther King Jr. was tragically murdered at the Lorraine Motel," and "that stopped changing in the '60's," is a GROSS misstatement on your writer's part. What about Beale St.? All of it was redeveloped just within the last 10-15 years and now ranks only behind Bourbon Street as the most popular district of its kind in the nation.

Did your writer see all the construction going on downtown--the cranes, the cement trucks, the front- end loaders?? Within the next two years Memphis will have a brand new baseball stadium for its AAA team (April 2000), a Gibson guitar plant and Smithsonian exhibit (May/June 2000), an entertainment and retail complex near the Peabody Hotel (November 2000) and a completely renovated and expanded convention center (May 2001). While it is important for Memphians and tourists alike to cherish its unique history, at the same time to suggest that the city is grounded and lacks vision because of it is nothing but a misguided opinion--one that may be reserved for editorial comment--but not in the scope of an article such as this.

Signed, Joel F.

EDITOR: Thanks for the additional info! We think Memphis is a great, fun and interesting place!

Regarding CHARLIE AND PATSY: FOREVER AFTER, in the CELEBRITY section:

Loved your recent Patsy Cline article. It is one of the nicest I have read in some time. There is a color photo where Patsy is surrounded by some fans. She is at a counter. If you got this off the web, you are using a photo from my collection without giving me credit. Please give me credit for this; it is not from the Country Music Hall of Fame. Did you get it from Charlie? The photo was originally taken by Betty Lacey. Let's give everyone fair credit.

Thanks, Jimmy Walker

EDITOR: In fact, we did get the photo from the Country Music Hall of Fame! However, the print they have in their collection was unattributed; they did not know where it came from or who the photographer was. Dishmag (and the archivist at the Hall of Fame) appreciates the information you have provided. We do try to correctly credit all photos whenever possible! Thanks for letting us know!

Regarding PATSY CLINE, another reader commented:

I just read the article about Patsy Cline. Not bad, but a lot of wrong info...Just thought you might like to know. Patsy & Charlie married in 1957. Had a child in 1958. Moved to Nashville around 1960. Her car accident was in 1961. The picture of her "parents" is NOT her parents. Her father's name was NOT Bill. Her plane did NOT crash into a mountain...that was just the way the movie about her life showed that there was a plane crash. There are all kinds of places that the correct info could be gotten...check out the net...

Signed, A.C.

EDITOR: We asked the writer about the errors, and she said she just told the story the way Charlie told it to her... none-the-less, as you can see, we made the changes as you suggested! We appreciate the information!

Again, regarding PATSY CLINE:

As a personal friend of Charlie Dick's, I greatly appreciated the article about Patsy Cline and Charlie Dick's enduring relationship. It's nice to see such a positive article.

Signed, GAIL B.

EDITOR: We think so, too. Thanks.