Music and Memories
Tunes, awards, and confronting the past.
Welcome to our Music Issue, focusing on 20 performers and bands that boast Orlando roots, from folk rock to jazz, blues to metal. Most of these artists make their marks performing locally while others tour all over the country and world. Read their stories and what they’re up to in our special section, which also includes a guide to some of the best music venues in town.
Elsewhere this month, writer Peter Kerasotis provides insight into what makes Frank Vogel tick, as the new Magic coach talks about his winning philosophy, his players’ roles, his excitement about living in Orlando—and a special trick with a toothbrush and basketball he learned as a kid. Kerasotis also delivers a heartfelt tribute to golfing great Arnold Palmer. In our Dine section, critic Joseph Hayes reveals that Norman Van Aken’s 1921 restaurant is a stunning addition to the Central Florida dining scene. And yours truly relates what it’s like to enjoy a golf resort that’s literally in the middle of nowhere.
And now a bit of tooting our own horn: Your city magazine recently won eight awards of excellence from the Florida Magazine Association, including two first-place Charlie Awards. The winners:
Best Feature Design, Consumer Magazines, 20k-50k Circulation, Charlie Award for “Invasion of the Burgers,'' October 2015; Christine Dupont, Elly Walton, Roberto Gonzalez, Joseph Hayes, Barry Glenn.
Best Typography, Charlie Award for “Invasion of the Burgers,’’ October 2015; Christine Dupont, Elly Walton, Joseph Hayes, Barry Glenn.
Best Feature Writing, Consumer Magazine, 20k-50k Circulation, Silver Award for “Committed to Memory,’’ (about The Groveland Four case), May 2015; Gary McKechnie, Nancy Howell; editor, Barry Glenn.
Best Column, All Consumer Magazines, Silver Award for “Letter From the Editor’’ columns; Barry Glenn.
Best Use of Photography, All Consumer Magazines, Silver Award for Multiple Issues; Christine Dupont, Anna Ware, Roberto Gonzalez.
Best Illustration, Silver Award for “Answer the Clue Phone’’ (for Extra Pulp column), April 2016; David Vallejo, Christine Dupont.
Best Single Department Photograph, All Consumer Magazines, Bronze Award for “Story of a…Knight,’’ November, 2015; Roberto Gonzalez, Christine Dupont.
Best Feature Design, Consumer Magazines, 20k-50k Circulation, Bronze Award for “Fun Things to Do With the Kids,’’ January 2016; Christine Dupont, Brian Nutt, Roberto Gonzalez.
One of the editor’s columns I was honored for was “A Murder in Georgia,’’ which recounted the 1964 killing of black Army reservist and educator Lemuel Penn by the Ku Klux Klan just a few miles from my childhood home in Colbert, Ga. The Klansmen pulled alongside Penn’s car on a bridge over the Broad River and opened fire with shotguns, killing him instantly. I wrote about how, from that time until our family moved from Colbert in 1968, I ducked out of sight in fear every time our car crossed that bridge.
This past September, while on vacation, I returned to the Broad River bridge for the first time in 48 years. As my car cleared the rise and began the slight descent toward the crossing, I pulled off the road next to a historical sign detailing what had happened there. It told about how the two Klansmen were acquitted by a local jury but were prosecuted under the then-new Civil Rights Act (they served just six years in prison). The sign also noted that the case was instrumental in the creation of a Justice Department task force whose work culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
The span that had haunted me looked about half the length that I had remembered as a boy. As I walked toward it, I realized that the passage of time had erased my fear. But, given the racial divide still so prevalent today, not the feeling of extreme sadness.
BARRY GLENN
