LITTLE ROCK — BACK IN THE LIMELIGHT:
Novelist Rick Bass’ Nashville Chrome, a fictionalized account of the 1950s country trio The Browns, has turned the spotlight back on the long-forgotten singing sensation.
The Browns - sisters Bonnie and Maxine and brother Jim Ed - reached their professional peak as a trio in the late 1950s, having run in the same circles as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline and even serving as musical mentors for the Beatles (who admired the group’s harmonies) in England.
Since the release of Bass’ novel, an Associated Press article on the book and The Browns has appeared in papers across the nation and in Canada. This past weekend, an interview with Bass on NPR has further reawakened the seldom-shared tale of The Browns’ mercuric rise to fame and fall into obscurity.
Maxine, who currently resides in North Little Rock, has long dreamed of a film being made to recount The Browns’ story. The continuing steam now being built by Bass’ tale might just be The Browns’ ticket to the silver screen.
VIRTUE OF PATIENCE:
Former governor and presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has a new Christmas book this year - this one a picture book for children ages 4 to 8 and titled Can’t Wait Till Christmas. The book, published by Penguin Young Readers Group’s G.P. Putnam’s Sons and retailing for $17.99, is based on “Patience,” one of the dozen true stories Huckabee shared in his 1999 book, A Simple Christmas which became a New York Times bestseller. Huckabee will promote his new book and a reissue of A Simple Christmas with a 31-city bus tour in November and December.
TEAM EFFORT:
In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, here’s a little more detail regarding the Little Rock Zoo’s circa 1924 Over-the-Jumps carousel mentioned here recently as a time capsule was being placed inside one of the final horses to be restored.
While local preservation artist Becky Witsell worked to restore the Little Rock Zoo’s historic Over-The-Jumps carousel during its early days prior to 1997 and more recently since 2009 on a current round of restoration, conservation and restoration specialist Rick Parker of Gentry and his associate Bob Pennick completed the bulk of the restoration work in the years in between. Others working on the horses in the work’s early days included Pete Sixbey and Andrew Zawacki while Yelena Petroukhina and Collin Miles assisted Witsell with the current restoration work.
WHO’S ON FIRST?
The Guess Who (minus former lead singer and keyboardist Burton Cummings) at 8 p.m., Oct. 8 at the Arkansas State Fair, filling in for Tesla, which canceled its appearance.
Paper Trails appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact Linda Caillouet at (501) 399-3636 or at lcaillouet@arkansasonline.com.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 09/29/2010