Editor, The Commercial:
Fame is a fickle thing, selecting a few notable individuals while ignoring the majority, then fading over time. So is its flip side, notoriety, a form of fame for the wrong reasons.
History may record the accomplishments of many, but only those designated "most" will be long remembered.
There have been many famous Arkansans through the years, though only a handful have made it into history books. There have also been many notorious ones, yet even memories of those wane in time.
Gerald L.K. Smith had the dubious distinction of being both famous and notorious in his lifetime. A fire-and-brimstone preacher, he managed to stand out because he was an anti-Semitic Nazi sympathizer, and the latter oft outshone the former.
Then he got the wild idea for a giant Jesus in Arkansas, like the one in South America. Christ of the Ozarks (and the "Passion Play") brought him greater fame, and has been used to deflect attention from his notoriety.
Connie Hamzy never sought fame, but nevertheless had it thrust upon her (albeit in the form of a tongue-in-cheek infamy). There was never a "Connie Hamzy Show" on TV or radio, and she never chased fame like she did bands.
Had Grand Funk Railroad not sung her praises, she likely would have remained in obscurity, living the life she chose while pursuing musicians.
When Smith died, the media that had noted his exploits/accomplishments recounted them in detail.
When Hamzy died, the local TV stations (and likely DJs who had first given her fame) took note of her passing. An online check found that music websites quickly picked up the news, many quoting data garnered from past interviews.
After a couple of days, the state's main newspaper finally ran a notice online; it read as if it had been hastily cobbled from the faded memories of a handful of people.
Granted, Sweet Connie's accomplishments were not great, but they never cast the state in a negative light. She deserved better.
(So did the conclusion of the nation's longest war. Couldn't the typesetter find a 72-point typeface to declare "WAR ENDS"?)
D.H. Ridgway,
Pine Bluff