kudzu telegraph

Tucked and Untucked

John Lane — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:07:01 -0500

Several years ago I was at Evergreen State College in Washington State for a conference with a number of my Wofford College colleagues. Evergreen is one of the most liberal schools in the country. They don't have grades or a football team. There's a student work-study position for retrieving recyclables from garbage cans on campus. On their official seal is the Latin phrase, "Omnia Extares," or loosely translated, "Let it all hang out."

The Passing of the Perfect Reader

John Lane — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:48:17 -0500

Let us pause for a moment of silence for beloved professor, friend, columnist, and book reviewer Larry McGehee. Larry passed last month, and his regular column Southern Seen (often printed in these pages) has now also settled into the literary and social history he so loved.

Ye Olde Waffle Shop

John Lane — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:45:18 -0500

There is a great deal of talk in the current election cycle about what is real and what is fake. Who is a real American? Where is the "real" Virginia? Who is more "real"-Joe the Plumber or the latte liberal? It seems to be a watershed year for reality.

Downtown Tipi Village

John Lane — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:41:38 -0500

Hub-Bub artist-in-residence Sarah Witt is an installation/performance artist, and when she has an art idea, it's most likely bigger than something a frame can hold and it requires multiple trips to the hardware store.

Real Markets, Real Value

John Lane — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 10:00:27 -0400

When I think about markets I always think of the huge sprawling city market in Merida, Mexico, where I walked once years ago and saw stall upon stall of exotic tropical fares trucked, carried, and brought by donkey cart in from the surrounding bush.

Dog Time

John Lane — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 09:57:15 -0400

This morning I slept later than I usually do, and I'm in a little bit of a panic. My alarm clock is gone. I've always had a dog to get me up, and I've written this column on dog time every Monday. But a little over a week ago Toby's cancer got the better of him. He was almost 13, and that's a lot of dog years. Now he's gone, our house is dogless, and I'm sleeping later.

The Garden on the Hill

John Lane — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 09:53:09 -0400

This past weekend when I flew to Vermont for an environmental studies conference at Middlebury College I knew I would be impressed by the elite liberal arts school's efforts at "greening" its campus, curriculum, and student body. After all, Middlebury received a grade of A- on the College Sustainability Report Card for 2008. Furman, the greenest school in our region, scored B- on the same report.

The Long Haul

John Lane — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 09:48:28 -0400

On Saturday I paddled my canoe above the dam at Glendale. It was a warm late summer day, and yellow-bellied and painted turtles were basking on debris along the old mill pond's far shore. It couldn't have been more beautiful, and I couldn't have been more happy.

Closing the Land-Use Frontier

John Lane — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:25:49 -0400

In 1893 the American frontier was declared officially closed in an essay written by Frederick Jackson Turner. Back then, the East was civilized and settled, and the West was the frontier, "another name for opportunity," a place with free land, little law or government, and no regulation.

Remembering the Everglades

John Lane — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:51:01 -0400

Last week the state of Florida announced a monumental conservation agreement as big as anything ever achieved out west-a $1.75 billion deal to buy 187,000 acres of farmland from U.S. Sugar and use much of it in the Everglades' $10 billion restoration project.