Four Bright Spots

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FOUR BRIGHT SPOTS

Rememberances by Eric Steiner

March is a difficult month for me. This year, March 30th is the first anniversary of my Mother’s death in an auto accident.

March of 2006 was special, too. In less than one week, four men I looked to for inspiration in the arts, music, and sports, died.

That said, I would like to honor the memories of Gordon Parks, Willie Kent, Ali Farka Toure, and Kirby Puckett.

GORDON PARKS

Gordon Parks was a pioneer and a Renaissance man. Growing up in Kansas, he heard the siren’s call from the Plains to the bright lights of New York and Chicago.

While Gordon was a photographer, filmmaker, author and basketball player, his first job was playing upright piano in a house of ill repute. Parks later volunteered for President Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, and joined the Farm Security Administration after earning a prestigious Julius Rosenwald Fellowship for documentary photography of life in Chicago’s slums.

He worked at the South Side Community Art Center in Bronzeville, the lone surviving center (of 110 arts centers) created by the Works Progress Administration.

Like Rosenwald, Parks worked to bridge races and cultures: Julius was a cofounder of the Museum of Science and Industry, and an executive with Sears-Roebuck; his philanthropy supported 25 YMCA/YWCAs in African American communities (as other Y’s served whites only at the time).

Parks is perhaps best known for films like “Shaft,” “Leadbelly,” “The Learning Tree,” but his legacy includes 20 years’ work as a photographer for LIFE magazine, a piano concerto, a symphony, two sonatas, a ballet, and three film scores.

His 2005 memoir, A Hungry Heart (Atria Books) offers a glimpse into a rare talent. Parks’ elegant work in Vogue and Playboy set the standard for fashion photography, a career that Gordon Parks first explored on the streets of Seattle in 1937 with a $12.50 pawn shop camera.

WILLIE KENT

Willie Kent lost his 18-month battle with cancer. I’ve shouted about him in these pages before, and it’s safe to say that Gino Battaglia’s Blue Chicago nightclubs will miss Willie’s bass, vocals and skills as a bandleader.

Willie Kent and the Gents were Gino’s house band for two decades, and like Chicago blues greats before him (Muddy Waters, for one), Willie nurtured the careers of younger performers like Bonnie Lee and Patricia Scott.

Turn up his fourth Delmark CD, Make Room for the Blues and discover one of the finest examples of classic Chicago blues, thanks to Willie Kent.

ALI FARKA TOURE

I discovered the music of Ali Farka Toure through the Martin Scorsese’s Year of the Blues series.

In “Feel Like Going Home,” Corey Harris plays with Toure and his fellow Malian guitarist Habib Koite.

Harris later recorded the CD Mississippi to Mali for Rounder along with Delta bluesmen Sam Carr and Bobby Rush. Toure’s hypnotic way with the guitar blends traditional African and Mississippi blues, and my favorite record in the world beat/world blues genre is the 1994 Hannibal release of Talking Timbuktu from Toure and Ry Cooder.

Talking Timbuktu won the Grammy for “Best World Music Album”. This year, his collaboration with Malian griot Toumani Diabaté, In the Heart of the Moon, (Nonesuch) earned Toure another Grammy.

KIRBY PUCKETT

Triton College and Calumet High School alum Kirby Puckett grew up as the youngest of nine in Robert Taylor Homes.

While the wrecking ball has flattened this public housing project, many young people will learn from his legacy. The Chicago Black Baseball League will be renamed for Puckett as well as a community-based nutrition program.

While Hall of Famer Puckett faced some difficult challenges after an eye injury took his sight, I hope he’ll be remembered by the way he played centerfield and hit (career average .318) for the Minnesota Twins. Kirby reminded me of Walter “No Neck” Williams barreling down first base for the Chicago White Sox: both players were short, stocky and tenacious.

When I last saw him play against the Seattle Mariners, no players’ smile beamed brighter than No. 34’s in centerfield, win or lose.

This month, celebrate the lives of Gordon Parks, Willie Kent and Ali Farka Toure by buying their music or learning more about their lives.

In Kirby Puckett’s case, honor his memory by supporting youth baseball in your community. Each of these men’s lives have taught me the importance of persistence, and when I read Gordon Parks’ letters to his son serving in Vietnam, I learned that nothing can replace the well-placed words of a thoughtful father, friend, or mentor in challenging times.

Thank you, dear gentlemen, for lives well-lived.

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