Signature Memphis
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August
Steve Pike Director, Pink Palace Family of Museums Hometown: Evansville, Indiana Favorite Song: “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty Your Lucky Charm: The photo of my Dad, age 22, Commandant of Cadets, US Army Air Corps, Montgomery, Alabama. 130 lbs., straight as rebar, sword at his side
Your Best Quality: Humility. Seriously, a good question to ask others. What I am
WORKING on (I am certainly not there) is summed up in the Serenity Prayer - the real one, not the Seinfeld version. That one I am trying to unlearn.
A Nonliving Celebrity/Role Model You Would Invite to Dinner:
President and General Ulysses S. Grant--I’d expect grit and naiveté, soft-heartedness and unbreakable will.
Your Favorite Memphis “Thang”: Being with someone who’s not
from here when a “Made in Memphis” song plays and telling them where it came from.
Favorite Place to Travel: Israel. It’s like New York on speed.
Ferociously passionate people. Massive contradictions. And a real love of children.
Best Memphis Hangout: The library. And as a museum guy, I am soooo jealous they can be free.
Place You Go to Think: My back yard, especially pre-dawn. It looks out on 50 acres
of forest. I love how day happens.
Favorite Southern Idiom: All Y’all Best Advice You Ever Got: It’s all about love and trust. Proudest Moment of Your Life: Just now, seeing my oldest son, Joseph, in Army
Something You’ll Never Live Down: Introducing Henry Kissinger as a “Man who needs no introduction.” His first words were, “Yes, but he would have liked one.” I am 100% sure he does not remember this. But ouch! One Goal You’d Still Like
to
Accomplish: There is so much I want for the
Pink Palace, Lichterman, Mallory-Neely, Magevney, Coon Creek. If I had to pick just ONE thing, it would be to find a way to make it all free.
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RSVP
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August 2019
Photo by Steve Roberts
Basic Training, Ft. Benning. He’s halfway through. On the parade ground he looked like a warrior, a man you would go a long way to avoid. Afterward, with the family, his sweet smile, his intelligence, and his shy charm showed through just like before.