department
CONTENTS SENSE GOES MULTI-MEDIA
6
THEY SPEAK Contributors
9
IN THE LOOP
13
THE SENSE OF IT ALL
14
MARKETPLACE Waterway district
16
CUISINE An adventure, foolishly sought by an amateur
22
DESIGN Setting Sail
33
GREENSENSE Weed Control
37
WELLNESS Spinning into Spring
40
LITERATI Roots
BEING THERE: Must-sees and have-to-dos throughout the South
COUSIN LEROY SPEAKS
22 16 33 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9 / APRIL 2014
Issues-oriented Sense magazine gives voice to diver se political opinions but does not endor se the opinions or reflect the views e x p r e s s e d h e r e i n . Yo u a r e w e l c o m e t o s u b m i t y o u r O p - E d p i e c e v i a e m a i l t o e d i t o r @ t h e s e n s e o f i t a l l . c o m .
2 | APRIL 2014
spotlight 14
7
Dauphin Island Race A 56-YEAR TRADITION
views
37
AND NEWS
34
THE WHY OF WRITING
35
BETWEEN THE LINES
38
Q&A
Roy Hoffman talks about what inspires him to write
Recommended Reading from Page & Palette
Author Suzanne Rindall talks about her stunning first novel
SENSE MAGAZINE | 3
SINUS RELIEF IS HERE Sinusitis affects 37 million Americans each year, making it one of the most common health problems
ENSE
ECLECTIC INTELLECT FOR THE SOUL
PUBLISHER Jamie Seelye Leatherbury VIEWS AND NEWS EDITOR
Stephanie Emrich
COPY EDITOR Emily Hill ART DIRECTOR Ronda Gibney-Burns CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Briana Collins Anna DeWine Emily Hill Melinda Myers CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Matt Gates Pat Reynolds Oyster Yachts Beneteau Jeanneu Leopard Catamaran Global Yacht Sales ADVERTISE WITH US sales@thesenseofitall.com EMAIL US editor@thesenseofitall.com art@thesenseofitall.com events@thesenseofitall.com SENSE OFFICES 251 South Greeno Road Fairhope, Alabama 36532 Tel (251) 604-8827 Fax (251) 990-6603
Experience the breakthrough technology to relieve your sinus discomfort with Balloon Sinuplasty™ Quick Recovery Time • Local Anesthesia • Covered by many insurance plans & Medicare Minimally Invasive • Back to work in less than 24 hours
Medical
Serving Mobile & Baldwin County Call for more Information to see if you’re a candidate for this new In-Office procedure 251-341-3300
Dr. Alfred M. Neumann, Jr., MD Board Certified Otolaryngologist
4 | APRIL 2014
7101 US Hwy 90 Suite 204 • Daphne 770 Middle Street Suite B • Fairhope 3701 Dauphin Street • Mobile
www.premiermedicalgrp.com
Sense is published and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License by Eco-Urban Media, a division of Eco-Urbaneering Corporation. Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright and the public domain. For more information go to http://www.creativecommons.org and http://creativecommons.org/about/ licenses/ and http://www.theSenseofitAll.com. All content of Sense is copyrighted. However, Sense also works under Creative Commons licensing guidelines for works published in Sense by contributing writers, artists and photographers. All rights to works submitted to and published by Sense will revert in their entirety to the respective contributing authors, artists and photographers 120 days after publication. At Sense, we believe this policy promotes journalistic independence and fosters mutual goodwill between the publisher and the contributing writers, artists and photographers..
SENSE MAGAZINE | 5
| THEY SPEAK
CONTRIBUTORS “I would sail to Greece. I’ve never been but have seen pictures of how gorgeous it is. I would love to taste the food, see the beaches and experience the architecture and history it has to offer.”
- Briana Collins, Writer “I’d sail around all of the Greek islands because I think it would be so colorful, peaceful, and beautiful!”
If you could sail anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
- Anna DeWine, Writer
“If I could sail anywhere in the world I would sail to Italy. It would be the most epic and amazing experience to be able to sail into a port near Rome.”
- Matt Gates, Photographer
“If I could (and had to) sail anywhere in the world I would sail to Tampa, Florida. I’m more of a plane type of girl, and don’t think I’d last too long on a boat, so if I had to sail I’d go to Tampa and that would be enough for me!”
- Emily Hill, Writer WANT TO BECOME A SENSE CONTRIBUTOR? Sense is always looking for new talent. If you are interested in becoming part of the Sense team, e-mail us at editor@thesenseofitall.com.
6 | APRIL 2014
| SPOT L I G H T
Buccaneer Yacht Club to Continue 56-year tradition of the
Dauphin Island Race
TEXT BY BRIANA COLLINS | PHOTO BY PAT REYNOLDS
In 1958, the Dauphin Island Businessmen Association was faced with a seemingly simple, but actually daunting task: attract people to the island. They came up with the idea to start a boating race. Today, that association has transformed into the Chamber of Commerce, but 56 years later, the boat race tradition still stands. This year, husband and wife duo Margaret and Harvie Jordan have accepted the gauntlet as co-chairs for the event.
This is the Jordan’s first year co-chairing, but they’re no strangers to boating. They have been members of the Buccaneer Yacht Club in Mobile for 15 years and have been involved with the race every time their club hosts it. They enjoy hosting and getting to catch up with old friends. “It’s a big reunion for a lot of people,” Harvie Jordan said. “You have people who keep boats on the bay or in nearby areas who actually come from other places to sail this race. They don’t see each other except maybe at this race.”
The historic sailing yacht Destiny, designed by famed naval architect William Atkin, has a history of fame itself, having been featured on the CBS series “The Mentalist,” and in several sailing magazines including The Mariner and Cruising Outpost. Current owners and Dauphin Island, Ala. residents Captain Jim Cash and wife Valerie will be displaying Destiny at the Gulf Port Boat show April 3-6, and will be available to discuss the yacht’s history. Destiny will also make an appearance in this year’s Dauphin Island Race.
This year’s race will take place April 26. It’s the largest pointto-point race in the United States based on the number of entries. In past years, the race has had as many as 285 boats, but recently, the average number of boats entered is 175. The Jordans say that Katrina is to fault for the decrease. “After Katrina, a lot of people did not replace larger boats… that string of hurricanes from Ivan through Katrina really hit the boat population hard,” said Harvie Jordan. The race runs from north of Gailliard Island to the Dauphin Island bridge and is 20-miles long. Afterwards, there’s a party and trophy presentation in Aloe Bay. The trophy presentation awards 20 “perpetual trophies,” meaning the trophies are engraved annually with the winners’ names. “Each trophy is awarded for a different thing,” said Margaret Jordan. “Like, there’s a perpetual for all female crew, there’s perpetual for first Buccaneer to cross the line, for the club with the most cumulative points for all the boats racing for their club.” People want these coveted trophies for bragging rights and to show off in their homes for the year. “A lot of the trophies are over 50 years old,” said Margaret Jordan.
The Dauphin Island Race will take place April 26 and registration is open to the public until the week of the race. Anyone with a boat 19-feet or longer and qualified to sail can register. Go to bucyc.com for more information or to download a registration form.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 7
8 | APRIL 2014
| IN THE LOOP
TOP
10
APRIL EVENTS
1 Ridgeland Fine Arts Festival APRIL 5 & 6 | RIDGELAND, MS
Fine art and fine wine come together during the showcase of the Ridgeland Fine Arts Festival (RFAF) and Santé South Wine Festival, two signature metro area events to be held collectively for the first time April 5-6, 2014 at Ridgeland Mississippi’s Renaissance at Colony Park. Enjoy a splendid weekend of events that showcases some of America’s finest artists offering artwork that is creative, inventive and unique. Visit ridgelandartsfest.com for more information
2
Serve It Up With Love Tennis Tournament APRIL 10 & 12 | MOBILE, AL
The 9th Annual Serve It Up With Love Tennis Tournament held at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center is scheduled for April 10th and 12th, 2014. We welcome you to come on out and support a Great Tournament in our Community. The tournament, which was named Charity Event of the Year by USTA Alabama for 2012, benefits the Mobile Child Advocacy Center and has raised almost $280,000 in its first 7 years. This is money greatly needed to fund services for abused children in our community. Visit Serveitupwithlove. com for more information.
3
Delta Woods & Waters Expo - Discover the Delta APRIL 26 | SPANISH FORT, AL
The Delta Woods & Waters Expo in Spanish Fort will include a boat display of Stauter Boats and other classic wooden boats. The Expo is held each year to celebrate and highlight all that is the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and it’s a natural fit to include these boats for others to see and enjoy. If you have a Stauter-Built or classic wooden boat or know of someone who does, please contact Donna at Spanish Fort City Hall, 251-626-4993, for more information. The event is admission-free.Visit deltawoodsandwatersexpo.com
4
Magnolia Springs Seafood Celebration APRIL 12 | MAGNOLIA SPRINGS, AL
The Magnolia Springs Seafood Celebration is a festival that celebrates our most abundant resource, our fresh local seafood. It is an event with a combination of arts, fine wines, fabulous seafood dishes, beer, and the best of our live local music (this year’s music lineup is incredible and includes Emily Stuckey, Delta Reign and Willie Sugarcapps). A portion of our proceeds will be donated to the Preservation Fund for the 118 yr old Magnolia Springs Community Hall. Visit magnoliaspringsseafoodcelebration.com for more information.
5
The Great Firkin Fest APRIL 5 | MOBILE, AL
Mobile’s first-ever Great Firkin Fest, an event featuring specialty cask ale in a starring role and a performance by prolific, genre-jumping guitarist Keller Williams on the side. Presented by Moe’s original Bar B Que and Budweiser-Busch Distributing, the Great Firkin Fest will take place April 5, a Saturday, at the Moe’s at 701 Spring Hill Avenue in downtown Mobile.
6
7
Mullet Toss APRIL 25-27 | ORANGE BEACH, AL
A Mullet Toss consists of individuals on the beach throwing a mullet, from a 10-foot circle in Alabama across the state line into Florida. Not to mention a great excuse to throw a weekend long party, with lots of fun activities, great music and food! This year’s event will feature local celebrities tossing out a few fish at noon, each day (Friday, Saturday & Sunday).Visit www.florabama.com for more information.
8
Merle Haggard APRIL 24 | PENSACOLA, FL
The man behind country music’s working man’s anthems, legendary troubadour MERLE HAGGARD has hung his soul on the line with dozens of songs that tell tales of hard living. Ever the lonesome fugitive, outlaw and flesh-and-bones performer, Haggard weaves his one-of-a-kind vocal textures, lead guitar and fiddle to reveal the heart and soul of a musician who may be the most well-rounded country talent ever to take the stage. For more information or tickets visit www. pensacolasaenger.com
9
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival APRIL 25 - 27 & MAY 1-4 | NEW ORLEANS, LA
The lineup for this year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is out, with Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Christina Aguilera, Phish and Arcade Fire among the major artists tapped to mark the event’s 45th anniversary over two weekends this spring. Jazz Fest will take over the Fair Grounds Race Course on April 25-27 and May 1-4. For tickets or more information, visit www.nojazzfest.com
10
5th Annual Bald Eagle Bash APRIL 26 | FAIRHOPE, AL
The 5th annual fundraiser for the Weeks Bay Foundation, the only nationally accredited land trust in coastal Alabama, will be held on April 26, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the waterfront Tonsmeire Weeks Bay Resource Center at the Fish River Bridge on U.S. Highway 98 in Fairhope. Enjoy “a taste of Weeks Bay” featuring fresh Gulf shrimp prepared by top local restaurants. Live music by Modern Eldorados. Visit www. baldeaglebash.com for more information.
Russian Festival APRIL 12 & 13 | MOBILE, AL
Blind since birth and the Van Cliburn Gold Medal WInner, pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii joins the Mobile Symphony for a celebrations of Russian music that includes Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Shostakovich’s Festive Overture and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. Audiences addored last season’s Russian Revolutionaries. This concert will certainly satisfy those who were begging for more! Visit mobilesymphony.org to purchase tickets.
Although we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the Top 10 information, you should always call ahead to conf irm dates, times, location, and other information.
Submit events to events@thesenseofitall.com SENSE MAGAZINE | 9
| IN THE LOOP
BOOK IT 1
Read It & Eat with Beatriz Williams APRIL 2 | PAGE & PALETTE
A Hundred Summers is one of summer’s best beach reads, as named by People magazine, Vanity Fair, O: The Oprah Magazine and Good Housekeeping. Join us at noon as we host a luncheon and book signing with best-selling author Beatriz Williams. This event is free and open to the public. Call the store to reserve lunch for $10.
2
Read It & Eat with Suzanne Rindell APRIL 3 | PAGE & PALETTE
Join us at 1 p.m. as we host Suzanne Rindell to sign and discuss her debut novel The Other Typist. This event is free and open to the public, and guests may call the bookstore to reserve lunch for $10. “Take a dollop of Alfred Hitchcock, a dollop of Patricia Highsmith, throw in some Great Gatsby flourishes, and the result is Rindell’s debut, a pitch-black comedy about a police stenographer accused of murder in 1920s Manhattan...A deliciously addictive, cinematically influenced page-turner, both comic and provocative.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
3
Roy Hoffman
APRIL 10 | PAGE & PALETTE
Page and Palette is excited to host Roy Hoffman to sign and discuss his latest novel Come Landfall beginning at 6 p.m. at the bookstore. Set along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the stories of three women and the men they love come together in this novel of war and hurricanes, loss and renewal.
4
Greg Gutfeld
APRIL 13 | PAGE & PALETTE
Join us at the bookstore at 7 p.m. as we host Fox News Channel’s Greg Gutfeld, host of “Red Eye” and co-host of the political talk show “The Five,” to sign copies of his new book Not Cool: The Hipster Elite and Their War on You.
5
Read It & Eat with Justin Go APRIL 17 | PAGE & PALETTE
The Steady Running of the Hour announces the arrival of a stunningly talented author. Part love story, part historical tour de force, Justin Go’s novel is utterly compelling, unpredictable, and heartrending. Justin will sign and discuss his new novel beginning at noon at the bookstore. This event is free and open to the public, and guests may call the bookstore to reserve lunch for $10.
10 | APRIL 2014
HERE’S WHERE TO FIND US...
MOBILE A & M Yacht Sales Alabama Coastal Foundation Apricot Lane Ashland Gallery Ashland Pub Atchison Imports Atlanta Bread Company Azakea City Physicians for Women Ballin’s Limited Renaissance Battle House Hotel Bay Area Physicians for Women Bebo’s Springhill Market Bicycle Shop Bliss Salon & Day Spa Blue Rents Bradley’s Café 615 Callaghan’s Irish Social Club Camille’s Grill Candlewood Suites Carpe Diem Coffee & Tea Company Carter & Co Cathedral Square Art Gallery Chat A Way Café Center for Living Arts Center for Dermatology Claude Moore Jeweler Cold Snap @ Old Shell Road Debra’s Delish’s Desserts & Eatery Downtown Mobile Alliance Dragonfly Boutique Estetica Coiffure Exploreum Science Center Fort Conde Inn Fort Conde Welcome Center Fuego Coastal Mexican Eatery Goldstein’s Hampton Inn Downtown Hemline Holiday, Inc Iberia Bank Legacy Bar & Grill
FAIRHOPE/POINT CLEAR LLB&B Realty Martha Rutledge Catering McCoy Outdoor Company Mercedes Benz of Mobile Mobile Arts Council, Inc. Mobile Bay Bears Mobile Infirmary Office Tower Mobile Museum of Art Mobile Regional Airport Mobile Symphony Orchestra Red Or White Satori Coffee House Serda’s @ Royal Street Shoe Fly Something New Bridal Springhill Family Pharmacy Spoke ‘N Trail The Bull The Ivy Cottage The Union Steak House Thompson Engineering Tmac’s Hair Studio Twists Cupcakes @ Legacy USA Mitchell Cancer Institute Wintzell’s Airport Wintzell’s Downtown Zoe’s Kitchen Zundel’s Jewelry DAPHNE Advance America Allegri Farmers Market Baldwin Bone & Joint Baumhower’s Wings Comfort Inn Daphne Library East Shore Café Glamour Nails Guido’s Hampton Inn Hilton Garden Inn Homewood Suites of Daphne
Infirmary West Lake Forest Shell Market by the Bay Moe’s Barbeque Publix Rosie’s Grill The UPS Store Thomas Hospital Thomas Medical Plaza SPANISH FORT Barnes And Noble Bayside Chiropractic Don Carlos Eastern Shore Toyota Malbis Parkway Pediatric Dentistry McMurphy Orthodontics Magestic Nails Mellow Mushroom Private Gallery @ Spanish Fort Tom Bierster Fine Homebuilding & Restoration Twist @ ESC Wintzell’s SOUTH BALDWIN COUNTY Beach Club Bimini Bob’s Cobalt Cosmo’s Restaurant and Bar Jesse’s Kaiser Realty Lulu’s Meyer Realty M II the Wharf Prickett Real Estate The Hangout Turquoise Tin Top Restaurant Villaggio Grille
Agave Mexican Battles Wharf Market Bayside Orthopedics Bean & Bistro Belle Shain Boxwood Bouche’s Cigars Brown & McCool Gynecology Chasing Fresh Coffee Loft Cold Snap Dragonfly Restaurant Eastbay Clothiers Eastern Shore Art Center Eastern Shore Heart Center Estate Jewelers Fairhope Inn Fairhope Library Fairhope Music Fairhope Physical Therapy Gigi & Jays Hair Designs by Ann Rabin Hampton Flooring & Design Hampton Inn Happy Olive Iberia Bank Leatherbury Real Estate Lyon’s Share Gallery Market by the Bay Master Joe’s Page & Palette Panini Pete’s Papa’s Pizza Private Gallery Project Mouvement in Art Publix Red or White Sadie’s of Fairhope Shanghai Cottage Southern Edge Dance Center Southern Veranda Marriott’s Grand Hotel
Sense is distributed to over 100 locations throughout Alabama’s Gulf Coast. Because we are in the business of promoting the economy and design in Gulf Coast communities, we distribute through our advertisers and local businesses. We feel that this brings the opportunity to exchange ideas, encourage conversation, and support the local economy. It will also move us forward by furthering thought for our future and how we wish to design it, resulting in participation by each of us in weaving the fabric that is our Sense of Community.
12 | APRIL 2014
| THE SENSE OF IT ALL
L E ROY
S P E A K S :
O U T S I DE
TH E
BOX.
C O U S I N
When I was growing up, boaters were responsible for damages caused by their wake. Sometimes you were fine going nearly full throttle, and sometimes you needed to slow down enough so that your boat did not create a wake. The traveling speed was determined by the moment at which your wake caused damage, or the limits of your engine.
T H I N K
CL I MB
Today, many people do not understand, or realize, this important tenet in waterway regulations. Most boaters think slow is the requirement, and oftentimes you will see them bow up and stern down at a slow rate of speed. This results in the biggest wake their boat can make, thus damaging shorelines, boat docks, and boats.
I N S I D E T HE
Soon enough, if boaters do not take responsible operating procedures literally, more restrictions on our freedoms will come from further regulations. And all due to the actions of some boat operators who either did not study, were not asked the proper questions on their tests, or who should just not be allowed an operators license. Perhaps these people will never have enough experience, or use good judgment, when operating a motorized watercraft. If we attempt to use practical wisdom to solve this problem, then we are left with some alternative answers. We could offer more boater education. We could require more testing for the operator’s license. Or, more police action could be taken along some of the problem areas where no wake zones are ignored. There is no need for speed limits, speed traps, or other regulations that would impede our waterway freedoms, that is, if all boaters operated in a prudent and safe manner. Educating problem boaters and properly educating future boater’s, could resolve the problem. And in the meantime, create a safer boating environment on our waterways.
B OX .
Yours in Community,
cousinleroy@thesenseofitall.com
T HERE
IS
A
SOLU T I O N . SENSE MAGAZINE | 13
| MARKETPLACE
A ‘Second Coast’ Develops in Gulf Shores The Waterway Village District grows, with the Addition of Acme Oyster House and other improvements TEXT BY EMILY HILL | PHOTOS BY MATT GATES
14 | APRIL 2014
A
once underdeveloped area of Gulf Shores is now booming with new restaurants, businesses and street design. The Waterway Village District, home to LuLu’s and Tacky Jacks, has steadily grown the past year into something local officials consider a “second coast.” Gulf Shores mayor Robert Craft said the waterway district is an asset because it provides an alternate tourism spot when the beaches are shut down due to a hurricane or even an oil spill. “Our creation of a waterway district gives our tourism industry some geographic diversity. That was our goal, that when we have events we aren’t completely shut down,” Craft said. The 130-acre waterway district is divided in half, with 65 acres on the north side of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and 65 acres on the south side. Lucy Buffett’s restaurant LuLu’s was one of the first large attractions to come to the district, and Gulf Shores Director of Planning and Zoning Andy Bauer said the restaurant’s opening 10 years ago opened the city’s eyes to what that area could be. The city decided to utilize the 1 million dollar grant allotted by BP to tap into the area’s potential. “What the city has done, which will probably spur economic development more than anything, is with that million dollars we developed the property, that had already been purchased, with 200 public parking spaces and then we also just finished taking a portion of the street frontage of one street in that district (East 24th Avenue) and re-doing it with 10-foot-wide brick paver sidewalks, benches, trash receptacles, pedestrian-scale biking and street parking,” Bauer said. Acme Oyster House contributed about $360,000 to the parking lot because a larger public parking lot allowed the restaurant to build a larger restaurant facility. Bauer said the restaurant initially could only get about 45 parking spaces on their property, so Acme purchased 120 parking spaces from the city at a cost of $3,000 per space. The city will use that money, according to Bauer, to fund improvements already made in the area. The 8,000-square-foot restaurant is expected to employ about 120 people, and had its grand opening in early March. The Acme in Gulf Shores is the sixth location of the New Orleans-based restaurant, which can be found in the French Quarter, Metairie, Baton Rouge, Covington and Sandestin. The development of Acme in Gulf Shores seems to have locals excited, and Mayor Craft is certain it will appeal to Louisiana visitors as well. “The number of people that we have coming in from Louisiana is second only to the folks that visit here from the state of Alabama. They have a Louisiana brand here, and with the number of Louisiana tourists here we think that compliments the folks that are coming and hopefully increases the opportunity for more from Louisiana to come visit,” Craft said.
However, it’s unclear how the addition of the Acme Oyster House will affect surrounding businesses and alter, or not alter, the city’s revenue. “We don’t have any idea if they’re going to bleed away from other restaurants that will do less in our city limits, or if they are going to bleed away from people that leave here to go to dinner, and allow them to eat a meal in Gulf Shores. If they’re taking other restaurant’s customers, that won’t increase revenue,” Craft explained. Either way, the mayor wants to make it clear to everyone that the Gulf Coast has overcome the oil spill and is open for business. The Acme Oyster House isn’t the only new addition to the district. The Gulf Coast Arts Alliance is renovating a building across the street from Acme, and is expected to fully open the gallery to the public April 10. Eloise Thomley, the Gulf Coast Arts Alliance publicity director, said the shop will feature local and regional art of different mediums. The organization will also hold art markets the first Saturday of most months, excluding May, July and December. The juried art market, presented in partnership with the City of Gulf Shores, takes place at Meyer Park and features all original artwork. The waterway district will also soon see Big Daddy’s Grill establish itself across from Tacky Jacks. The restaurant, already popular from its Fish River location in Fairhope, is in the process of renovating a building and City of Gulf Shores Public Works Director Mark Acreman said the restaurant is expected to open in the coming months. The addition of a boardwalk along the waterway is also something the area could see several years from now. The Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant, according to Bauer, partnered with the Auburn University Marine Extension Center, funded a law student to do about $30,000 worth of research on the potential of seafood markets, a boardwalk and legal implications those projects may incur. Bauer also said the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Coastal Division contributed a nearly $30,000 matching grant to do a plan for the boardwalk. But although a plan is developed, it is not permitted and Bauer said it may be several years before any action is taken. In total, according to Bauer, the city put about 1.8 million dollars into the Waterway Village District development, and the city has about 1.4 million coming in so some money did have to come “out of pocket.” Bauer said he’s proud of what the city has accomplished and looks forward to more developments in the rapidly growing waterway district.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 15
| CUISINE
A Love or Hate Relationship An amateur’s pursuit of the best Bloody Mary around TEXT BY ANNA DEWINE | PHOTOS BY MATT GATES
I
think the only time I’ve ever said “no” to my grandmother was when she proudly plucked a cherry tomato out of her beloved garden and plopped it into my seven-year-old hands to eat. Right then I learned this: no one says “no” to Grandma Mary. Back in her kitchen, I hesitantly popped the fire-truck-red fruit into my mouth and I’m not sure if it ended up in my stomach or a secret napkin under the table. If the latter, I haven’t told Grandma or her garden to this day. I’ve gradually come to like tomatoes, but not enough to bite into them as if they are apples, like my nieces do, or drink V-8s, like my parents do. Tomato in juice form seems daunting in of itself — but I’ve had an even bigger fear — the Bloody Mary. As far as my Internet sources will tell me, the Bloody Mary has quite the history. Actually, a few. Some say Fernand Petiot is to credit for the Bloody Mary. An American bartender in Paris in the 1920s, he mixed up tomato juice, vodka, Worcestershire sauce, lemon, salt and pepper, and Tabasco sauce. A customer dubbed it the Bloody Mary, for a waitress at Chicago’s Bucket of Blood Club, Mary. But others still say the drink was solely inspired by Mary Tudor, Queen Mary I of England, or “Bloody Mary” herself. She earned her name by murdering hundreds of Protestants in the name of Catholicism. The tales continue — some saying it was named for Hollywood star Mary Pickford, or perhaps for fictional folklore women. Inspired by Grandma Mary, waitress Mary, Mary Pickford, and Queen Mary, I found myself on pursuit of the best Bloody Mary around. But first — my first. Four local stops on my list and a few tomato-loving friends in tow — I began my adventure to find one. Well, four.
16 | APRIL 2014
Manci’s Antique Club
Manci’s Antique Club sits quaintly on Main Street in Daphne. From a wooden produce warehouse purchased by Italian immigrant Frank Manci in 1924, to a gasoline station, to a restaurant and bar, it holds quite the history. It’s a historic place for me, too: where I drank my first Bloody Mary. But for others, it’s known as “Bloody Mary Capital of the Eastern Shore.” I surrendered any decisions — “moonshine or vodka?” my waitress asked me — so a drink appeared at my table made with local moonshine. From the outside it looked like a blend of tomato juice and black pepper, with an effortlessly squeezed lemon and lime tossed on top. Upon my first fearsome sip, up through the straw came tomatoes, peppers, and black pepper all in one. And then it hit my senses — spicy to the tongue, a burn all the way down my throat, a delightful warming sensation to balance out the first fight, and a home-pickled green bean to surprise. Alex Manci, Frank’s grandson and the gruff quiet man who holds court behind the bar, also holds the secret recipe, and apparently, I wasn’t the first to “try to get it out of him.” His father Arthur wanted a signature drink — so Alex came up with the best Bloody Mary Around. You could say he’s proud.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 17
|| CUISINE CUISINE
Café 615
Café 615, next on my tour, confronted me with even more decisions. The classy café, situated in downtown Mobile, is complete with a corner of its wooden bar dedicated to Bloody Mary fixings: olives, celery, green beans, onions, hot sauces, spices, and the like. Fearfully, I let the expert make it for me, and he arrived with a strawberry-red drink that I would have sworn was a fruity-girly drink if only it were garnished with an umbrella as opposed to its vegetables and cracked pepper. I also determined the heat of this one, and I imagined it might taste similar to my parents’ V-8. It went down a little smoother with a little less burn, but with not quite the secret taste as my first.
18 | APRIL 2014
|| CUISINE CUISINE
Haberdasher
Third try’s the charm,” they say - or maybe Haberdasher is. Glass quart jars labeled “Roy’s Badass Bloody Mary Mix” stack the shelves along the wall of Mobile’s “hipster” bar, and now I know why. If you try their Bloody Mary, you’ll be tempted to take that To-Go option, even if you’re a Bloody Mary amateur. This one was the hottest of all, but with the spiciness came a surprising sweetness, too. It had more texture than the others, with the spices floating throughout the drink — but the same warmth as the rest. With the “help yourself” popcorn, the combination was remarkably perfect on the rainy Mobile evening.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 19
|| CUISINE CUISINE
Brick & Spoon
My pursuit ended at Orange Beach’s Brick & Spoon. They claim to have the most unique Bloody Mary. That is unarguable. I sat down to my table to find a Bloody Mary checklist with exactly 58 options under the titles: Vodkas, Veggies, Meat/ Cheese, Eggs, Temperature, Additional Herbs/Seasonings, and Rimmer. They’re confident they do their Bloody Marys right — because they do them any way a customer could dream of. Their elaborate ingredients include cucumber infused vodka, homemade bleu cheese stuffed olive, baked bacon strip, seafood deviled egg, wasabi, peppered rim, and anything else you could imagine. Service Manager Tiffany Peed makes the mix herself by stirring tomato base, celery, salt, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce and black pepper in a fivegallon bucket. My designer drink was at first just huge and heavy and handsome, but then citrusy and spicy and sweet. My favorite part, though, was being able to eat my way through the drink. If I ever find myself on pursuit again, I’ll go to Manci’s for a sharp, yet comforting concoction; Café 615 for a make-it-yourself velvety, yet vegetabley brunch addition; Haberdasher for a sweet and spicy kick beside buttery popcorn; and Brick & Spoon for a confidently creative drink — or meal, you could say. Next time, though, I’m inviting Grandma Mary.
20 | APRIL 2014
SENSE MAGAZINE | 21
| DESIGN
22 | APRIL 2014
Sailing On W
ith summer right around the corner, we’re engulfed in the idea of setting sail and enjoying the radiant sun and glistening water. So the following is a look inside some of the most lavish sailing yachts that are designed to fill all your summer needs. With spacious living quarters, functional dining facilities, and decks created for relaxation and sigh-seeing, these yachts truly have it all. From the First 30’s speedy design for a thrill ride, to the 12-seater Leopard 58 for a relaxing cruise, each boat is creatively designed to provide the best boating experience.
TEXT BY EMILY HILL PHOTOS COURESY OF OYSTER YACHTS • JEANNEAU • BENETEAU LEOPARD CATAMARAN PHOTOS COURTESY OF GLOBAL YACHT SALES
SENSE MAGAZINE | 23
DESIGN || DESIGN
24 | APRIL 2014
Oyster 885
D
esigned by Humphreys Yacht Design and the Oyster team, this sleek four-cabin yacht consisting of an owner’s stateroom and three en suite cabins has plenty of space for guests to dine, lounge and sleep. This “home from home” is very private as well, with the crew having two cabins of their own along with a galley and mess area. A special accommodation of the Oyster 885 is her large ergonomic split cockpit that’s perfect for relaxing and dining, and the open deck area is extended by a large hydraulic bathing platform.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 25
| DESIGN
26 | APRIL 2014
First 30
T
his boat, designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian, is making the perfect come back more than 30-years after her predecessor. The new First 30 combines naval architecture with comfort, creating a boat designed for a fun time. The design provides an intimate setting, with close-quarters seating and a small sunbathing area. The First 30 is equipped with twin rudders for maximum control and minimum drag. The mast and square-top mainsail are also designed for optimal power, so no matter where you sail this stylish boat will get you there fast.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 27
| DESIGN
28 | APRIL 2014
Jeanneu 57 D
esigned by Vittorio Garroni, this elegant offshore cruiser provides the highest quality cruising experience, with contemporary interior that reflects a long nautical heritage. Blond teak flooring, stainless steel, sleek windows and skylights immerse guests in an up-scale atmosphere. A large lounge and dining area, complete with an office corner and functional kitchen gives you everything you need for the optimum boating experience.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 29
| DESIGN
30 | APRIL 2014
Leopard 58 T
his yacht definitely makes a statement, with a sleek and innovative style with an expansive flybridge with seating for up to 12 people. This luxury catamaran crafted by Robertson and Caine is design with TekDek covering the flybridge, aft deck and forward cockpit. This lightweight high impact simulated teak creates enhanced durability. The ergonomic design, spacious accommodations, and multiple outdoor living spaces create an extremely well-rounded sailing catamaran. Large forward facing saloon windows and wide side decks create the perfect area to relax and sight-see.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 31
Destiny 32 | APRIL 2014
| G R EE N S EN S E
Eco-friendly Weed Control in Lawns TEXT BY MELINDA MYERS
D
on’t let lawn weeds get the best of you. These opportunistic plants find a weak spot in the lawn, infiltrate and begin the take over your grass. Take back the lawn with proper care. Your lawn will not only be greener and healthier, but good for the environment. The grass and thatch layer act as a natural filter, helping to keep pollutants out of our groundwater and dust out of our atmosphere. They also reduce erosion, decrease noise and help keep our homes and landscapes cooler in summer. And a healthy lawn is the best defense against weeds. Start by identifying the unwanted lawn invaders. Use them as a guide to improve your lawn’s health and beauty. Weeds appear and spread when the growing conditions are better for them than the grass. Correct the problem to reduce the weeds and improve the health of your lawn. Killing the weeds without fixing the underlying cause is only a temporary solution. Unless the cause is eliminated the weed problem will return. Here are a few of the more common weeds, the cause and possible solutions for managing them out of the lawn. High populations and a variety of weeds mean you need to adjust your overall lawn care practices. Mow high and often, removing no more than 1/3 the total height of the grass at one time. Leave the clippings on the lawn in order to return water, nutrients and organic matter to the soil. This along with proper fertilization using an organic nitrogen slow release fertilizer with non leaching phosphorous, like Milorganite, can greatly reduce weeds. Knotweed and plantains often found growing next to walks and drives or other high traffic areas can also be found in lawns growing on heavy poorly prepared soils. These weeds thrive in compacted soil where lawn grasses fail. Reduce soil compaction and improve your lawn’s health with core aeration. Aerate lawns when actively growing in spring or fall. Or replace grass in high traffic areas with permeable pavers or stepping stones to eliminate the cause.
Clover and black medic mean it’s time to get the soil tested and adjust fertilization. Both thrive when the lawn is starving. Clover was once included in lawn mixes because of its ability to capture nitrogen from the atmosphere and add it to the soil. If these weeds are present, boost the lawn’s diet starting this spring with a low nitrogen slow release fertilizer. It feeds slowly throughout the season, promoting slow steady growth that is more drought tolerant, disease resistant and better able to outcompete the weeds. Creeping Charley, also known as ground ivy, violets, and plantains usually get their foothold in the shade and then infiltrate the rest of the lawn. Take back those shady spots by growing a more shade tolerant grass like the cool season grass fescue or warm season St. Augustine grass. Mow high and fertilize less, only 1 to 2 pounds of nitrogen per growing season, than the sunny areas of your lawn. Or replace the lawn with shade tolerant groundcovers. Adjust your overall care to reclaim and maintain the rest of the lawn. Crabgrass and Goosegrass are common weeds that follow a hot dry summer. Mow high to shade the soil and prevent many of these annual grass weeds from sprouting. Corn gluten meal is an organic pre-emergent weed killer that can help reduce these and other weeds from sprouting. Apply in spring and fall applications to reduce weeds by as much as 80% in three years. And, when mowing this year, consider an electric or push mower to manage your lawn in an even more eco-friendly manner. Gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist Melinda Myers has more than 30 years of horticulture experience and has written over 20 gardening books, including Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening and the Midwest Gardener’s Handbook. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment segments. Myers is also a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Myers’ web site, www.melindamyers. com, offers gardening videos and tips.
Nut sedge is a common weed in wet or poorly drained soils. Improve the drainage to manage this weed. It may mean core aerating the lawn and topdressing with compost, regrading or the installation of a rain garden to capture, filter and drain excess water back into the ground.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 33
| VIEWS AND NEWS
THE WHY OF WRITING
BY ROY HOFFMAN
BOOK SIGNING AND AUTHOR DISCUSSION
ROY HOFFMAN Author of
Come Landfall THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2014 6:00 P.M. PAGE & PALETTE Free and Open to the Public.
34 | APRIL 2014
The word “inspiration” comes from the Latin root, inspirare, that gave rise to both the words “breath” and “spirit.” To breathe in – to take in the spirit – is, after eons, still the heart and soul of creativity. “What inspired you to write that book?” readers often ask authors. But writers have no lock on inspiration. The same question could be posed to someone creating a beautiful painting, or developing software, or, on a simple afternoon, feeling lifted out of the ordinary to understand – and feel excited by – performing a familiar task in a new and innovative way. My novel Come Landfall, for example, was inspired by the story of my uncle, Maj. Roy Robinton, U.S. Marine Corps, a prisoner of war in World War II. My novel, Chicken Dreaming Corn, by my grandfather, a new American, from Eastern Europe, working as a storefront merchant in downtown Mobile in the early 1900s. In both bases — Come Landfall, for example — the novel unfolded in ways that were completely imaginative. New characters took over and interrelated stories took hold. Does inspiration come from above? From inside our own heads? From what we’re told, or what we dream? Or from a combination of all? Thomas Edison famously said that success is borne of 10 percent inspiration, 90 percent perspiration. What makes the light bulb go off? Here are ten strategies for writers – indeed, for anyone – seeking inspiration. It might strike us at the most unexpected times, but sometimes we have to put ourselves in a welcoming pose, too, to receive it. Be an active listener. Sometimes, when people tell us stories – big or small, epic or ordinary – we get ideas for our own stories to write. But we have to listen in such a way as to really pay attention, fully lose ourselves in what the teller is offering. Keep a journal and jot down ideas, phrases, observations. Who knows what will be the basis of an inspiration for a work of its own? Get up off the couch, out of the house, and down the block for a walk, or a drive. Yes, it’s nice to travel – save those nickels, there’s nothing more invigorating than a big trip – but in the meantime, a change of pace, or scenery, can sometimes give rise to inspirations you can’t predict when you’re sunk down in your usual easy chair. Read read read. Let language wash over you. Enjoy losing yourself in the imagination. New ideas of your own may well come to you. Find a beautiful place in nature, leave technology behind, and let your spirit soar. Exercise. A long run, a swim, jumping rope, a power walk – those are actions that not only make you break a sweat and help keep a healthy heart, but also free up your mind. Have fun. If you like a glass of wine, dance music, lively conversation, letting go, those convivial moments can offer a chance for inspiration, too. Ironic, isn’t it – sometimes the best ideas come when we least expect them.
Immerse yourself in any kind of art. Even if you’re a writer, an evening at the symphony, or a walk through the art museum, or any other esthetic endeavor, can nurture your imagination in a way that’s right for your own art form. Besides, these are great pleasures, and connect us to worlds far beyond the ones we frequent in our daily lives. Live through the five senses. Don’t forget to listen, smell, touch, taste, see. And not just passively, but actively. The world is a miracle. Don’t pull down the shutters. Be open to inspiration. Whatever our art form – and it may be simply and profoundly the art of living a wonderful life – remember to be open to moments of inspiration. Welcome them, tell a friend about them, jot them down, make them part of who you are. Then, pick up a pen – or whatever your creative weapon of choice – and get to work. Remember Edison’s words. That 90 percent of perspiration is still to come. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Roy Hoffman is author of three novels: Come Landfall, a novel of hurricanes and war, involving three women and the men they love, impacted by World War II, Vietnam, and Iraq; Chicken Dreaming Corn, endorsed by Harper Lee, inspired by his grandparents’ sojourn from Eastern Europe to the Deep South; Almost Family, winner of the Lillian Smith Award, about a black family and a Jewish family in civil-rights-era Alabama. He is author of two nonfiction collections: Back Home: Journeys through Mobile, and Alabama Afternoons: Profiles and Conversations. Roy’s work has appeared in the New York Times, Fortune, Garden & Gun, and the Mobile Press-Register, where he was a staff writer. A resident of Fairhope, he’s on the faculty of the brief- residency MFA in Writing Program at Spalding University in Louisville, KY. On the web: www.facebook.com/ RoyHoffmanWriter
| VIEWS AND NEWS
B E T W E E N
T H E
L I N E S
REVIEWS OF BOOKS AVAILABLE AT PAGE & PALETTE BOOKSTORE
THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY BY GABRIELLE ZEVIN
We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works. A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died; his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history; and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island — from Chief Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who’s always felt kindly toward him; from Ismay, his sister-in-law, who is hell-bent on saving A.J. from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who persists in taking the ferry to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.’s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, he can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly. And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It’s a small package, though large in weight — an unexpected arrival that gives A.J. the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn’t take long for the locals to
notice the change overcoming A.J., for the determined sales rep Amelia to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light, for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.’s world. Or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn’t see coming. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love. ($24.95, Algonquin, On Sale Now)
Keesler Air Force base who is proudly patriotic, deeply religious, and a student of weather. Cam falls in love with Joe, a Biloxi cop, and her own tumultuous story begins to interweave with that of Angela’s and Nana’s. What’s taken from Nana, Angela, and Cam (and so many others when storms make their landfall), what’s given back, and what’s kept forever sit at the heart of this intimate yet expansive novel. ($29.95, University of Alabama Press, Pub Date 4/8/14)
they once had, to the shattering incident that put everything they loved at risk. Filled with complex, achingly relatable characters and rich, multi-layered emotional crises, Golden State is a riveting family drama about loss, love, and the way hope redefines our lives. ($15.00, Random House, On Sale Now)
REDEPLOYMENT BY PHIL KLAY
AND THE DARK SACRED NIGHT BY JULIA GLASS
GOLDEN STATE COME LANDFALL BY ROY HOFFMAN
The worlds of three women and the men they love come together in this novel of war and hurricanes, loss and renewal. Christiane, or Nana, reliving the past in her eighties, her granddaughter Angela, working at a Biloxi casino in her twenties, and their teenage friend Cam, the daughter of a Vietnamese shrimper, form a deep connection. As they face heartbreak, their bonds nurture and sustain them. Christiane returns in her mind to the man she married at 21 — Rosey, a flyer with the Army Air Corps who was in the Philippines at the outbreak of WWII. Angela meets Frank, an airman at
BY MICHELLE RICHMOND
Doctor Julie Merrill has just signed her divorce papers when she gets the message that her younger sister, Heather, with whom she has a complicated relationship, has gone into labor. But this is no ordinary day for anyone. On the streets of San Francisco, Californians are rapt: today, they will vote to determine whether California will secede from the United States. As Julie journeys across a turbulent city, her life and memories are compressed into this one unique day — from her Southern childhood with Heather to the estrangement that sent Heather running off to join the army; from her romance with her husband, Tom, and the bright future
past. ($26.95, Random House, On Sale Now)
Kit Noonan is an unemployed art historian with twins to help support and a mortgage to pay — and a wife frustrated by his inertia. Raised by a strong-willed, secretive single mother, Kit has never known the identity of his father — a mystery that his wife insists he must solve to move forward with his life. Out of desperation, Kit goes to the mountain retreat of his mother’s former husband, Jasper, a take-no-prisoners outdoorsman. There, in the midst of a fierce blizzard, Kit and Jasper confront memories of the bittersweet decade when their families were joined. And the Dark Sacred Night is an exquisitely memorable tale about the youthful choices that steer our destinies, the necessity of forgiveness, and the risks we take when we face down the shadows from our
Phil Klay’s Redeployment takes readers to the front lines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos. Redeployment is poised to become a classic in the tradition of war writing. Across nations and continents, Klay sets in devastating relief the two worlds a soldier inhabits: one of extremes and one of loss. Written with a hardeyed realism and stunning emotional depth, this work marks Phil Klay as one of the most talented new voices of his generation. ($26.95, Penguin, On Sale Now)
SENSE MAGAZINE | 35
36 | APRIL 2014
| WELLNESS
SPINNING INTO SPRING The ultimate low-impact cycling workout TEXT BY EMILY HILL
I
And you’ll be very reluctant to slow down, or dare I say stop. Wagner’s 35-seat class is normally filled with spin enthusiasts, or newbies, looking to test their limits. Wagner helps you get through the rough spots, by giving motivational advice over a microphone while she rides with you.
f you’ve been searching for a quick low-impact exercise that will get you in shape, spinning is the perfect solution. Spinning is indoor stationary cycling in a group environment. The spinning craze has been going on for a while now, and seems to keep growing, and it’s easy to see why.
“I try to train your head as well as your body. Your brain will start going, ‘you’re not gonna make it.’ You really have to gain control of that,” she said. “So I try to tell people what’s going to happen, and a lot of times I’ll say, ‘Find that place inside of you that you’ve never found before but it’s just a little bit more, keep digging until you find that place, push through and then we’re home,’” Wagner explained.
The classes offer varied structured workouts, and the beauty of these classes is although you’re spinning in a group, your workout is unique to your body and your needs. Spinning started in early 1994 and was created by Johnny Goldberg, an ultra-cyclist who was searching for another way to train to get in extra mileage. He created a rudimentary example of what you see today.
Geoff Govern of Mobile is an avid spinner, having taken classes from Wagner for about 20 years. The 66-year-old said in his youth he played football and participated in other high-impact sports. However, as he aged certain exercises proved too hard on his body, but spinning has allowed him to stay active. “It’s an easy way to exercise without beating up your body too much,” Govern said. “You don’t beat up on your joints.”
Cathy Wagner is a spin class instructor at the YMCA in downtown Mobile, off of Water Street. She’s been spinning since the exercise was developed, and has been teaching at the YMCA for about 20 years. Wagner said Goldberg’s invention felt a lot like riding on the road, and that was exactly what he was trying to create. Goldberg began spinning, other people started training with him, and that’s how spin classes were born.
The variety of classes each week keeps your body guessing, and that’s a good thing. “If you get on the treadmill and do the same thing every day, your body will respond less and less. So in here, I’m constantly changing. The body is the great adapter and will adapt to anything,” Wagner said. “In a class structured like this, you shouldn’t reach your plateau.”
1. Official spin bikes are made with a: A. Chain B. Belt C. Rubber-Band
QUIZ: Instructor Intuition
2. High-intensity training like spinning makes your body produce: A. Low amounts of lactic acid, so your body recuperates faster B. So much tension you’re bound to have muscle failure C. Growth hormone, which helps your body stay young 3. Listening to music while you workout increases your endurance: A. 40 percent B. 14 percent C. Not at all 4. If you’ve had a stressful day at work, your body: A. Knows that was work, and you need a workout B. Has trouble differentiating between work stress and physical stress C. Reacts the same to a workout whether you’re stressed or not Answers: 1-A, 2-C, 3-A, 4-B
“It’s personal training in a group fitness scenario because everybody can train at their own rate,” said Wagner. While biking you can track your heart rate and RPM, or revolutions per minute. Wagner’s class begins with a warmup and then training varies daily. Some days are mild, while others involve plenty of hill-climbing or high RPM. During the class, music is played that helps you transition between intervals during the workout. “I try to use music that creates a road in your mind. The music also makes you slow down or speed up,” Wagner said. A very dimly-lit room also contributes to the workout and allows spinners to concentrate on their own ride, decreasing competitiveness with others and emphasizing competitiveness with the self.
If you’d like to join the craze, there are plenty of spin classes offered locally. Or, if you’re a YMCA member, check out Wagner’s class or other spin classes at various YMCA locations.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 37
| VIEWS AND NEWS
The Other Typist with Suzanne
Rindell
In the New York City of 1923, two young women meet while working as typists for the police department, recording the confessions of thieves and murderers. At first glance, they couldn’t seem more different from one another. Rose Baker, raised in an orphanage by Catholic nuns, is plain, rule-bound, and prudish. Odalie Lazare, on the other hand – with her unflappable poise, musical laugh, and golden beauty capped by a stylish black bob – exudes all the glamour and excitement of the Jazz Age. Yet these two will be drawn inextricably together by mutual need into a dizzying vortex of obsession, deception, and murder in Suzanne Rindell’s stunning first novel, The Other Typist. What inspired you to write this book? I was immersed in 1920s literature and working on my dissertation. Somewhere along the way, I became intrigued with the sort of competitive friendships between women that F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays in many of his short stories (Bernice Bobs Her Hair is one of my favorites). To me, this felt like a stark contrast when compared to a lot of Victorian literature, wherein female characters seem like they’re always holding hands and affectionately proclaiming sisterhood. I wrote Rose in part as a way of charting out one woman’s journey through these cultural changes. She longs for the types of sisterly relationships she’s read about in books, but life hands her cutthroat Odalie; she is essentially jolted into modernity. As for the police station setting and Rose’s occupation as a typist, a few things converged. I was reading an old New Yorker article that explored the impact typewriters had on the 20th century workplace (The Typing Life, Joan Acocella, April 9, 2007). The article outlined the contradictory assumptions people made about women and typewriters: that women had the passive temperament necessary to merely record things and therefore made the best typists, but that typing jobs would mean more women would enter certain workplaces where they didn’t belong. This article, combined with a real-life obituary I came across about a woman who’d worked her entire life as a stenographer in a police precinct, made for the perfect storm. In my head, I started hearing Rose tell her tale and she couldn’t be ignored. Who are Rose and Odalie? What is their situation as your novel begins? Why are these apparently opposite types so drawn to each other? Rose is a young woman who has managed to channel her potent loneliness into a stance of prudish disapproval of the people around her. When Odalie joins the typing pool, Rose wants very badly to disapprove of her too, but is seduced by the simple fact that Odalie invites Rose into her life. She is so hungry for companionship, Rose is willing to contradict her beloved principles. It gets to the point where whatever Odalie does — bobbing her hair, smoking, drinking, vamping — is tolerated and eventually admired by Rose. It’s a classic case of peer pressure born out of a virulent need to belong. It’s a small little coterie, but Rose needs to belong to Odalie, and have Odalie belong to her. Why was it said by some back in the early 20th century that the typewriter would “unsex” women? The worry was that women would enter workplaces from which they had been previously barred, work long hours, and take up the kinds of “bachelor” habits that go along with that lifestyle (living independently, eating at lunch counters,
38 | APRIL 2014
going out in the evenings). In short, the typewriter would take more women out of the home and put them in the office, and the fear was women would lose interest in matrimony, nurturing children, general domestic life. Rose is reading Jane Austen novels, but people are talking about T.S. Eliot at bohemian parties. Is this a literary mirror to what is happening in society and between Rose and Odalie? Absolutely. Of course I’m completely biased, but I think literature is a great measure of society’s changing pulse. Rose struck me as an introvert who’d spent her childhood reading books, so I wanted to sprinkle in her reaction to the different books and poems she encounters. I think The Waste Land, with its depiction of a typist who leads a shockingly “modern” lifestyle had also gotten stuck in my head, and thus turned up unbidden. You’ve commented that you were influenced by Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby as you wrote this book, with regard to both the language and the habits of the time you were writing about. Are there individual lines or other aspects of your novel that stand out as a particular homage to him? I really relied a lot on The Great Gatsby as I created Rose and Odalie’s world. I more or less used it as a yardstick by which to determine what was fitting for the times. Because The Other Typist is written in the first person, I felt it was important to get her voice just right, even if it meant the writing would sound more embroidered than we might be used to now in the 21st century. Reading and rereading Nick’s voice in Gatsby really helped in this regard; Fitzgerald gets away with some incredibly lush turns-of-phrase. Some of those lines come off like purple prose, but it never does! So I held that up as something to humbly aspire to. When I was feeling a bit cheeky, I planted a few lines that make direct reference to Gatsby. For instance, Rose talks about being so distracted by Odalie she doesn’t notice the shortest day of the year, and this is a nod to the line in Gatsby where Daisy says, “I always wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it.” Stuff like that. If you’re really into The Great Gatsby and know it pretty well, there are a few small references you might catch. The world of your novel is very different from the world of “Downton Abbey,” the popular PBS series about an aristocratic English family and their household. But they are both set in the same period, and both focus extensively on the changing role of women, as well as crime and punishment, although on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Do you see a wider resurgence of interest in the women of this time, and if so, why now? There certainly seems to be a burgeoning of books, TV, and film set in the 1920s right now, so something’s definitely up. Only time will tell, but it could be that the progressive social
politics of that era really strikes a chord with regard to current events. Gay marriage, for instance, is an issue that really seems to highlight a certain disconnect between generations; most of today’s younger generation can’t really understand why the heck the older generation has such a problem with it. Young adults in the 1920s had a similar disconnect with their parents’ generation. I think things like suffrage or women taking typing jobs, going to the theater alone, etc., felt like a natural progression to them and they couldn’t understand their parents’ Victorian-minded disapproval. Vast generation gaps give rise to a sense of rebellion, and rebellion is always sexy. Programs like “Downton Abbey,” with its buttoned-up-to-theextreme aristocrats entering an era of progressive social politics, really gets at the heart of this. What do you hope readers take away from this story? I hope they are entertained! I hope they feel transported. And if they get to thinking about any of these other issues we’ve discussed – feminism, obsession, early 20th century history, subjective truth, narrative and metanarrative – so much the better. About Suzanne Rindell Suzanne Rindell is a doctoral student in American modernist literature at Rice University. The Other Typist is her first novel. Born in New Mexico and raised in northern California, she lives in New York City and is currently working on a second novel.
SUZANNE RINDELL Thursday, April 3, 2014 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Page & Palette
LUNCHEON
Free & Open to the Public Call the bookstore to reserve lunch from R Bistro for $10 For more information contact Page & Palette at 251-928-5295 or visit www.pageandpalette.com.
SENSE MAGAZINE | 39
| LITERATI
When we threw the wood into the fire, One perfectly split piece after another I did not think about the tree. Not at first I could only see the fire’s light And feel the relief of its warmth On my skin, you near my lap In the south, yards of old oaks and grey beards can swallow us whole and reveal an abundance of stars in the belly of its sky When you left, I fell asleep, And began to dream about the tree.
ROOTS BY LEIGH BANCROFT
I could not see the forest or the land where it once stood I could not remember the years of its life Unassumingly letting creatures come and go I could only see its roots burrowing down into the ground Like fingers spreading through thick hair I saw my grandmother, sitting in the bath Her long, black tresses bent under the faucet Sinking into the drain alongside soap and the day’s dirt I remember the way she bathed each part of her body the same; Every night; arms, breasts, belly, legs and then head. She hung downward; spread open, laughing and telling stories The same when she shelled peas or cracked nuts Big brown bowl in her lap like a belly I can still see the blue rag and foam Thick like cream running along Pecan dust and sap Her old skin, and down her bent back I watched every night, and then imitated her in my own time Under the stars, the tree and my grandmother looked the same Her long, fibrous hairs were like roots soaked in water coursing underneath it all The tree too once had a life I could feel it Now, the woodpile to my right Sitting like she did in the bathtub, Hunched over, clean, neatly stacked Water running somewhere in the distance
LITERATI SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Sense invites you to submit edgy, eclectic pieces. We welcome short fiction, essays, humor, and poetry submissions. Rights to the material submitted remain those of its author, who is protected under Creative Commons licenses. We reserve the right to choose all materials that appear in the publication. For more detailed submission information, email editor@thesenseofitall.com.
40 | APRIL 2014