One - September 2011

one

september 2011 AtUrbanMagazine.com

Marcus Coker Catherine Frederick Laura Hobbs Todd Whetstine

DESIGNER

Jeromy Price

WEB GURU

David Jamell

PUBLISHER

Read Chair Publishing, LLC

COVER IMAGE

lifestyle

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Marla Cantrell Marcus Coker Catherine Frederick Laura Hobbs Jim Martin Tonya McCoy Anita Paddock Desirae Souverville Todd Whetstine

entertainment

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Marla Cantrell

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Now Hear This Urban Reader

people

MANAGING EDITOR

Catherine Frederick

Lease Welcome to Slabtown Urban Gardener Pressing into Thin Places Fixin’ to Dance

22 26 32 36

Everything Old Is New Again Wing Walker Riding the Tides The Ultimate Gift

taste

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PRESIDENT

7 8 12 14 16

40 42

@Urban Drink of the Year Chowder Chowtime

destination

Subscribe to @Urban and receive 12 issues per year for only $20. Send check or money order payable to: Read Chair Publishing | 3811 Rogers Ave, Ste C | Fort Smith, AR 72903

@INSIDE

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Fishing the Fork

“Jackson” Courtesy Kyle Franklin

Advertising and Distribution Information

Catherine Frederick at 479 / 782 / 1500 Catherine@AtUrbanMagazine.com Editorial or Artwork Information

Marla Cantrell at 479 / 831 / 9116 Marla@AtUrbanMagazine.com ©2011 Read Chair Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.

The opinions contained in @Urban are exclusively those of the writers and do not represent those of Read Chair Publishing, LLC. as a whole or its affiliates. Any correspondence to @Urban or Read Chair Publishing, LLC., including photography becomes the property of Read Chair Publishing, LLC. @Urban reserves the right to edit content and images.

@LETTER FROM CATHERINE

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ell, we did it. We made it through our first year of publishing @Urban Magazine. It’s true what they say: time really does fly when you’re having fun. What a blessing it’s been, not only to have met the talented people we interviewed and now consider friends, but also to have the honor of sharing their stories every month over the past year.

“Thank you” really doesn’t cut it when it comes to expressing our gratitude. We are so thankful for our amazingly supportive advertisers, our writers, photographers, our talented design staff, and of course you. You’ve given us your support, welcomed us into your homes, and taken us with you as you traveled the globe. @Urban started with a simple goal. We wanted to put out a magazine that showcased what’s best about where we live, and we hoped it would uplift you to read it. What we didn’t know was what it would mean for us. Each month, we fall a little bit in love with the people we interview, and we grow even more attached to this place we call home.

This month is no exception. We’re introducing you to a woman who, when faced with the effects of the Great Recession, got rid of her mortgage and moved her family into a 320 square foot home. After that, you’ll meet the man who built the charming little postage stamp of a house.

We’ll let you meet an artist, also challenged by the stagnant economy, who found her way out by designing jewelry using vintage pieces.

We’ll introduce you to a third-generation pilot who lives his life taking chances most of us would never consider. It’s brought him both joy and unspeakable sadness, and he talks about it all in the story that chronicles love, loss and never giving up.

There’s also a dancing mechanic, a grand fishing hole, a too-good-to-be-true chowder recipe, and a by-the-numbers article on how to make a portable garden table that will extend the growing season, something we all need given the blistering heat and disappointing yield of this summer’s crops.

So enjoy. And thanks again Urbanites. We can’t wait to see what the next year holds.

@LIFESTYLE

Lend yourself to me.

Let me have you in whatever increments you can stomach. @lines Desirae Souverville

I will take you wholly.

I will not break you, but you may be changed.

There is a birth in this process.

You can walk through walls dear.

With energy like yours, what stone would be foolish enough to deny you?

I don’t want to purge you, just borrow some of that glow‌ and when I send you home back to your life without me, you will be returning owning more of yourself than I found you with.

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N

ot far from Linda’s Curl Up and Dye and Prissy’s Flower Shop in Mountain View is Slabtown Customs, a small company

that builds even smaller houses. They range in size from eight feet to twelve feet wide. Some are less than 300 square feet.

welcome to slabtown

Scott Stewart, who’s thirty-seven, started Slabtown a few years

the treasure of tiny houses

sawmill that produced staves for whiskey barrels. He points to a

@story Marla Cantrell @images Debra Jordan

wooded spot behind him. “My dad was actually born in a house

ago, on the same spot of land where his grandfather once ran a

on this property,” he says. “I grew up here. He called me one day in 2005 and said, ‘I’m ready to quit. Gonna sell this place. You can buy it if you want, or I’ll auction it, but either way, I’m selling.’”

@LIFESTYLE

So Scott bit, taking over the land, and eventually developing the business model for Slabtown. “I’d been building a few storage buildings. It wasn’t long before I built one of these little houses, put it on wheels, and sold it. ..Two years ago, I started basically only building these houses. Last year I sold thirty.”

The average house in America today is 2,900 square feet. In the 1950s, it was around 1,000. Cut that number roughly in half, and you have the size of the houses your ancestors lived in way back in the early 1800s. Only in the 1800s, houses didn’t have wheels. “We build these two ways: on a trailer so you can move it from place to place, and without the wheels, for those people who have land where they know they’re going to stay.”

Standing inside the French Cube, one of his most popular designs, Scott measures the bathroom. It’s three feet long, or about the size of a two-year-old if the two-year-old stretched out and remained uncharacteristically still. “This one’s a little smaller than most,” he says, “but there’s a full shower in here and everything.”

The French Cube is twelve feet wide, twelve feet long, and twelve feet tall. It’s 144 square feet, but the size almost doubles when you count the loft that floats above the combination living/

The niche market, with prices ranging from $12,000 to $30,000,

dining/kitchen/bathroom area.

is finding momentum in several arenas. “We build quality, we really insulate them. A guy in Oklahoma didn’t want any

Finding space is key. There is typically a full size refrigerator, a

electricity, didn’t want water. Just a rugged cabin that was

convection and microwave oven (both installed underneath the

twelve by twenty-four. He called me on Thanksgiving. He was

upper cabinets) and a double sink. Upstairs in the loft, there is

with four buddies, they’d bagged two deer and it was thirty

room for a washer and dryer. “We do our best. I’ve worked from

degrees outside. He said, ‘Sat in there with a Coleman lamp

architect’s plans and drawings on grocery sacks. There’s really

hanging from the ceiling, played poker, and we had all the light

nothing we won’t try.”

and heat we needed.’ Can’t ask for more than that,” Scott says.

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@LIFESTYLE

“I have a lot of calls from California and Seattle. A guy from

“When I sorted through everything, I had enough stuff to equip

England was looking to buy but the shipping’ll kill you. I

three kitchens. ..There’s so much freedom in letting go of things.

deliver, but not that far.

Life isn’t about possessions. I’ve had people say they couldn’t do this, that living like we do would be giving up the American

“Some folks buy so one of their parents can live near them

Dream. But the American Dream isn’t about owning a big house,

on the same piece of land. People are buying them as rental

it’s about freedom.

property. Parents can use them for their kids in college and then own something when they’re finished. And some people

“It’s really not that hard to live in a tiny house. It makes life

just want to downsize.”

simple, and so pleasant. And it forces you to stay organized.”

A couple in Fayetteville just bought one. An insurance agent in

She even runs her business, Minkee Baby Gifts, from home. “I

Huntsville has another. And then there’s Debra Jordan, who lives

make handmade baby gifts. My husband works part time and

in the 320-square-foot Slabtown “Annemarie” house in Siloam

then helps me here. We sell wholesale to boutiques, and then

Springs. The 320 square feet doesn’t take into consideration

we also sell retail.” Debra also has a shop at Etsy.com.

the ten-by-ten loft that serves as her son’s bedroom.

She likes the house so much, she’s thinking of buying another In 2008, when the Great Recession hit, Debra’s husband lost his

one. “We may move soon. If we do, we’ll sell this one and get

job. “We were trying to save money, and we were spending so

another one. My son’s thirteen now; he’d probably like to have

much time trying to keep our house, we felt like we were losing

a bigger bedroom,” she says and then laughs.

our family, and it wasn’t worth it.

Scott is thrilled by the news. “When people come back, it’s “We saw Scott’s ad on Craigslist. I was so excited I almost

a nice feeling. It’s like a compliment. We’re a small place in

hyperventilated. We got the cute little house in 2009, moved it

a small town. It’s been kind of incredible how this has taken

to a mobile home park, and we love it. ..I once had twenty-two

off. I’d like one myself someday,” he says and then describes

people over for dinner. Friends kept inviting friends. We fit, but

the building, eight feet by thirty-two, that he’d pull to a ranch

if we got up, we had to do it one at a time.”

somewhere, or to a hot spot like Branson. “That’d be the life,” he says, and then his phone rings and he comes back around,

It’s a postage stamp of a house, complete with a tiny porch.

wipes the sweat from his brow and answers the call as if

Inside, it looks as if a decorator’s been hard at work. Debra

he’s sitting in the corner office of a tall building. “Slabtown

says she mostly just copied what she loved, and threw in a lot

Customs,” he says. “How can I help you?”

of turquoise.

And then she threw out the things she no longer needed.

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To see more Slabtown’s creations, log on to tinyhouseblog. com and search “Scott Stewart”, or you can email Scott at ozarksbest@yahoo.com, or call him at 870.213.5310.

This ingenious table was originally designed in 2006 by University of Maryland gardening expert Jon Traunfeld, who got the idea from a metal version he saw being used on an organic farm. The table takes up little space and it’s a great way to get into gardening at home (shorten the legs and size and the kids have a perfect table to grow their own veggies). Its three-and-ahalf inch depth is perfect for salad greens and the special soil mixture (fifty percent soil-less mix and fifty percent high-quality compost) allows for quick growth. There are no weeds and since it’s elevated significantly from the ground, you’ll have fewer pest problems. Hoops for cloth covers can be added if the sun brings too much heat or when the weather turns much cooler.

Another great thing about the garden table is the portability.

If you place your table on a level surface, you can incorporate rollers so the table is easier to move in and out of the sun,

table to table @story Catherine Frederick

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depending on the weather.

A variety of plants can be included in a garden table, whether

ho doesn’t love a fresh, home-grown salad? Not only is it

from seeds or seedlings. Lettuce varieties are typically fast

healthier to eat home-grown organic foods, when you’ve

growing and yield the biggest crops (think leaf, romaine,

put in the time to see the harvest to fruition, it just tastes better.

butterhead, etc.) as well as broccoli, arugula, kale, and mustard, greens. Chard, spinach, radishes, basil and other herbs will also

My ground area for gardening is limited, so in order to include

grow well, but slower. Bush green beans also thrive. Increase the

all the herbs and vegetables we like, hubby and I built a garden

depth of your frame and you can include tomatoes, peppers,

table. It’s a great, inexpensive way to grow fresh, flavorful salad

and cucumbers.

greens, herbs and shallow-growing fruits and vegetables. You may also enjoy using the table as a means of growing transplants

It costs around $35 in materials to build, and around $20 for

from your garden. It’s not only easy to build (basically a shallow

seeds or seedlings and soil. The tables can also be purchased

wooden frame with a mesh bottom and legs, or even one without

online and shipped ready to assemble from a variety of sources.

legs and simply set on saw horses), but it also stands waist level

I like to create things myself and with a little help from hubby,

so it eliminates bending and kneeling to weed and harvest.

our table was built in a short amount of time. Following is a list of materials you’ll need to build your own garden table.

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@LIFESTYLE

{ Materials Needed } (this creates a 33” wide X 58” long table): »» Untreated Framing Lumber: »» (2) 10-foot-long 2x4s »» (2) 12-foot-long 2x4s »» 2 1/2-inch galvanized deck screws »» 3/8-inch staples »» 1 pound of 1-inch roofing nails »» 3-by-5-foot roll of aluminum window screening »» 3-by-5-foot roll of 1/2-inch mesh hardware cloth (galvanized wire mesh; comes in a roll) »» Handsaw »» Hammer »» Tape measure »» Square »» Tin snips »» Staple gun »» Drill

Section Measurements: I had the sections cut at the hardware store. It saved time and I was confident they were measured correctly. »» Cut (2) 58” sections from a 10’ 2 X 4 (long sides) »» Cut (4) 30” sections from the other 10’ 2 X 4 (cross pieces) »» Cut (4) 32.5” sections from a 12’ 2 X 4 (inside support legs) »» Cut (4) 36” sections from the other 12’ 2 X 4 (outside legs)

NOTE: YOU WILL NEED TWO PEOPLE FOR THIS STEP Center the window screen on the outside bottom of the frame.

Two people are needed in order to stretch the screen taught and adhere it with staples to the frame bottom and sides using a staple gun.

Center the hardware cloth over the window screen, pull it taut, and staple it to the frame bottom. Hammer in roofing nails around the frame for added support. Cut the hardware cloth diagonally at each corner with tin snips. Fold the cloth up and onto the sides of the frame, then staple and nail it in place.

Attach each 32 1/2” leg to a 36” leg using the 3” galvanized wood screws - this will create sturdy support for your table. The table frame will sit on the shorter section of each 2-piece leg.

Attach each leg, 4 inches in from the four corners, by placing three 3” screws through the top of each leg and into the long side of the frame. Feel free to paint your garden table (exterior only) with an exterior latex paint. A bottom shelf can also be included for storage.

{ Handy Tips } »» Drill pilot holes with a 1/8” drill bit before drilling in the galvanized screws. »» Use a wood file to smooth out any rough edges after your wood sections have been cut.

Attach the long sides (58”) to the cross sections (30”) using the 3” galvanized screws (2 screws per cross section). The two interior cross sections are attached 18 3/4” from each end of the long section (this creates three roughly equal sections).

Log on to AtUrbanMagazine.com for details on soil mixture, what to plant, and garden table care and maintenance.

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W

hat do you say when you don’t know what to say?

That’s the question Margaret Wills pondered during the

months before she compiled her first book, Pressing into Thin Places, which was published in May by Brown Christian Press.

“You can say you’re sorry for someone’s loss, when someone’s in pain, but if you have something to leave behind, if you have a book they can pick up later, it could really make a difference,” Margaret says.

So Margaret, a former adjunct professor of history at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, wrote a book that weaves together her poetry, lessons from the Bible, and passages from the literary likes of C.S. Lewis and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

But what draws you in are her stories of everyday life. In one chapter, she describes her days as a forty-something graduate student, traipsing through a downpour across a soggy campus.

pressing into thin places

She spotted a young man sitting on a bench, sobbing so hard it

when you don’t know what to say

stopped Margaret in her tracks. She asked if she could help, he shook his head no, so she instead asked if she could pray for him. He said yes.

Margaret went on her way, looked back, and the man was gone.

“He’ll remember that moment, though,” Margaret says. “I’ll never forget it.”

To her, this is an example of pressing into a thin place. The phrase comes from the belief that there are moments when the veil between this world and the heavenly one lift enough for us to feel an overwhelming closeness to God, to rest in His presence.

But before you turn away, thinking this book is one of those dreamy, “five steps to the perfect life” volumes, you should know

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@story Marla Cantrell @image Bobby Dyer

@LIFESTYLE

that it isn’t. Life is hard. Trouble comes. And Margaret, like the

“When you have adversity, there’s a purpose in it, and it’s to

rest of us, is still a work in progress. “I practice patience,” she

increase your patience and your faith. You don’t try to get out

says, and then shakes her head. “I do. But you don’t want to get

of it early. It’s kind of like going to the gym. You’re in the arena

behind me in a long line at Walmart. I’m not nearly perfect.”

of faith and you exercise it or you get flabby.

And that’s what makes you believe her. She takes you with her on

“When I asked my mother to tell me one thing she knew for sure,

the day when her husband Paul told her he wanted a divorce. The

she said, ‘If you lose your faith you lose everything.’ I’d also say

Christmas lights were up, a trove of presents glittered underneath

if you lose your faith in God’s goodness you lose everything.”

the tree, and Margaret had two children still at home.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy. “It’s going to be all right, because “I got into the car and mindlessly drove, ending up on a dead-

it is going to be all right. It’s going to take time, and hurt, but it

end road, in front of a sign that read ‘ARKLA Sand and Gravel,’

is going to be all right.”

she writes. ..“I looked at the finely crushed rocks and thought about my marriage. My mind smiled at the irony of me ending

Now, she says, she no longer demands anything of God. She

up at a rock and gravel pit contemplating a ‘rocky’ marriage, a

doesn’t despair if things don’t turn out the way she thinks

marriage ‘on the rocks.’”

they should. And that’s given her peace, no matter what comes her way.

No, her marriage didn’t end. But it did change her. She wanted everything to go back to normal, she wanted the pain to go

Margaret is also aware that the thin places that feel so incredible

away, and she wanted it now. Instead, she learned that no

are only one side of the coin. Life also has what she describes

matter what happened, God was with her, and that everything

as thick places, which are not nearly as remarkable, or easy to

was going to be okay.

maneuver. “We live on the flatlands,” Margaret says, “in most of our everyday life. C.S. Lewis says remember the time on the

Her husband did return. “Paul turned his heart toward home. We

mountain. We have to do that because there will be times when

love each other so much. He’s my biggest supporter. I worked on

you wonder if you’ve even been there.”

myself as well. There was a lot to get through for us. And I think we taught our children a lesson they’ll understand even more as

Pressing into Thin Places, which is available at Amazon, and

they grow older, that you don’t give up on your family.”

select Barnes and Noble locations, is a lyrical, thoughtful book.

“We’re all looking for proof that we’re not out there alone, that

Her stories cover tribulations, from a family who lost a child,

other people have been where we are,” Margaret says. “My

to dealing with the downward spiral of an ailing older parent.

hope is that this book lets readers know something wonderful,

Through it all, Margaret makes us look, not with rose-colored

that God is also with you.”

glasses, but with a plan to move forward.

You can read more about Margaret’s book at pressingintothinplaces.com, or email her at mwills1@att.net

B

arry Mounce, forty-one, hunches underneath the hood of a mini-van on Sixth Street in Fort

Smith. His eyes are covered by protective glasses, and his hands are covered in grease. The garage is not air conditioned, but Barry is used to it, used to the heat and gasoline fumes so strong they have peeled the paint off the ceiling. Barry fixes cars. In fact, Barry owns this garage called I Fix Cars (IFC).

barry mounce @story and image Marcus Coker

“Easy check writing—that was the idea behind the business name. You can write it with a crayon,” says Barry as he laughs.

Barry grew up in Fort Smith and has been in the garage since childhood. “If I wanted something, I had to fix it,” says Barry. He started with bicycles, then motorcycles.

“When I was sixteen, I owned fourteen at one time. I wanted a car, but I couldn’t afford one that worked, so I had to fix one.”

When he wasn’t busy fixing things, Barry spent time at Crystal Palace Skating Rink. He started skating when he was seven and joined the speed team when he was twelve. One of his first jobs was at the rink, where he worked as a floor guard and DJ. The rink is also where Barry, the mechanic, started dancing. “My friends and I always enjoyed goofing off to the music.

At first, we didn’t think of it as dancing. We were trying to mimic Michael

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Jackson, to show off.”

@LIFESTYLE

After high school, Barry completed a degree in automotive repair

Watching Barry dance is pure entertainment. When he steps

from Westark Community College, but had difficulty finding

onto the dance floor at Momentum Dance Concepts in high-top

permanent work. “I looked too young to get a job in automotive.

canvas shoes, it seems as if his feet don’t stop moving for hours.

I was living in an efficiency apartment, but I couldn’t get ahead.

The beat fills the room as it pulses from the speakers, and sweat

I kept spending everything I made, paying electric, paying rent. I

drips off Barry’s head as if in rhythm. He pops back on his heels,

signed up at Fred Astaire [dance studio in Fort Smith] to see if I

his right arm swinging like a pendulum. His left arm, connected

could be a junior dance instructor. At the same time, I was trying

to his dance partner, rises to eye level, and she begins to spin.

to sell Rainbow vacuum cleaners. I worked at the skating rink on

The music is big band and rock ‘n’ roll. In a word, it swings, and

Friday and Saturday nights. I wondered, All I’m doing is working.

Barry can’t stop smiling as he does too.

How do you go broke working?”

It’s as if God’s given Barry an extra measure of joy, and he can’t “I was working all those jobs to make things happen, but couldn’t

help but share it. That’s the great thing about Barry; dancing is

sell a Rainbow to save my life. At Fred Astaire, it was so serious.”

only one of his many talents. He sings, he models, he tells jokes,

Barry, however, was not so serious, and that become a problem.

and even rides a unicycle. He’s not your average mechanic.

“We were having a ball. I was so excited; it was my first one.”

“What I do is the man’s man’s job. A lot of guys wish they were

They called Barry’s name. “I did a front hand kick, like a donkey.

in the garage,” says Barry. “But I went to my twentieth class

The studio was pretty much like, he ain’t gonna work out.”

reunion and danced with all the girls.”

There were other jobs that didn’t last. Finally, Barry opened IFC,

At the end of the month, Barry will be joining a host of other

where he’s been for the last eighteen years. “I enjoy working on

swing dancers at the Third Annual Southern Fried Swing, a

cars, and I’ll always have to fix things, I know that.”

weekend of swing dance classes and dances. This year’s event will be held at Second Street Live in Fort Smith and Momentum

Auto repair might not seem like a divine calling, but Barry believes

Dance Concepts in Van Buren and will feature live jazz music by

it is. God creates; Barry fixes things. When he’s elbow-deep in

Tulsa’s Rebecca Ungerman. Barry will be the event’s emcee. “It’ll

grease, he feels a spiritual connection. “I don’t care if you’re

be a fun time. People show up with a smile on their face,” Barry

gluing Popsicle sticks together, if you’re making something, you’ll

says, as he disappears beneath the hood of the mini-van, the

satisfy something about you,” he says, explaining his theory.

toe of his boot still keeping beat with the music.

Barry’s hobbies—like skating—have come and gone, but he’s never stopped dancing. Even when he’s working at IFC, there’s often music playing in the background—Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Dean Martin. For Barry, dancing is a way to connect with others. “People show their best side while they’re dancing.”

For event information, visit southernfriedswing.com.

@ENTERTAINMENT

long before they felt ready to hit the road. They were playing in Nashville when famed producer/musician T-Bone Burnett took the pair under his wing, landing them a recording contract.

On their fifth studio release, Welch and Rawlings co-produced, sang, and played everything on the album. It took me awhile to grow accustomed to Rawlings style of playing, making liberal use of the capo and alternate tunings, but once I opened my

now hear this

gillian welch — “the harrow and the harvest” @review Jim Martin

I

mind a bit and really listened to what he was doing, as I said before, I was hooked.

High points: The voice! Welch has a beautiful instrument, a mixture of Emmylou and Nanci Griffith. As for the songs

have to be honest. When “The Harrow and the Harvest”

themselves, all are great, with “Scarlet Town,” “Tennessee,”

came across my desk I knew nothing regarding Gillian

and “Hard Times” standing above the rest. David Rawlings, in

Welch’s music. I knew she was on the “O’ Brother” soundtrack,

general, pulls off a flawless performance. I’ve made a note to

but I couldn’t tell you the title of the song she was on. I wasn’t

myself to check out his solo work.

a fan. I am now.

Low points: It’s slow. If you prefer upbeat music, this is probably The first time through, I wasn’t impressed. A few days later I

not for you with a couple of songs that just drag. And, while I

tried again. That’s when I realized this isn’t a CD you can play

like sparse, some listeners may count that as a low point. There

one time and get all it has to offer. It’s kind of like a fine wine;

are rarely more than two instruments per track.

it has to age a bit. By the third time, I was hooked. First, there’s the voice, what a pure, strong instrument it is. Second, there’s

In a recent interview, Welch stated they had struggled with

the music. Sparse and broken down, it is amazingly beautiful.

getting the music “just right” for this release. I hope they

And third, the writing! These are real songs touching on real

consider the struggle worthwhile, because they definitely got it

subjects and drawing from real pain. I decided to do some

right. It’s been eight years since their last release. I don’t know

research on Gillian Welch.

why they waited, but as listeners, we are absolutely rewarded for our patience.

Turns out she attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston where she first teamed with musical partner, David Rawlings.

The duo began taking local gigs, performing Welch’s original material as well as traditional country and bluegrass. It wasn’t

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I Rate It

@ENTERTAINMENT

no strange fingerprints were discovered, the police assumed

Close Your Eyes

by Amanda Eyre Ward Random House, 249 pages @review Anita Paddock

the father, a poet from Egypt, committed the crime. He was eventually convicted and sent to prison for life.

The children are sent to live in Texas with their maternal grandmother, and grow up with the burden of thinking their dad killed their mom. Alex and Lauren are extremely close.

Alex thinks his father is innocent and tries to get Lauren to help him prove his case. She believes her dad is guilty.

C

lose Your Eyes clips along at a fast pace, making it one of those incredible books you just can’t put down.

Alex becomes a doctor and volunteers to serve in Iran. Lauren sells real estate and lives in Austin with a man named Gerry, who wants to marry her. Lauren is a wounded and complex

I discovered Amanda Eyre Ward several years ago when I

woman, and I sometimes found her unlikable. She drinks too

read her earlier book, Sleep Toward Heaven, which has been

much and is short tempered with her boyfriend, who is really

optioned for a movie by Sandra Bullock.

a good guy.

In her latest book, she writes that the idea for it came when she

Alex wants Lauren to talk to their father, and he tells her about

was a teenager living in a suburb of New York City. A husband

his private investigation into their mother’s death.

and wife, both from India, had been found murdered in an upscale town near Amanda’s home for no apparent reason.

With these characters firmly established, the author

Many years later, a man attending an AA meeting confessed

introduces the reader to another cast of characters, Sylvia and

he may have killed the couple when he was in an alcoholic

Victoria, friends in New York City who attend the same school.

black-out. The couple lived in the home he once lived in, and

Victoria lives in an expensive apartment in Manhattan with her

he thought he broke into the home to kill his parents. That

parents; Sylvia lives in a cheap hotel with her single mother.

man, the son of a prominent banker, is now in jail.

They become fast friends, live the fast life with each friend engaging in questionable behavior.

From that event comes this novel, Close Your Eyes. It starts in 1986, when eight-year-old Lauren and her ten-year-old brother,

Their lives are entangled with Lauren’s and Alex’s, and it is

Alex, are given permission to spend the night in the tree house

the unraveling of their lives that tells what really happened,

in their backyard, while their parents hosted a party. The

and it is up to Lauren to solve the terrifying puzzle of her

next morning, when Alex went into his parents’ bedroom, he

mother’s death.

found his mother murdered. Because nothing was taken, and

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U

sing rough-cut diamonds, vintage lace and tumbled beach glass, Lauren Embree, who lives in Fayetteville, grabbed the attention of magazine

editors from Vogue and Martha Stewart Whole Living. At the age of twenty-six, Lauren runs her own business creating eco-friendly jewelry and also creating some buzz in the fashion world. ”I design jewelry that is made from vintage materials from found objects, from old vintage jewelry that I take apart.” She watches the latest fashion trends from Marc Jacobs and Alexis Bittar and adds her personal flare, turning old jewelry into new trendsetting styles. She carefully combines gemstones, like amethyst and citrine, with sapphires and diamonds. But she also uses other materials like vintage lace to make necklaces, and pressed playing marbles to make cuff links. ”It’s a little mix of everything. It’s a mix of the old vintage with the new, to create a modern piece of jewelry.”

lauren embree

Last fall an eco-friendly blog out of Los Angeles,

@story Tonya McCoy @images Lauren Embree

EcoStiletto.com, heard about Lauren’s recycled jewelry and wrote a feature. “The next day I

was contacted by the editors of Martha Stewart Whole Living magazine. They had me send them several pieces for a story and then the following week I was contacted by the jewelry/accessories editor’s assistant at Vogue. .. I was blown away, I couldn’t believe it.”

Despite the success of her environmentally friendly accessories, Lauren hadn’t planned on becoming a jewelry artist. She was working at the Walton Arts Center

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@PEOPLE

after graduating from the University of Arkansas with a public relations degree, when she received news that would forever change her career and her life.

“I had to leave that job to go back home [to Hot Springs] and take care of my mom.

She was diagnosed as terminally ill.” She’d battled cancer for years. “That was in 2008. So I went home and took care of her until she passed away.”

Lauren and her husband David moved up their wedding date a whole year and actually planned a wedding in ten days so Lauren’s mother could attend. Her mother died the day after the ceremony. As the newlywed prepared to return to Northwest Arkansas, she was mourning the loss of her mother, and she was unemployed.

“I came back up to Fayetteville to be with my husband, and it was right around the time when the stock market was crashing. There were no jobs. Unemployment was sky high and there really wasn’t a lot of opportunity.”

Lauren took a job in Bentonville working as a fabric coordinator for an outdoor clothing and accessories company, but was laid off within six months.

“I knew I had to do something… I went and applied for a wait-staff job that had fifty applicants for one position. I was like, that’s not going to work. Out of fifty people am I the one they’re going to hire? Probably not. So I had to create my own opportunity.”

And that’s what Lauren did. The answer to Lauren’s financial woes had been right under her nose all along. Lauren was wearing necklaces and earrings that she had crafted from her great-grandmother’s jewelry and people started to notice her style.

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@PEOPLE

“When I was a kid I would go visit my

that school, there were so many artistically talented people,

great-grandmother’s house and she

too, and there really wasn’t an outlet for them to showcase that

had a really big collection of vintage

talent. So my senior year there I became the editor and founder

jewelry, and playing in her collection

of a literary magazine.”

was like playing in a big treasure chest.

I loved it.” Her great–grandmother

Today she’s an active member of the Creative Action Economy

passed away in 2004 and left her

Group, a group that supports art related businesses in

jewelry to Lauren. “I inherited a lot of

Fayetteville. She shares business advice with local artists, many

her collection and I didn’t like wearing

who’ve also started their businesses because of job loss due to

it just as it was. A lot of the pieces

dips in the market.

were big or chunky or just weren’t my style, but I wanted to use the pieces because they were very

And at the young age of twenty-six, she has knowledge beyond

sentimental to me. So I started taking them apart and using

her years to share. Not only did she teach herself to make

the pieces in new ways, like taking beads from a necklace and

jewelry from books and websites, she also taught herself to do

making a pair of earrings that were my style. And eventually I just

all her own photography and web design.

started wearing all of my own designs and people kept asking, ‘Where did you get those earrings?’ or ‘Where did you get that

But her favorite part of the business is custom designing pieces

necklace?’” She reworked glass pearls and beads into modern

that have sentimental value for her clients, like inherited jewelry.

necklaces. And she used her great-grandmother’s earrings from her 1956 wedding to craft a ring.

“There was a necklace that featured these tiny little hand-blown glass beads from Italy from the 1950s, and it had belonged to

Within a week of losing her job, Lauren was showing pieces

this woman’s mother and she wanted me to make it into pairs

in her living room at her first jewelry party. “I always thought I

of earrings for her, her daughter, her granddaughter, and her

would be a supporter of art. I didn’t imagine I’d be an artist.”

daughter-in-law. It belonged to her mother, and it’s a piece that traveled and has been worn. And now it’s getting new life, going

She’d always admired the art in the galleries in Hot Springs where she grew up. When she was a child she used to play pretend art gallery and charge her parents a quarter to look at ‘works of art’ hanging in the hall drawn by herself and her younger brother and sister. And even though she attended high school at the Arkansas School for Math and Science in Hot Springs, she still found a way to forge her way into the artistic community.

“While there were so many academically talented people in

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back out into the world to tell a new story.”

The Lauren Embree Jewelry Showroom is located in The Matt Miller Studio on the Fayetteville Square, or view her designs at www.laurenembree.com

C

rowds gathered in Brownsville, Texas, on March 12, to see the air show that had been heavily promoted

for months. The superstars of the show were Kyle and Amanda Franklin, a young couple from Neosho, Missouri.

They turned heads with their daring “Pirated Skies� act that was performed in a 1940 Waco biplane, with Kyle as the pilot and Amanda as his wing walker.

@PEOPLE

Kyle estimates that at any given time there are no more than a dozen wing walkers, actively performing, worldwide. You have to be strong, agile, careful, and fearless. The payoff is that on the top wing, moving through the sky, you come as close as you ever will to flying the way a bird does, or if you believe, the way angels do.

Amanda had been wing walking since 2009. She drew a sea of fans, this beautiful young woman standing atop the plane, her long hair flowing behind, a pirate sword in one hand, pretending to challenge her husband, who played along as Captain Kyro to her Scandalous Scarlett.

On this day, the plane climbed 3,000 feet before Kyle nodded to Amanda, giving her the signal to rise from the front cockpit, and climb onto the top wing. “We were excited,” Kyle says. “It was the first show of the season. I’d already done my solo act and everything was running good, everything was fine.”

When Amanda was secure in her harness, the plane started its loops. Amanda stood, feet apart, arms thrown high above her head, looking like a human X to the crowd below. White smoke billowed from the exhaust, hanging in the air as a kind of exclamation point for those on the ground.

“I actually pulled out early on the torque roll,” Kyle says. “We weren’t as high as I liked. We came out on the down line and I was gaining speed to come over the top for the Half Cuban Eight and then come right back down on the show line, which is @story Marla Cantrell @images Courtesy Kyle Franklin

always 500 feet away from the crowd.

“I was flying farther out that day because the wind was pushing me toward the crowd. This next maneuver was going to bring me back in to where I normally fly. As I leveled out, I started to pull

27

and the engine quit. The way it quit and the sound of it quitting, I

from my left hand,” he says, and rubs the back of his neck. “It

was like, this is not good. It wasn’t a sound I’d heard before.

wouldn’t have taken anything to do it. My dad had always told me it’s the little things that’ll get you.” Kyle says, and grows

“As soon as it quit, I’m hitting things in the cockpit trying to get

quiet for a moment. “They add up. The wind whipping through

it to re-start and I knew we were in bad shape. I was low, I was

the trees, the oil flash, the fire. It started fast, basically right

slow, we had an almost thirty-mile-an-hour wind, I was already

where Amanda was.

into the wind. We were at the far end of the airport.

“I remember opening my eyes and all I see is fire in my face. I realize “In our emergency procedures I’d tell her, you need to be

I have a hold of Amanda but I can’t get her out. The next thing I

listening to that engine and if it coughs or quits, you need to

know, I’m on the ground. I see the airplane burning, I’m trying to get

look back at me and I’ll tell you what to do. When

back up, but I have guys holding me down.”

she looked at me I gave her that nod. I was holding the plane, trying to give her as much time as

He tells the story with precision, occasionally resting

possible to get down.”

his forehead in the palm of his right hand. His arm is covered with a black compression glove that starts

It took them fourteen seconds to hit the ground.

above his elbow and stops at his fingertips. It covers

Amanda made it into the cockpit. Kyle saw a

the burns he suffered while trying to save Amanda.

grove of mesquite trees, which was not where he

Part of what he knows he was told by rescuers. “I

needed to land. And then he spotted a clearing,

radioed in the fire, but I don’t remember that. They

barely bigger than the plane, and aimed for it. His

say I was still trying to pull her free when the first

landing was spot on.

guys showed up on the scene.

It could have been worse, Kyle thought. They hadn’t

“She wore a safety cable. Part of our emergency

hit the trees; the plane didn’t seem to be severely damaged. At

procedure was to unhook that safety cable as soon as she was

most, they’d probably have to take the rest of the season off to

in the cockpit so she’s not attached and try to get the seatbelt

recover from minor injuries.

on. She didn’t have time. I don’t know what it [the cable] got caught on. It drives me nuts trying to figure out how it could

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But then the flames erupted. Kyle thinks the fire started from the

hold her in so tight. It took bolt cutters to get her out. I think

“smoke oil” used in the exhaust to make the white smoke that

about it every day. People told me I did everything I could, but

streams from the plane. “If that oil loses airflow over it, it can

you second guess. All those what-ifs. I never had one regret

catch fire. I believe that once we hit the ground, that happened.

before that day. Now I think about that damn switch. One click

I’d never trained myself to shut the pump off in emergency

of one switch could have changed this whole damn thing. It’s

training. I wish to hell I had. That switch is just two inches

hard to live with.”

@PEOPLE

Amanda, burned over seventy percent of her body, and facing

again. “I’d figured out a way that she could still fly a plane if they

reconstruction due to the multiple fractures to her face, was

left most of her fingers. I’m a mechanic; I fix things. I’d drawn out a

taken to a burn center in San Antonio. “We had a [Franklin’s

new design for a control stick. I knew she’d want to fly again.”

Flying Circus] Facebook page and I’d update Amanda’s condition almost every day. People from all over the world, including

Amanda endured a long succession of surgeries. “It was so hard on

doctors, would send me treatments to try. I’d go hunt Amanda’s

her,” Kyle says, and the tears come. “..She’d overcome so much. She

doctors down with a fistful of information I’d printed out and

was in such good shape before the accident and such a fighter.”

they’d listen to me and sometimes they’d even try some of them, maybe just to humor me, I don’t know.”

Finally, Kyle had to make the decision to take Amanda off life support. She died on May 27. She was twenty-five. “I always

His first post after the crash was on March 20. On March 29,

thought if anyone got killed doing this, it would be me. It was

he told their fans he’d been discharged. He moved into his RV

not supposed to be her.”

and kept vigil by Amanda’s bedside. Slowly, her lungs recovered from the smoke damage. But another threat was surfacing.

Kyle’s life has been filled with planes and the danger that goes

“Amanda got an infection. After that,” he says, “it was like they

along with them. His first memories are of his parents’ apartment

were whittling her away, trying to stop it.”

inside an airport hangar in New Mexico. As young as four, he was wing walking while his father taxied on the runway. He flew a

When Kyle learned surgeons needed to amputate her fingers,

plane when he was eight. At fourteen, he became part of the

he begged them to take as little as possible. “I have a drawing

act. Kyle says, “My dad called it a hard way to make an easy

somewhere,” he says, starts to get up to find it, and then sits down

living,” and shrugs at the logic of the convoluted statement.

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He realizes that what seems normal to him looks very different

“My dad and Amanda’s dad were legends in the air show family.

to the outside world. “I look at old family photos, and there’s

They were performing an act called ‘Masters of Disaster’ that

not one without a plane in it. That was our life. It was who we

had three airplanes, jet trucks, pyrotechnics. It was the wildest

were.” He says this while standing beside Amanda’s plane that

show to hit the industry. I was announcing. Amanda was starting

sits empty inside his hangar in Neosho.

my dad’s jet engine. It was about halfway into the show and there was a maneuver, not that complicated, really. The timing wasn’t right on, but close enough. My dad and Bobby flew so much alike, and I think both of them realized they were in a bad place. ..Bobby broke right, my dad broke left, and they ended up colliding. You couldn’t duplicate that again if you tried.

“My dad and I talked all the time about the risk involved, especially after I started wing walking. He’d call me and say, ‘I almost ate it today.’ Or he’d call and say, ‘If something happens

Amanda’s plane is red and black. The passenger seat is covered

at today’s show I want you to do this and this and this.’ So when

with a blanket used to catch the fur left behind by her Golden

it happened it tripped a switch in me. I had three thoughts: get

Retriever, Jackson, and her lovable mutt named Rocky. “If I

my dad, get his plane, and get out of Canada.

could have only one picture of Amanda,” Kyle says, “it would be of her on the day we flew back from Branson. She was in

“Amanda was a daddy’s girl. I don’t think she ever got over losing

her plane with the dogs and I was in mine. I flew up next to

Bobby. He was something,” Kyle says. “Great pilot.” And then he

her,” he says, touching the tips of his fingers, steeple-like, to

adds, like a footnote in a book of extraordinary facts: “He had a

show how close they were, “and the dogs were looking out the

lion he kept in the backyard like a dog. Named him Samson.”

back window. She was flying along, up front, smiling, this little girl with a pony tail.”

“My dad was fifty-eight. He was on his second set of nine lives; he’d had so many close calls. I lost my grandfather in a plane

On the door of Amanda’s plane is a black decal that reads, In

crash when I was eleven. People ask why I still fly. This is my

Memory of Bobby Younkin. Bobby, Amanda’s father, died in

life. What else would I do?” Kyle asks and shrugs. “You have a

Canada. At an air show. When his plane collided with Jimmy

car accident, you don’t stop driving. That’s the closest example

Franklin’s. Had Jimmy lived a few more months, he would have

I can think of.”

become Amanda’s father-in-law.

Kyle’s plane sits just in front of Amanda’s, so close they’re Jimmy was Kyle’s father.

almost touching. “I spent seven years with Amanda. Day and night. I don’t have one memory without her in it. We were air-

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@PEOPLE

show brats. I never met anyone like her. She made me a better person. We met at an air show and started dating in 2004 – she was eighteen and I was twenty-four – well, I wasn’t much of a dog person. Her dad took me aside one day and said, ‘You know Kyle, Jackson and Amanda are a package deal.’ Jackson was a mama’s boy; he became our child. After she lost Jackson, she got Rambo, another Golden, thinking it might be the same. He’s a wonderful dog,” Kyle says, “but he’s not Jackson.”

An investigation into the cause of the crash turned up little.

The engine failed, but the reason why remains inconclusive.

When he talks about Amanda he slips at times into present tense, as if she’s not truly gone. “She wonders how we were going to keep the kids’ toys separate from the dogs’,” he says, recalling the discussions they had about someday having a family. And later, “Sometimes I feel like she’s on a trip, you know, like she’ll come home again.”

“We got married in the fall, October 18, 2005, at my mother’s in New Mexico, 7,000 feet up in the mountains. We both loved

The space Amanda filled in Kyle is bigger than any sky they flew

fall. It was the middle of the week, which seemed strange but

across. He does what he can in her absence, taking care of the four

that’s when air-show pilots have time off. She was beautiful. I’ll

dogs she loved so much. Miss Peg, a stray that showed up on their

never forget seeing her that day. It was picture-perfect, except

doorstep and “took over the place,” is missing an eye. Marvin, an

that our dads weren’t there.”

abused dog that found his way to the Franklins, romps near Miss Peg, a squirrel in his sights. Rambo, still a pup, finds a way to get

When Kyle comes to the Fort Smith Air Show on October 1 and 2,

everything into his mouth, including Rocky’s spotted head.

it will be only the second show he’s flown since losing Amanda.

Amanda’s brother, Matt Younkin, will fly as well. Just days before

He has plans to rebuild the Waco biplane. “I don’t want the crash

the crash, Amanda spoke with the Brownsville Herald. She said,

to be its final flight.” And he holds tight to memories of Amanda,

“It’s in our blood. There is risk in what we do. We acknowledge

like the story of the morning he proposed. “They had a grass

that. We take every precaution that we can to eliminate the risk

landing strip out front in their house in northwest Arkansas. I got

to make it safe. But if you live your life in fear that something

up early one morning and jumped in my Super Cub. I had flowers

could go wrong, you’re not living your life.”

and the ring. I pulled the power back, basically dead-sticked the airplane in so I wouldn’t wake her, and landed in the front yard.

31

I

an Bullock’s life pivots on a moment in the 1970s when he was newly graduated from high school, training for a career

riding the tides

in the architectural field, and feeling a little lost.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life,” Ian says, while

ian and tom bullock

standing near the pool at Creekmore Park in Fort Smith where

@story Marla Cantrell @image Catherine Frederick

he’d just finished hosting the state swim meet. “I don’t think anyone knows at that age. I was still living in New Zealand where I grew up. I was one of only two students to be selected for an apprenticeship in drafting, and I should have been happy. But I remember looking up from my desk at the people outside and feeling envy for them. If I’d stayed there, I would have ended up hating my job.”

And then one day the phone rang. “It was the University of Iowa calling. Out of the blue from the University of Iowa, offering me a swimming scholarship.”

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@PEOPLE

Ian, who was New Zealand’s 200 meter backstroke national

As for his mentor, he’d already moved on. “Sam left at the end

champion, didn’t really want to go to college. But he did want to

of my freshman year to be head coach at the University of

swim. “Iowa was dead last in the Big Ten at that time. They were

Arkansas for both the men’s and women’s teams. I’d wanted to

trying to build their swimming program. They looked through

quit Iowa and go with him, but he wouldn’t let me.”

all their old records and found an NCAA champion who swam for them back in 1956, and he was helping them find the best

But Sam hadn’t forgotten Ian. “While he was at Arkansas,

swimmers from my part of the world.”

they were building the HPER [Health, Physical Education, and Recreation] building, and I was going to come work with him.

With an offer in hand, Ian’s next step was figuring out where

When I graduated, he told me it wouldn’t be done for a year,

Iowa was.

so my wife and I went home to visit my family. While we were there, I get a call from Sam and he says, ‘There’s a job in Fort

“Back then, you had to get out the encyclopedia and look things

Smith, and you need to take it, because this up here is going to

up. It was an adventure. I remember landing in Des Moines. I

take longer and longer.’”

thought the wealth in the U.S. was unbelievable. I’d never seen an automatic garage door opener. I’d never seen so many kinds

The job was coaching the Tideriders, the city’s year-round

of automobiles.”

competitive swim team. “We came here in August of 1982. I was employed by the school system – I’ve taught science at Northside

Even more fascinating was Ian’s introduction to swim coach

for seventeen years – and I also coach the Tideriders.

Sam Freas, who was at the University of Iowa, working on his doctorate. “Sam caused a total change in my life. He was a

“Sam left Arkansas after six years and went to LSU. He worked

Christian, and I became a Christian. I babysat for his kids. He

in Hawaii. He was on the coaching staff for the South American

organized our team to teach community swim lessons. I had a

Olympic Team. I probably hadn’t seen him for fifteen years,

group of five and I just loved it.”

and then I got a call last February and Sam said, ‘I wanted you to know I’m getting back in coaching. I’m taking this job

The following year, Ian met a coed named Kara. When he was a

at Oklahoma Baptist. They don’t have a swim team, but they’re

junior, the two married.

starting one.’

All the while, he was gaining ground as a swimmer. The New

“So I asked him why, after all these years, he was going to coach

Zealander became an NCAA All-American. And then, in his

at a school with a new program, and he said he went to visit the

senior year, he had an even bigger victory. “We won the Big Ten

campus and he felt like the Lord told him he needed to be there.

that season, 1981, beating Indiana. They hadn’t been beaten in

I said, ‘You know you’ve got to teach something,’ and he said,

twenty years.”

‘I know.’ I think I’ll teach evangelism.’” Ian smiles. “I’ve never known anyone like him.”

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@PEOPLE

Sam hadn’t called just to keep Ian in the loop. He wanted to

The talk of family turns to Ian’s own parents who stayed behind

know if Ian’s twenty-one-year-old son, Tom, wanted to be his

when he crossed the sea. “I took my three kids back to New

first recruit. Tom, an education major, was already swimming for

Zealand six years ago, before they all went their own way. We

Missouri State. And he was getting ready to start his senior year.

tried to swim in every pool I did when I was on the two islands.

None of that mattered. “I said absolutely,” Tom says. “To get to

Tom swam where I won nationals. It was twenty-one days of

be part of a brand new program, and to come in as a leader, it’s

heaven in a mobile RV.

like a dream situation.”

“Both my parents are gone now. My dad died last April. He found Ian chimes in. “Sam is so well known, he’s had people contacting

out he had lung cancer at Thanksgiving. We had this period of

him, from as far away as Brazil, South Africa, Columbia. He’s

time where we’d Skype and I’d call and we’d talk. We talked a

coached so many swimmers, and they’ve become coaches and

lot about the past and he said, ‘It was hard on your mum.’ “I was

they’ve maintained a relationship with him, so he has plenty of

the youngest. I was the last one. I was the only boy. The two

talent to pick from. And Tom will be swimming with the same

daughters had gone off and gotten married. The thing is, when

coach I swam with. He’s one of the greatest coaches in the

I was growing up going swimming, it was my mum who took

nation. He cares a lot about kids, he knows personalities. He’ll

me to the swim meets, who took me to practice. My dad was

attract kids other coaches would discard; he sees something in

working all the time, so she had more invested. And then to see

them and he’ll build them up.”

me go, it was hard. I was a teenager when I left; I didn’t know what she was going through.”

Tom, who has several awards to his credit including Arkansas Swimmer of the Year, credits his father for getting him this far.

Ian now wonders if he could stand to see Tom move so far away.

“Dad never once got in my face, or got verbal the way some

“I’d rather he stayed close,” Ian says, and then he slides his

coaches do. He was always so laid back with me. He took that

sunglasses down to shield his eyes. “But if Tom got an opportunity

pressure off and made me better. I think I’ll probably end up

like I had, I’d be proud of him. I’d encourage him to go.”

coaching, and it will be because of him.”

Tom stands in the bright sun beside his dad. “I can’t see myself Ian puts his hand on Tom’s shoulder. “Tom’s a great long-distance

going too far away,” he says, as he looks across the pool where

swimmer. Great. Still, it’s a tough balance when you coach your

he’s been swimming for years. “I kind of like it here.”

own kids. When you have disappointment, when you have frustration, when you didn’t do as well as you thought you would, you’ve got to go back to the hotel room with them, you’ve got to go back home. Whereas with the other kids, they leave with their parents and you deal with your disappointment alone. But, oh man,” Ian says, “when you do great, it doesn’t get any better.”

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J

ody Rhoads, owner of Memories by Jody in Van Buren, lifts the side of his T-shirt, revealing a nine-

inch scar that cuts across his entire right side. It’s red and looks tender. He says it hurts to laugh. On the kitchen counter sits a small jar that contains a solitary bone, a rib that used to be inside him. He jokes that he’ll make a necklace out of it, maybe let his son take it to his school for show-and-tell. The rib used to protect Jody’s right kidney, but he doesn’t need it anymore.

Jody just gave that kidney to his dad.

It happened on Wednesday, July 13. It was six in the morning, and Jody, dressed in only a pair of tight socks and a not-so-private hospital gown, shivered as he waited. Perfectly healthy, he’d checked into the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock the day before. He went around meeting nurses, saying hi to everybody. “I knew I was going to be fine,” says Jody. “Not making it didn’t cross my mind. I was more nervous because

the ultimate gift giving dad a second chance @story Marcus Coker @images Jody Rhoads

I’d never stayed in a hospital in my life.”

The surgery lasted five and a half hours. In livingdonor transplants, the left kidney is usually removed. It has a longer vein (more plumbing) that can be used by the recipient. Plus, it can be removed laparoscopically, which means a less invasive surgery and a shorter recovery time. However, this procedure was not an option for Jody because he says he had two arteries connected to his left kidney. The average person only has one, so the doctors said the right kidney would be less risky to remove.

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@PEOPLE

Jody points to a box of Mike and Ike candy. “The kidney is

prolonged life—another twenty years, another thirty years. I

probably about the size of that box right there. Not much

thought, If I can help my dad, I will.”

bigger than the size of your fist. It filters the blood, removing waste.” Because healthy kidneys are so efficient at what they

In March, Jody underwent extensive testing. Of all the possible

do, they never strain to do their job. If one is removed, the other

donors, Jody turned out to be the most viable, as well as the

will be in shock at first, but is more than capable of handling

youngest. By the end of May, the hospital was ready to schedule

the workload of both, which is why living kidney donation is

the surgery. “When they saw that I was a good candidate, they

possible. According to the National Kidney Foundation, there

were like, let’s get it, let’s go. That’s when it started setting in;

were a total of 13,156 single kidney transplants performed

this is really going to happen.”

nationwide in 2008. Of those, 5,968 were from living donors.

Compare those numbers to the 82,364 people on the kidney

Jody decided to postpone the surgery until July because his

transplant waiting list in 2009, and the need for living donation

wife was pregnant and due at the end of June. Jody’s second

is shockingly apparent.

child, a daughter, was born on Father’s Day, and the surgery took place less than a month later.

Jody’s dad, Terry Rhoads, is sixty-four. Jody says, “He had strep throat when he was younger, and that was not taken care of right,

Jody and Terry saw each other just before the procedure. “Dad

which caused an infection in the kidneys and caused damage.

was in tears. He was pretty emotional. He wanted to let me know

Eventually, that damage caught up with him.” Terry’s been in

how he loved me. He thanked me for what I was doing. All along,

renal failure for over twenty years and was able to treat the

like always, he wanted everything to be good for me.”

condition with medication alone until a year and a half ago. He then started dialysis. “At first, it gave him some help, then he kind

Terry says he tried several times to talk his son out of the donation,

of plateaued,” says Jody. “Then it started affecting his work. His

saying, “’You have your own family to take care of.’” Each time,

immune system was terrible. There were days he’d go to work,

Jody’s response was the same: “’My mind is made up.’”

then have to drive home. And Dad doesn’t ever do that.”

Terry’s surgery started at 10:30 in the morning, and lasted a Terry was placed on a transplant list, but waiting for an organ

couple hours. Two days later, Jody and his father saw each other

from a deceased donor can take at least a year and in many

again. Jody says, “My sister was saying, ‘As soon as you feel

cases, much longer. Several of Jody’s family members started

good, Daddy wants to see you. He wants to know you’re doing

talking about being tested as candidates for living donation.

better.’ He was concerned about me, my health. He would just

“I didn’t know much about kidney donation until a year ago,”

as soon die or go on trying to live the way he was rather than

says Jody. In February, Jody attended a class offered by UAMS

make it hard on someone else.”

for potential donors. “I learned it’s very viable to do it. If I was healthy, and I was, I could offer my dad this second chance at

“It was pretty emotional. I actually walked down there to see

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@PEOPLE

him. Anytime I was in the hospital room, he’d reach his hand over and grab my leg and tell me how much he loved me, how proud he was of me.”

Now that the surgery is over, Jody’s simply needs to make healthy choices. He has to watch his weight, monitor his cholesterol, and eat the right kind of foods, like watching his sodium intake. “One kidney can be attacked, but I don’t’ have that option. I’ve got to eat healthy, which is what I need to do anyway.” Jody goes back for a checkup in six months. After that, he’ll go once a year for the rest of his life. “It’s a good thing anyway. Keeps me healthy.”

Terry’s been slowly improving. He’s on at least a dozen antirejection medications, and he’ll be taking pills the rest of his life. Many of those medications are immune-suppressor drugs.

“It’s just a great tradeoff for him,” says Jody. “He’ll have a longer life and a better quality of life.”

Jody knows he made the right choice. “I had no reservations.

I’ve been real calm throughout the whole process. If it were your

Before the surgery, Jody’s five-year-old son asked what

dad, you would be no different. As a Christian, praying about

was happening. Jody said, “Dad’s about to give Papa Terry a

this, I didn’t have any doubt. I didn’t.”

kidney.” His son said, “Well, Dad, when I get older, I’ll give you a kidney too.”

For Jody, it’s his faith that’s seen him through. The support he’s received from friends and family—the phone calls, the text messages, the Facebook posts, the prayers—have been overwhelming. “We’re involved in a great church. They’ve sent us money, they’ve sent us food. All of this is an example of God’s love and hand in every bit of it.”

“I didn’t do anything heroic. I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary that anybody else who loves their parents or loves their sibling wouldn’t do.”

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For more information about living kidney donation, log on to the UAMS website uamshealth.com/kidneytransplant.

For information on general organ donations, which is typically signified by a special designation on your driver’s license, log on to arora.org.

@TASTE

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@recipe & images Laura Hobbs

If your timing is right, you can buy some of the sweetest, most tender corn this time of year. For those who don’t have farm-fresh corn readily available, there are a few rules to abide by in buying a good ear of corn. One, check the cut ends of the ears; they should look like they were just cut from the stalk, not shriveled or dry. Two, the ears should be tightly wrapped in their husks - and if possible, avoid buying partially husked corn, the kind that’s had its tops lopped off and been wrapped in plastic; this tends to dry out the kernels. Three, the ears should feel heavy for their size and have husks that are green and fresh, the kernels should feel plump and tight, and the silk should appear shiny and golden.

Capice? Capice. Moving on!

Corn chowder is a staple late summer dish – fresh corn right off the cob in a creamy, flavorful broth, often enhanced by bacon and onion.

Delish, right?

Well, me being me, I made a few tweaks and adjustments to my favorite corn chowder recipe – this one is from the Food Network’s Tyler Florence.

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@TASTE

My first tweak was to grill the corn before cutting it off the cob. Grilling corn is a simple task -one so simple you can even do it while multitasking, like folding laundry or icing a cake – as long as you keep an eye on it and rotate it regularly. I also added carrots and celery to my soup base to

2 2 1 2

1 2 6

Tbs. butter Tbs. olive oil onion, diced medium carrots, peeled and diced large celery stalk, diced garlic cloves, minced sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only

1/4 1/2 6 2 3 6

—

cup all-purpose flour cup white wine cups vegetable stock cups heavy cream red potatoes, diced ears corn, shucked, rinsed and grilled salt and pepper to taste

add more flavor, texture and color to the otherwise monochromatic soup. Another addition was the white wine before the stock to add depth. Tyler calls for peeled russet potatoes in his recipe; I switched this to red potatoes with the skins on. I like the less-starchy red potato better, and I like the texture of the potato peel - it makes me feel like I’m adding a few more nutrients. (I know the nutrient thing is a stretch; just let me keep thinking that.)

The two cups (!!!) of heavy cream gave the consistency a luxurious feel, the grilled corn added a subtle smoky flavor and the essence of the wine lingered with just the right intensity. We topped our soup with chopped garden tomatoes and scallions, but feel free to play around: add bacon, sour cream, or a light drizzle of olive oil – as

Grill the corn until the kernels begin to crackle and turn brown, rotating the cobs regularly. Remove from the grill and set aside.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for a minute longer. Add the flour and stir to coat everything well, cooking for about a minute, until the flour begins to brown. Add the wine and simmer a minute longer. Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add the cream and the potatoes, bring to a boil, and boil for about 7 minutes, until the potatoes begin to break down.

Cut the grilled corn kernels off the cob and add to the soup. Season with salt and pepper and simmer about 10 to 12 minutes longer. With an immersion blender, or working in batches with a food processor, blend about half of the soup until smoother but still chunky, or until the desired consistency is reached. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with your choice of toppings.

I always say, the possibilities are endless!

Play around, have fun, and savor the summer while you can. Enjoy!

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@DESTINATION

north fork river @story Todd Whetstine @images Wild Woods Photography

T

he magnificent North Fork of the White River is concealed in the Missouri Ozarks.

It flows through the Mark Twain National Forest on its way to the Norfork Lake, just south of the Arkansas border and about twenty miles west of West Plains, Missouri. Douglas and Ozark Counties are blessed with tourists itching to get a line wet in this world-class trout stream. Several

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springs along the river provide millions of gallons of cold water every day, making it a perfect destination for anyone wanting to escape this year’s record-breaking heat.

Speaking of records, this place has plenty. On August 7, 1988, Huey Manley and two of his Little Rock friends, all of whom regularly fished the North Fork, showed up on the water a little later than usual. They fished from the bank – usually they rented a boat – and on the very first cast, Huey snagged a monster brown trout. It took over thirty minutes (and two cigarettes) to land the fish, and set a new world record. The catch was verified at 3:30 in the morning at a grocery store in Mountain Home.

The trout was forty-one inches long, and weighed thirty-eight pounds, nine ounces.

This place is my family’s favorite stop. We’ve found good camping with at least four commercial campgrounds, spread along the middle and lower ends of the river. There are shady stops where those on overnight float trips spot and pitch tents.

Local outfitters have limited space available for RVs, just call well ahead of time to reserve a spot. During the hot summer months, RESERVATIONS ARE A MUST! The Devil’s Backbone is a stretch along the upper part of the river that has places for horse camps, trail riding, hiking, mountain biking, and backpacking. Located inside the Mark Twain National Forest, the Devil’s Backbone is a wilderness area with several hikes to choose from. Trailheads are marked to help guide you down the right path. Remember to always use caution; the dense forest make it easy for inexperienced hikers to get disoriented. Topographical maps and good orienteering skills are a plus along this section of the river.

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@DESTINATION

My family and I have enjoyed it all. But I was introduced to this great waterway long before they were, and years before I even knew its proper name.

It happened like this: I was a ten-year-old. My grandfather loved to take my sister and me in his 1972 Cadillac for a journey through the rolling hills and twisting roads. We’d always end up at a little swimming hole with water that felt cold as ice. I can remember playing on the dam and swimming in the old chutes along the old wooden mill and water wheel. I remember how amazingly beautiful the crystal-clear water looked. Growing up in southeast Kansas, we were accustomed to rivers flowing with water resembling chocolate milk. I remember the hills we

Little kids still play along the dam. Only the chutes from the

crossed on the way to the North Fork. I was car sick, but it was

mill are blocked off, out of concern for visitors’ safety.

worth it every minute of it.

While tubing the North Fork recently with my family, I photographed My grandfather passed away in 1979. I never learned the

a young mother and her baby kayaking with a proud grandma.

name of that special place where the water ran cold and my

We’re not the only family making memories here.

grandfather and I shared our love of nature. I often told my wife, ‘I wish I could remember where that was.’

You should check out the North Fork of the White River in the Ava Ranger District, near Dora, Missouri. You’re going to love

Then one day during the summer of 1998 my wife and I took

it. I recommend it, and I say with some authority, my grandpa

the kids floating down the North Fork River. We were about to

would have as well.

paddle up to the take-out - it was located a few feet upstream from an old rock dam. As we approached, a strange feeling came across me. I noticed an old mill, took another look at the dam, and then spotted the bridge Grandpa would cross to park the

For a map and river description

old Cadillac. I couldn’t believe it! There it was! Right in front of

www.missouricanoe.org/river-maps/northfork-bryant.html

me! That ice cold swimming hole. Grandpa would be proud to know he started a great family tradition that continues today.

Walking around the old mill a couple weeks ago, I noticed many things that are still like the old days. Young families still picnic.

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