Most of all, I’ll remember the laugh. It was infectious. And it was loud. Real loud. The sound of that laugh coming from down the hall always made me smile. Mac Sisson of Arkadelphia died Monday morning of a heart attack at the far-too-young age of 62. He was a mentor. He was a friend. He was one of those salt-of-the-earth people who make me glad to live in Arkansas.
Read MoreMac
posted by rexnelson on March 8th, 2010Arkansas cuisine
posted by rexnelson on March 5th, 2010It’s tough to define a distinctive Arkansas cuisine in a state that’s mostly Southern but also a little bit Midwestern and a little bit Southwestern. So what is Arkansas cuisine? Here’s my best shot: Traditional country cooking done simply and done well, using the freshest ingredients possible.
Read MoreMy favorite books
posted by rexnelson on March 5th, 2010In 1976, Jim Rikhoff founded the National Sporting Fraternity Limited and its publishing arm, the Amwell Press. Rikhoff earlier had founded the Winchester Press and was a well-known figure in the sector of the book industry that deals with hunting and fishing. Using money I earned from working at the radio station and the newspaper in Arkadelphia, I joined.
Read MoreThe bird hunters
posted by rexnelson on March 5th, 2010I had a few hours to spare last Friday in Arkadelphia before having to attend a banquet at Ouachita. Suddenly, the urge hit me to drive past some of the places where my dad and I used to hunt quail. For all practical purposes, quail hunting is a thing of the past in Arkansas. I thought about all of our old bird dogs. I thought about the fun times outdoors with my dad. I thought about him teaching me to clean quail as we stood outside under a large light on winter Saturday nights.
Read MoreApple Blossom fever
posted by rexnelson on February 25th, 2010If you don’t already have a reserved seat at Oaklawn for the Apple Blossom Invitational on April 9 — or if friends have not already invited you to sit in their box — plan on being in the infield or spending some serious cash for reserved seats. Go to www.stubhub.com and you’ll find reserved seats starting at $249 for that Friday afternoon at the track.
Read MoreThe Politically Correct University
posted by rexnelson on February 24th, 2010University of Arkansas professor Robert Maranto showed up at the Clinton School of Public Service on Tuesday to discuss his book, “The Politically Correct University: Problems, Scope and Reform.” Maranto repeated the famous quote that one can now find more Marxists in the Harvard faculty lounge than in the Kremlin. Bill Buckley first wrote about the problem in 1951. But it seems to have become worse through the decades.
Read MoreDowntown
posted by rexnelson on February 23rd, 2010I’ve received some positive feedback from a column I wrote for last Saturday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The theme was that Main Street still matters. And we’re using “Main Street” in the generic sense for downtown. It actually might be Front Street. It might be Cherry Street. You get the point. What are your favorite Arkansas downtowns and why?
Read MoreThe Spa City
posted by rexnelson on February 18th, 2010The anticipation continues to build for the April 9 Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. What a great spring this is shaping up to be for the Spa City. We all want the visitors headed to Arkansas to have a great time. A stay in a bad downtown Hot Springs hotel, though, could sully the entire trip for some.
Read MoreTamale time again
posted by rexnelson on February 18th, 2010If you happened to miss “On the Tamale Trail” on the Arkansas Educational Television Network when the program first aired back on Dec. 2, it will air again Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on AETN. NFL football is over, so you have no excuse not to watch. It’s also going to be raining Sunday afternoon so you will not be able to take part in any outdoor activities. You might as well watch Kane Webb, Bill Vickery and me eat our way across Arkansas and Mississippi.
Read MoreAnother Arkansas institution
posted by rexnelson on February 17th, 2010I was excited last year when Roby Brock asked me to take on a new feature for his Talk Business Quarterly magazine that would be known as Arkansas Institutions. His charge to me was to focus on “things, people, places that make Arkansas what it is — things you need to do or experience to really get your Arkansas bona fides.” It could be a restaurant. It could be a music venue. It could be a person. It could be an experience — floating the Buffalo River or hunting mallards in the flooded green timber of east Arkansas, for instance. We’re looking for subjects for future editions. I need your input. Nominations are open.
Read More