Kevin Lee's Colonnade: A Decade of Essays from Beyond the Front Porch - Softcover

Lee, Kevin B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0984890904 ISBN 13: 9780984890903

Publisher: Mod Mobilian Press, 2012

Synopsis

On Nov. 17, 2003, at a reception welcoming me to Mobile, I was introduced to a guy that could only be described as totally hip. A slightly built frame with broad, angular shoulders under a 50s style two-toned panel shirt and feet clad for action in Chuck Taylor sneakers, this fellow was the antithesis of the all-black-clothed arts intelligentsia. The top of his head was buzzed so close, it looked like five o clock shadow. Under his lower lip, he sported hair that was a cross between a soul patch and a goatee. His face was set-off by what I suspected to be homage to nerdy intellectualism, heavy black-framed glasses. He was in a word, cool. He introduced himself: Kevin Lee. He said he was a writer and that he was involved in a relatively new organization, Mystic Order of the Jazz Obsessed, MOJO for short. He did not ask me the standard new-to-Mobile questions: Who are your people? Why are you here? and How long do you plan to stay? Instead he asked me questions that spoke to the future, What attracted you to Mobile? What do you think you have to offer the community? and What do you envision for the arts in Mobile? That night, we started a dialog that is still fresh and relevant eight years later. Our conversations and observations now have the weight of shared experiences: Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina and Rita, the BP oil spill as well as ArtForum, ArtWalk, the Greater Mobile Arts Awards, Arts Alive!, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, public meetings and jazz concerts and more than a drink or two. Over the past eight years, what I have come to value and anticipate in Kevin s writing is his thoughtful and thought provoking subject matter, his love of words and his willingness to make himself accessible to his readers. His observations have their basis in his Southern heritage and his unabashed love for Mobile, its artists and people. Kevin spins his stories as only true Southerners can with facts at times sounding stranger than fiction. As a good writer does, he delves the depths of a story and brings to light what was generally known, but socially impolite to actually acknowledge. While his work enables him to wax poetic about the sublime, Kevin does not hesitate to investigate the noise down the alley or the half-opened door. As you read this anthology of some of Kevin s collected works, you should find yourself challenged to sharpen your own thoughts about what you experience, you will be entertained and you will find yourself with a bemused expression having recognized what is true and good. -Bob Burnett Executive Director, Mobile Arts Council

Edition details

• Publisher: Mod Mobilian Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0984890904
• ISBN 13: 9780984890903
• Binding: Paperback