Regarding "The Karate Kidder" (April 21): I was a student of Chris Garland's for two years and have only the highest respect for his dedication to his art and his ability.
I have witnessed and videotaped him performing incredible feats of skill and power that revealed a level of commitment and mastery that seemed to go far beyond the limitations of age. I met and trained alongside members of the 5th Special Forces Group who drove the two-hour round-trip to learn from Chris—twice a week.
Chris always told us to address him as "Savanem," which means "teacher" in Korean. That is all he ever asked us to call him. I am convinced that there are dozens of men, women and children in Nashville who are safer today because of the training he gave them.
Chris is an incredibly driven man of huge talent, as highly trained and fit as any Olympic athlete. In 2003, he was being scouted by at least one producer who I met and talked with about his plans to produce a film starring Chris.
Chris is unquestionably a man of strong needs and emotion who craves the spotlight. He is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve—a sleeve of highly polished armor.
Rob Lindsay
roblins@comcast.net (Nashville)
What, me racist?
Regarding "Pulling Back the Curtain on Race" (April 21): let me get this straight, you want me to start with the premise that because I am white, I am a born racist and there is nothing I can do about it. I am also to accept that because author Tim Wise's grandmother was suffering from dementia she brought forward these long dormant racist feelings that had never surfaced before, and because of this one anecdote it proves, again, that all white people are racists. Further, I need to deal with my "guilt and shame" over my racism that I am not consciously aware I harbor. And finally, I'm told that, "For me, the white folks who get race best are almost always from the South." (I'm not sure what "getting race" means.)
Reading this story leads me to two conclusions: first, no wonder red-state America thinks that we liberals are self-important gasbags; and second, the author came across as one of the most overt racists I've ever read—"Physician, heal thyself."
John Masters
390 Fern House Walk
Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Chill out, dude
So a group of burnouts in Bellevue decided to start a radio station with a signal strength equivalent to that of a large megaphone ("Low Power to the People," April 14) and this took them eight years? I can only wonder what the year 2013 will hold for Radio Free Nashville. Keep up the progress, hippies.
Peter Swanson
pstanleyswanson@hotmail.com (Bellevue)
Uh, the Metro Council doesn't "place" vice mayors
The unidentified staffer who penned "The Ethicist" (Off Limits, April 14) definitely showed his or her ignorance of recent Nashville history when referring to Metro Council member John Summers as "a lowly lobbyist who by day helps stink up the pen at Capitol Hill with the rest of his creepy peers."
When my wife and I moved to East Nashville in 1984, the 6th District councilman was John Summers. He and other residents of the neighborhood had just successfully gotten the neighborhood down-zoned to halt the proliferation of older homes being turned into rabbit warrens of six and eight apartments; the next year, John introduced to the council the nation's first conservation zoning overlay. Without his efforts, there would today be no Red Wagon, no Margot, no Garage Mahal and no Rosepepper Cantina. The urge to vilify lobbyists is strong, but John Summers is definitely not "poorly respected."
No one runs for city council for the power, money or fun; they run because they care about the city. John would have no trouble serving as vice mayor, if the council were ever to be smart enough to place him in that position.
John Owen
macjohno@comcast.net (Nashville)
Give him props—he speaks better English than you do Swedish
Hi! I came to Nashville 1.5 weeks ago and the first thing I picked up was the Nashville Scene. Thanks to that I got to see George Clinton and Parliament Funkaholic. Thanks for that, even though there should be a bigger crowd.
Anyway: in the paper there was a column by a Claire, I think her name was (Planet Claire, April 14). I really enjoyed reading that. It was fun, it was smart, I cracked up a smile on my face, and I thought, "If I'm only gonna get one friend here in Nashville, please let it be her. (Too late, I got myself a great homeboy. His name is Ty and he is...guess this...a guitar player and told me the best story about Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash. Straight from the source himself—Kris.) Anyway: he's out on tour now, so here we go again—no friends in a new city. Well, that's no problem 'cause now I'm only staying for like three or four more days before I go to New York and then back home to Sweden. (Maybe I must rent a car and drive down to Memphis as well.)
But I suppose, and hope, that I'll come back. Maybe in August. And I hope to read more columns from her (it was a big disapointment that I couldn't find any Planet Claire in the latest issue), 'cause that's my style, that's my life. My soulmate in Nashville....
Well... just wanted to give her props! Don't forget to tell her I sended mah love!
See you in August! Take care!
Johan Kimrin
kimrin@returmusik.com (Sweden)
Right on
Jim Ridley always writes with charming wit, and his article on Radio Free Nashville showed a writer who is at the top of his game ("Low Power to the People," April 14).
Collin Wade Monk
vivamonk@hotmail.com (Nashville)
Correction
In "Let Your Fingers Do the Walking" (April 14), the people in the photograph are Plumgood Food employees Chrisi Harper and Trent Ganstine.
