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If you are looking for a Sunday night activity…
Posted By katie allison granju
From a local Agee fan:
In remembrance of the fatal automobile wreck that resulted in the death
of James Agee’s father, a collegial gathering will be held May 18 at 8
p.m. at the Checker Flag bar in Powell. The Checker Flag is a
NASCAR-themed sports bar that rests on the nearest excuse of a
geographically exact location of the wreck itself in 1916 in which the
real-life character at the tragic center of “A Death in the Family” died.By happy happenstance, we are to collect at a location at which the
mortality of human flesh is often contested against the foremost product
of the American dream: the automobile.If you recall, “Jay Follett” was killed when his flivver went out of
control coming down the highway onto the bridge over Beaver Creek. From
the historical investigations of old Knoxville Journal writer Vic Weals
(Peace Be Upon His Name), Jack Neely and I determined the location of
the wreck to be within a couple of hundred feet from where we shall
enjoy &*^^&%$ beer and celebrate the extraordinary literary heritage of
this blessed region of the country.There may or may not be readings from the book and contemporary news
accounts of the one-car accident but a grand or at least odd time is
guaranteed. The performance art of this event always depends upon the
arrival and temperament of primary actors in this event and procurement
of appropriate materials. Certain artifacts and relics may be viewed and
exchanged with awe, possibly including the Cotter Pin of Destiny, if we
can remember the person upon whom it was last bestowed.The Checker Flag (please, dear god, don’t confuse this with the
similarly named bar off Broadway near I-640, which, by all accounts, is
a rollickingly fine establishment replete with Warren Zevon on the
juke), is on Clinton Highway just south of the Emory Road
T-intersection. It is on the East side of that intersection. It is
snuggled under the trash trees facing West, a standalone among a tiny
cluster of west-facing businesses with gravel parking lots at your disposal.The exact location and phone number are:
7428 Clinton Hwy, Powell
947.8667The delightful and always hospitable proprietress is Earlene.
And now, in the interest of local color, from inveterate newshoundstress
Betty Bean, in last year’s Halls Shopper: (caveat reader - Agee barely hit 45)…
Drinkers with a writing problem?
As this column went to press Wednesday night, certain local literati
were limbering up their libating arms for the annual Agee Crash Bash at
the Checker Flag Sports Bar in Powell. This event is held (in the words
of Jack Rentfro, editor of the Cumberland Avenue ) “in drunken
remembrance of the tragic road mishap that spawned (James Agee’s
autobiographical novel) ‘A Death in the Family.’”The Agee commemorationists are an active bunch, prone to lubricating
their lugubrious celebrations with vast quantities of liquor, and fate
has fortuitously placed a beer joint right smack on Beaver Creek where
Hugh James Agee ran his Tin Lizzie off the Clinton Pike on May 18, 1916.Group fellowship generally consists of readings and reflections of
Knoxvilleís hard-living literary expatriate, who lived to the ripe old
age of 48, when his heart blew up while he was riding in a New York taxicab.
May 18th, 2008
Actually, Agee died at 45, not 48. I trust a good time was 2ad by all.
Paul Sprecher, Trustee
The James Agee Trust