Sam Felker: Attorney. Activist. Athlete.

Well, it's been a couple years. I've missed posting my stories about interesting Nashville people and hope you've missed reading them. Now it's time to get posting again!

I'm (re-)starting with a piece I wrote for Unite Magazine about a great guy who doesn't ever seem to take a break. He's an inspiration...

SAM FELKER
Attorney. Activist. Athlete.

As a high school student in the 1970s, Sam Felker was mesmerized by the investigative reporting of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two Washington Post reporters who doggedly covered the Watergate scandal which eventually led to President Nixon’s resignation. He was impressed with their unrelenting research, their dedication and their tenacity to get to the bottom of what was right. So this teenager from Brownsville, Tenn., about an hour northeast of Memphis, decided to pursue a career in Journalism.

This inspiration led him to become editor of the Mississippi State University school newspaper during a period of notorious NCAA pay-to-play capers. He really enjoyed the active process of investigating, researching and writing. It was his parents, though, who said he should take that talent and put it to good use as an attorney. And who was this good Southern gentleman to argue with his mother?

So off he went to one of the top 10 law schools in the nation at the University of Virginia, where he flourished, surrounded by a melting pot of stimulating and intellectual people. It was here that Felker realized that through litigation he could advocate for his clients and get the best results for them, much like he’d done with hard-hitting news stories before. “I enjoy solving complex problems” he says, noting that being an attorney suits him perfectly.

During law school, Felker served a summer clerkship at the Nashville law firm Bass Berry & Sims, where he was later hired, eventually becoming a partner. He’d never really been to Nashville before, but he fell in love with what he calls a “sleepy but thriving city” and knew he wanted to stay; he’s been here since.

CROSSING THE LINE

Outside the firm, when the suit and tie come off, the bike shorts and swimming goggles go on. Felker, you see, is also a competitive tri-athlete. He has competed in the international Gay Games four times, beginning with the competition in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1998. Much like competing in athletics, he says, “the practice of law is a marathon, not a sprint. Exercise releases stress, clears my head, and pays great dividends to my health and to my life.”

Felker’s husband, Keith Little, is a testament to this positive outlook. Little, who is a multiple Gold Medal winner in javelin at both the Gay Games and the Out Games, recently got news that he is cancer free after several months of intense treatments. The two were married in 2007 in Provincetown when Massachusetts was the only state with marriage equality. They’re now approaching their 20th year together and still enjoy exercising, training and traveling together, but now with an even greater appreciation. One summer soon, the two plan to participate in their second AIDS LifeCycle, a week-long, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money for AIDS/HIV programs. They also intend to compete at the 2018 Gay Games in Paris.

As with an actual marathon, it takes a lot of work to be the first person to cross the finish line. And while Felker has yet to do that wearing running shoes, he’s done it several times with his wingtips on. As the first openly gay partner at a large Nashville law firm, he paved the way for other LGBT attorneys to come out. He also served as one of the first presidents of NAPP – now the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce – and helmed Nashville’s very first mayoral forum for an LGBT audience.

Felker is also president of the Tennessee Stonewall Bar Association, a group of nearly 100 LGBT lawyers and allies. Although he sheepishly claims that he’s “not really suited for being seen as a pioneer,” it’s a role he takes seriously and with a great deal of pride. As a result, he was recruited by the Baker Donelson law firm last year in large part due to his community activism. He is responsible for the cultural competency and diversity at Baker Donelson and even oversaw the firm’s booth at the 2014 Nashville Pride Festival, perhaps the very first law firm to have such a presence.

On a more national level, you can find Felker at the National LGBT Bar Association’s annual Lavender Law recruitment event, where some 150 law firms gather to actively recruit the nearly 500 law students in attendance. “It’s a sign that firms and corporations understand the importance of diversity in the workplace and the value of having LGBT employees by taking steps to hire them,” Felker proclaims.

WE ALL WIN

“We’ve come a long way,” Felker says, referring to LGBT acceptance and equality, “but we still have a long way to go.” He points out that as more high-level business people  come out in their professions and their lives, the better it is for everyone. He cites Apple CEO Tim Cook as a perfect example of that.

Many, however, see Sam Felker as the perfect example of an out, gay businessman who leads by example. Someone who works every day to assure the rights of everyone and who lives life to its fullest. A person with a healthy balance between work responsibilities and personal enjoyment. And someone who is a winner at both.

Reflecting on his rural childhood, Felker beams, “I was brought up with a service attitude for helping other people. I find it gratifying to help people with their legal issues.” And with overall equality and justice for everyone. Sam Felker has done a great deal to help move LGBT issues forward. Many thanks to his mother for encouraging him to attend law school so he could do just that.

NYTimes says...

The New York Times is considered one of the best news providers in the world and seen by many as an authority on just about any subject. Including what makes a great city.

"Nashville's Latest Big Hit Could Be the City Itself"

That's the headline in today's edition of the Times, naming Nashville as the newest "it" city in America.

The article, written by Kim Severson, says: The city remains traditionally Southern in its sensibility, but it has taken on the luster of the current. On a Venn diagram, the place where conservative Christians and hipsters overlap would be today’s Nashville. Flush with young new residents and alive with immigrants, tourists and music, the city made its way to the top of all kinds of lists in 2012.

To read details about some of those lists – and be inspired to make an I-love-Nashville list of your own – check out the on-line version of the story here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/us/nashville-takes-its-turn-in-the-spotlight.html

TODAY says...

The Today Show recently featured a segment from Condé Nast Traveler's Lisa Gill called "5 Must-See Cities to Travel to in 2013." Her top picks from around the world:

Amsterdam, Holland, has a vibrant art scene and lots of history.
Seoul, South Korea, is home to "Gangnam Style" singer PSY.
Nashville, Tennessee, is a vibrant, creative hot spot.
New Orleans, Louisiana, home of the 2013 Super Bowl.
Toronto, Canada, has a thriving performing arts scene.

Here's what she and co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford had to say about Music City...

Nashville is a real hot spot this year. It's where all the young vibrant creative types are going. It's really good for two reasons: food and music. 

Let's start with food. Food is really fantastic because it's at the center of this new haute Southern cuisine that's becoming very popular. There's the spicy fried chicken there that we all love and know.

And then on the music side the Grand Ole Opry and the honky-tonks are still there and they do it really well, but the music scene has really evolved. You can get zydeco, you can get bluegrass, you can get country, you can get everything there.

You can see the entire segment here.
http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50337268#50337268

And have a wonderful time visiting Nashville in 2013!

The Barn

More than 45 years ago, Chaffin's Barn opened as Nashville's first professional theater and was the first place to bring live theater tours from New York to Nashville. It was part of a chain of "barn" theaters around the country that offered its audiences a full buffet dinner along with live theater in the round. Today Chaffin's claims to be one of only two remaining original barn dinner theaters in the country.

Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre

 

A.W. "John" Chaffin and his wife Edna – known to everyone as "Puny" – opened their theater at 8204 Highway 100 on March 27, 1967. It still provides live theater productions, comedies, mysteries, musicals and special events under the leadership of their son John. One of the barn's most unique features is its elevator stage. Guests are treated to a full dinner buffet, set up and served in the center of the seating area. Once the salad bar and hot food are removed from the floor, the stage is slowly lowered from the ceiling and the live in-the-round entertainment begins.

In addition to dinner and a show, Chaffin's Barn also hosts a number of charity events to help raise money for area non-profits, including churches, the YMCA and the Nashville Symphony.

Edna "Puny" Chaffin passed away earlier this month and will be missed by not only her family, but the Nashville theater community as well. What started in a little red barn in Bellevue in the late 1960s is known as one of Nashville's most unique venues for quality, live entertainment.

 John and Puny Chaffin opened Nashville's first live theater in 1967. Puny died on Dec. 10, 2012.

 

 

 

50 years of WPLN

Fifty years ago today, Nashville's public radio station went on the air. At 9 a.m. on December 17, 1962, there was an official opening ceremony followed by the broadcast of Brahms' Sextet #1 in B flat. Thus began a tradition of news, information and classical music that continues today. In fact, WPLN is older than all the members of the news staff at the station today.

The call letters WPLN serve as an homage to the station's first home in studios set up in the Richland Park branch of the Public Library of Nashville (get it?). The station was originally licensed to the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County as a unit of the public library. With a transmitter and antenna on Love Circle, the station operated for only 14 hours each weekday at 15,000 watts. Three years later, the station moved to the main Ben West library downtown where it remained for more than 30 years.

 WPLN studios in the Ben West library basement circa 1966

In the mid-1990s, WPLN separated from Metro Nashville and became an independent station. Shortly after that, work began on a brand new studio on Mainstream Drive in Metro Centre. The switch was flipped on May 24, 1998, and the newest era of public radio began in Nashville as the station began broadcasting from its current location.

Today, WPLN has repeater stations that allow its broadcasts to reach further into Middle Tennessee. World news and talk WPLN 1430 AM began in 2002,  HD services began in 2006, and the station recently began operating WFCL 91.1 FM with 24/7 classical music and arts programming.

  WPLN's state-of-the-art studios today

As a founding member of National Public Radio, WPLN has had a strong presence in Nashville for 50 years. With a strategy of in-depth reporting, quality programming and community involvement, the station and all of its entities will undoubtedly be a Nashville icon for a long time.

You can help WPLN celebrate this milestone at an open house this afternoon from 4-6 pm at the studio located at 630 Mainstream Drive. Everyone is welcome.

The "supoilative" florist

If you've lived in or near Nashville any time during the last 30 years, you've undoubtedly heard a grandfatherly voice on the radio talking about Emma's Flowers: the "supoilative" florist. This instantly recognizable tag line was created – and spoken – by advertising professional Edward M. Stratton. Ed died this week at age 101.

A Nashville native, Ed started his advertising career in ad sales at the Tennessean newspaper in 1935 after graduating from the University of Tennessee where he sang in the Glee Club and co-ed choruses. After four years away during WWII, Ed returned to the Tennessean. He then joined the ad sales staff at WSIX radio in 1948 and remained there for an astonishing 48 years.

He began the Merry Sounds advertising agency in 1976 and served as its president until his death. That is where he began his work for Emma's Flowers and created the now-locally-famous tag line "the superlative florist." Ed was approached over the years by countless other brands, agencies and radio stations nationwide to lend his voice to their messages. He rejected them all so that the Emma's campaign would be purely unique. That it was.

And so was Ed.

Cy Young

There is a phrase often tossed around that "there is always a Nashville connection." That goes for the business and entertainment worlds, of course, but also applies to sports. BOTH of this year's Cy Young Award winners have Nashville-area ties.

CY YOUNG
Denton True Young was born in Ohio just after the end of the Civil War and dropped out of school to work on the family farm. But the lure of baseball soon took him from handling crops to pitching baseballs. He learned his skill from his grandfather, who taught him to hunt by throwing rocks to kill birds and squirrels. That served him well when he was recruited by the Cleveland Spiders and pitched in his first professional baseball game in 1890. His teammates said he pitched like a cyclone, later shortened to his famous nickname Cy.

Cy Young pitched for 21 years in the major leagues and holds the record for most wins (511), most losses (316), most games started (815) and most consecutive scoreless innings pitched (25 1/3), among other records. After his death in 1956 at the age of 88, the Cy Young Award was created to annually recognize the best Major League Baseball pitcher. It is now given to the best pitcher each year in both the American and National leagues.

2012 WINNERS FROM NASHVILLE

 
R.A. Dickey, a right-handed pitcher for the National League New York Mets, grew up in Nashville and went to Montgomery Bell Academy, the private all-boys prep school on the west side of town, before starring on the University of Tennessee baseball team in college. He's best known as being the sole remaining knuckle ball pitcher in the Majors and is now the first knuckleballer to win the Cy Young Award.

David Price, a left-hander for the American League Tampa Bay Rays, was born in nearby Murfreesboro and played for Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He was the AL's first draft pick in 2007 and came in second place for the Cy Young Award in 2010. His fastball consistently clocks in at nearly 100 mph. Apparently, the members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, who vote and selects each year's winners, subconsciously waited until 2012 so both Cy Young winners were from Nashville!

Congrats to you both. Keep up the good work. Play ball!

- photo by Tim Evearitt