Tail Dragger at Cook County Jail (Photos by Jon Sall)
James Yancy “Tail Dragger” Jones was confronted by fellow blues musician Bennie “Boston Blackie” Houston in the early morning hours of July 11, 1993 at the Delta Fish Market at Jackson and Kedzie. They had an ongoing dispute about payment at that year’s Chicago Blues Festival. Blackie had threatened Tail Dragger with a knife and according to 1993 court records, Tail Dragger testified that he shot Blackie in self defense. Blackie was hit in the left eye.
Blackie, 49, died on the scene.
Tail Dragger was convicted of second-degree [...]
Our parents told us not to get rid of the dining room mirror.
The mirror with rosewood trim stands on three legs and is 6’5” tall. It has always been bigger than me. While growing up in Naperville, the mirror was in the corner of our formal dining room. The mirror was the quiet guest at Thanksgiving dinners. For my Mom the mirror was a peek into her past when it stood in the corner of her parent’s dining room in downstate Taylorville.The January move into my mid-century dream house has been challenging.
Who knew about all the complicated red light signs in Westchester, Il.? “Right turn on red must yield to U-turn?” Sounds like some kind of [...]
Mid-century modern in Tulsa, Ok.
And for my next move….
I’ve rented apartments and bought a condo. I never owned a house. Before I packed it up I wanted to buy a small midcentury modern ranch house. It was in my DNA. I grew up in ranch houses in Naperville, Ill. (built 1966) and Columbus, Ohio (1959?). My brother owns a midcentury modern ranch house in Nashville, Tn.
It was all a return to forever.
I’ve read the magazine “Atomic Ranch” for years, although I will never have the money to trick out a house like the dreamsicles in Palm Springs, Ca., St. Paul, Mn. and Los Angeles. I wanted to unplug [...]
Ray and Wilma Yoder, Cracker Barrel and RV fans (Courtesy of Cracker Barrel)
GOSHEN, IND.—-Ray and Wilma Yoder watch the world roll by from the front porch of their 85-year-old farm house on County Road 34 in Goshen, Ind. While sitting next to each other on a twin rocking chair, Ray and Wilma wave to Amish neighbors who hold tight reins on their horse and carriage. Truckers and cars go too fast for this thin stretch of rural highway about 25 minutes southwest of Elkhart.
You see, Ray and Wilma always move in modest directions.
They met in 1953 in baptismal class at a Mennonite (new order Amish) church [...]
