Good word

"The Sex Pistols became successful because they failed; if they had succeeded, they would have sold out, or become diluted or commercial. I saw Johnny Rotten a few years ago at Sundance, still failing, and it made me feel proud of him."

-- Roger Ebert

Vive Madeleine Lebeau

In a year of too many sad celebrity deaths, let's be grateful for the memory of Madeleine Lebeau, the last surviving cast member of "Casablanca." She died May 1 at age 92. You'll remember her as the character who cries while singing "La Marseillaise" and shouts "Vive la France!" A moving scene in a wondrous film.

Dolly dish

On Wednesday, Dolly Parton disclosed big news about Dollywood, her Pigeon Forge, Tenn., entertainment complex: a $300 million investment that will yield a 300-room resort hotel, among other upgrades. Here's my Mountain Press report on the announcement, and here is my interview with Parton about the development.

Back to school

In Sevier County, school started on Friday. Here's my Mountain Press report from Seymour Primary and Mrs. Clark's first grade class.

"Does anyone know what a clock is?" asked Mrs. Clark.
A little girl raised her hand. "Yes?" said Mrs. Clark.
"It's like a round circle," the little girl said, "and it has clock stuff on it."

Music business people

Here's my Mountain Press interview with Sevier County native Lisa McCarter, of the Americana group Runaway Home. In the 1980s she and her sisters performed as the McCarters and notched top-10 country hits like "The Gift" and "True and Timeless Love."

The sisters moved to Nashville in 1987. "We were scared to death," Lisa said. "We had never been around music business people. We would travel home to Sevierville every weekend."

Father's daughter's son

Here's my Mountain Press article about Chas Hartman and his book "Daughter of a Park Ranger," a biography of his mom. Her father spent a career in the National Park Service, including a stint as superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Good word

"An alien race that looks like a cross between Jabba the Hutt and Harold Bloom."

-- Roger Ebert