Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Mayor Of South Austin

We all know or know of Hillary Clinton women supporters saying that they won't vote for Barack Obama under any circumstances. Never mind that John McCain wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, never mind that he called his wife an obscene name in public, never mind that he left his crippled first wife to marry a wealthy younger woman. McCain didn't do the unforgivable, namely derailing the Hillary juggernaut. Slate's Dahlia Lithwick calls these women "Hillary Harridans," and argues that they hold feminism up to ridicule...

Clinton diehard have formed the unfortunately named PUMA (as in cougar) pac...

"Let's see, I think it's...no...that wouldn't be right...four, seven maybe...I'll have to get back to you on this one." Man-of-the-people John McCain doesn't know exactly how many homes he has...

Supporting the troops can get you fired. Just another example of the gaping chasm between reality and an empty slogan...

Wish I Were There Dept: The James Burton International Guitar Festival starts tomorrow in Shreveport. You may not know the name of James Burton, but chances are that you've heard him. In a career dating back to the Fifties, he's played for Elvis (Presley and Costello), the Everly Brothers, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ricky Nelson, Emmylou Harris, John Denver, and even The Monkees. Among others, that is...


R. I. P., Danny Young. Every now and then, fortune graces the world with someone whose existence makes it a better place, who makes every life he touches the better for it. I've been proud to count Danny Young among my friends since since I went to work for him 34 years ago. (Three of my four brothers followed.)  "The Mayor Of South Austin" died yesterday at age 67, leaving a lifetime of good will behind. Danny was a restauranteur, a community activist, a musician, a tireless booster of South Austin and Austin music, and terrific friend. A few years ago, he helped T.'s son with a school project simply because I asked him to. His restaurant had a picture of my then one-year old son poking his head through the door from the day it opened until the day Danny retired. He was always glad to see you. Read more about the life of this wonderful human being here and here. And don't miss Danny playing rub board for the Cornell Hurd Band, shown here performing in the parking lot of Texicalli Grille, Danny's restaurant and the hub of South Austin:


5 comments:

T. said...

I had the pleasure of meeting Danny a few years ago on a visit to Austin --
he exuded so much genuine charm and goodwill towards everyone! His contribution to my son's senior project injected an element of hope into my son's life when life was pretty damn bleak. Indeed, rest in peace. He was too young to go.

Ima Wizer said...

Oh no......I had not yet heard the news about Danny Roy. I am heartbroken. He was one of the kindest GENTLEMEN I've ever met in my lifetime. He never had an unkind word to say, period. What an enormous loss to those of us who live in South Austin, to anyone who lives in Austin and to the world. We have too few like him. I will miss him dearly!

Anonymous said...

"He was soooo nice!" -- my 11-year-old daughter.
"You just don't expect a person like that to die." -- my 13-year-old son.
To say I was shocked by the news of Danny Young's passing would be an understatement. He was the most genuine nice guy I have ever met in my life. If you never met him, it's too bad. He would have been your friend.
Just be nice.

Anonymous said...

(from a hotel room in Tucson, AZ) I am so sorry to learn of Danny's death, K. I well remember meeting him when you and I went to Texicalli a few years back.

Sylvia K said...

Hillary and her "followers" are better than a diet for me, one look at their comments these days and I have no appetite, in fact, I'm lucky if I don't throw up.