"From the Bottom" Screening - Ripley, Tennessee

The richness of one's life is measured by memories. This week my life became richer thanks to exceptional people who live and work in a very special community.

Ripley, Tennessee is north of Memphis, and is the county seat for Lauderdale County. The courthouse sits on the town square with locally-owned businesses surrounding it; quite fitting for the bucolic setting.

The subject of my documentary, Senator "Rip" Gooch, spent his boyhood years in and around Ripley. Within a very small radius, other children grew up, like B.B. King, Chicken George, Tina Turner and Alex Haley. It was here I shot the "B"-roll for my documentary, and where the movie was screened Friday night.

There is no hospitality like small-town hospitality, and they welcomed me warmly. A large number of townspeople turned out, as well as city and county dignitaries, for an enchanting evening in a small, close-knit southern town.

This is a photograph of a live interview Senator Gooch and I did with the CBS affiliate in Memphis. You may watch the interview by going here, WREG-TV, then clicking on Thursday, February 14. Fast-forward to 00:37:00 for our segment. Still-photographs of the event may be viewed by visiting my Flickr page.

Photograph © 2008 Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.

Documentary, "From the Bottom", Completed

My documentary, From the Bottom, is now complete, and the glass-mastered DVD's are being produced as I write. If you scroll down a couple of posts on this blog, you can read a synopsis of the story.

During a recent visit to Kansas City, my subject, Senator Gooch, had his first look at the 88-minute rendering. After a bit, we took a break and he turned to me smiling and said, "This is interesting!" "I know", I replied. "It's about you."

Photograph and written content © 2008 Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.