Recalling the Grapevine
For those of you who enjoyed Sunday's "Assignment: Ukiah "column by Tommy Wayne Kramer, there is more to come. Long time Ukiah residents will remember Mr. Kramer - or at least his well-known nom de plume - from the days of The Grapevine, which if I have it correctly (it was in the 1980s, before my time in the area) was published by the team of George Rose and his wife, Elizabeth. George later became the PR guy for Fetzer Vineyards and was always a hard-working professional photographer. Elizabeth became head of the Ukiah Chamber for awhile. They ended up splitting sometime in the 90s. Elizabeth went back to her native Texas and George moved to greener pastures in Sonoma County. I only saw a couple of editions that were in the UDJ files for one reason or another, but just the small amount I saw I thought was good - given that back then publishing was still done by hand, so to speak - very little computerization. I recall lots of pen and ink drawings and of course all the usual kinds of great alternative weekly content.
Comments
Tommy Wayne might be a hoot for some, but I was surprised at the accompanying editorial blurb promising upcoming offenses to the reading public. As a regular columnist for almost 9 years in the UDJ, I am a bit bewildered and surprised that a fellow "professional" columnist is out to criticize how locals dance and express their exuberance at public concerts. There's no one or nothing else that warrants his front-page lambasting? How will this uplift or make a positive change to our community? We are writing for an audience who just want to make fun and criticize well-meaning folks? How much more base can we get? Find a legitimate cause...attack those who need attacking...make people think - and not just laugh at someone who is not like them. Come on, Tommy Wayne.
Posted by: Valerie Warda | August 6, 2007 10:47 AM