Pan-fried pork chops cooked in savory onion gravy is a dish that reminds me of Sunday meals at my grandmother’s house.

“Spotlight on Lifelong Learning” is a weekly look at some of the exciting public conversations upcoming around Memphis. Host Jonathan Judaken is the Spence L. Wilson Chair in the Humanities at Rhodes College.

Last week, Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer announced she would be joining three other candidates running for Memphis mayor this year. Elected to office last August, she represents to some the voice of people under 40, a.k.a. millennials. 

In 1988, Memphis musician John Kilzer had his biggest hit, "Red Blue Jeans," a punchy, guitar rocker that got some radio airplay and burnished his reputation as a bad boy. 

But it was his reputation as a very good man remembered this week as Memphis musicians and faith leaders mourn his passing. Kilzer died Tuesday while recovering in an out-of-state rehab facility. He was 62.

Struggles with alcohol addiction punctuated his life, but in 2010, he completed a PhD in Theology and created his own ministry to help people recovering from substance abuse.

When the bus coming from Texas finally pulls into the Memphis Greyhound station, it’s twenty minutes late. As the passengers disembark, Rosa Mena quickly spots the strangers she’s learned to identify with just a few clues.

Some are disoriented or speaking Spanish. Some are clutching manila envelopes containing their immigration papers.

“Hola!”

Mena greets a small child and hands over a brown bag lunch.  

February 22 - April 10, 2019
Artist's Reception: Friday, March 15, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

“Mi Casa es Your House” explores multiple factors of Gonzalez’s Mexican-American identity, celebrating and exploring her Mexican heritage and her acceptance of her dual citizenship status with iconic imagery, mixed with expressions of confusion regarding what is required to be part of a nation, an everyday struggle with immigration, assimilation, discrimination.

March is National Nutrition Month. . .

At Rhodes College on March 21 at 6 p.m., author Barbara J. King will present “Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat,” based on her book of the same title

Since lent has started and many will be eating fish on Fridays, I thought I would share one of my favorite fish dishes.