WHAT'S IN A NAME: Tim Green, a former NFL player and New York Times bestselling author whose works include Football Genius and Unstoppable, has a new novel, Left Out, which includes a couple of Arkansas connections. One of the characters in his new book, set for release this month, is named Megan Nickell, in honor of a 12-year-old Central Arkansas Christian student who died in July 2015 after being hit by lightning while playing volleyball on an Alabama beach. The other is Brett Bell, an eighth-grader and fellow classmate of Megan's. The book centers on a boy with cochlear implants whose dream is to play football. The name of Bell (who has cochlear implants) is used for the character who befriends the hearing-impaired boy.
TUNING IN: PBS' Travels With Darley once again turns its spotlight on Little Rock during the show's second season. During the show's first season, host Darley Newman visited Little Rock's farmers markets during a road trip through Arkansas, South Carolina and Kentucky.
This season, the show visits the Clinton Presidential Center, tours the Arkansas River Trail via a Segway and more. The episode airs at 10:30 p.m. Oct. 17 on AETN. Check local listings for more info.
During this season, the show also visits Northern England, Wales, Liverpool, Manchester and Hong Kong.
RITE OF PASSAGE: Some may deride Midtown Billiards (in the news last week because of a fire) and bemoan the gritty joint's continued presence on a now-gentrified stretch of Little Rock's South Main. Fact is, some good things have come out of the storied watering hole -- like Charlie Cook. Now retired, Cook had an impressive U.S. Navy career: serving as a fighter pilot and commanding officer; making 1,230 carrier landings (499 at night); and once managing the Navy's worldwide $129 million annual housing budget.
But before all that, on his 17th birthday on Oct. 8, 1959, Cook arrived at Midtown in his 1951 Studebaker convertible. He and his friend found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. He recently recounted the experience to his friend Steve Stephens via an email:
"During our first game of pool the Little Rock vice squad raided Midtown Billiards, I.D.ed us, then promptly transported and incarcerated us at the old juvenile detention center on West Roosevelt Road," writes Cook.
Not formally charged but held as "underage witnesses against the proprietor" in separate cells, the pair awaited release to their parents.
"In my mind's ear, I can still hear that cell door lock go 'clunk' and the seemingly eternity of a wait for both of our dads ... There is absolutely no doubt that our dads took their good old sweet time..."
Later, the two were ordered to appear in court to testify that they were 17 and were not carded upon entering.
In closing, Cook tells Stephens:
"Thanks dear friend for surfacing what today remain very fond memories."
Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or [email protected]
SundayMonday on 09/25/2016