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God’s Minute

I’ve only got a minute.

Only sixty seconds in it.

Forced upon me, can’t refuse it.

Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it.

But it’s up to me to use it.

I must suffer if I lose it.

Give an account if I abuse it.

Just a tiny little minute.

But eternity is in it.

Dr. Benjamin E. Mays

As part of Atlanta Sidestreets' observance of Black History Month we begin with highlights of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays' memorial service which was held at the Morehouse Chapel, March 29, 1984. The highlights were broadcast on WGST Newsradio March 31, 1984.

Featured here are Dr. Martin Luther King, Senior-"Daddy King"; Morehouse College President, Dr. Hugh Gloster; and the Morehouse Glee Club directed by Dr. Wendell P. Whalum.

We regret not having the name of the woman who provided such excellent counterpoint to the piece. It's another timely reminder of why we busily archive material day by day before memories, documents, and tapes fade beyond retrieval.

As a young professor in the 1970s, Beverly Guy-Sheftall set out to address an imbalance in the field of women's studies. Her efforts have yielded two decades of scholarship dedicated to African American women's issues, a ground-breaking scholarly journal, and the creation of the highly regarded Women's Research and Resource Center at Spelman College in Atlanta. Guy-Sheftall, the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of English at Spelman, is the founding co-editor of SAGE: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women. She has also edited several influential anthologies by and about African American women. Today Guy-Sheftall is widely recognized as an authority on black feminist scholarship--or, as she put it in Ms. magazine, a practitioner in "the tradition of black female intellectualism."(edited from answers.com)

The interviews for this story were recorded at Spelman College on March 10th, 1986 and the produced version was sent to the Voice of America for world wide broadcast, March 17, 1986.

Dr. Janet Sims-Wood is Assistant Chief Librarian for Reference/Reader Services at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University. Dr. Sims-Wood is also Vice President of Membership for the Association for the Study of African American Life & History (ASALH). She is a life member of ASALH and serves as National Vice President/Membership Chair. Dr. Sims-Wood co-edited the 2004 Learning Resources Manual for ASALH on Brown v Board of Education. She has served as Secretary of ABWH and as editor of the ABWH newsletter, “Truth”.
(Edited from the Association of Black Women Historians)

Few Atlanta media reporters have covered the courts as well as the Newsmonster's Wade Medlock. That remains true even today. We're posting two of Wade's courtroom stories, one from 1990, the other, 1992:

Attorney Larry Thomason was accustomed to only the best of everything. No problem there. The problem was that Mr. Thomason financed his high life style with his clients' hard earned money...without their knowledge. Until the hammer came down.

Bob Wilson was the Dekalb County District Attorney who prosecuted Thomason. We asked Mr. Wilson to recount what he could remember of the Thomason case in his own words:

Larry was a "fair haired boy", and what I call "a pretty boy". He was very friendly and glib, and got in with the right people in the Decatur/DeKalb area at the beginning of his career. They were impressed and helped him get elected to the General Assembly if I remember my facts correctly.

As time went on, everyone began to realize that he liked the flashy life----nice cloths, jewelry, sporty cars, etc. You know the type. He apparently couldn't keep his life style under control and needed money to keep things going.

He lost a lot of support of some very influential people and did not stay in the legislature too long---I really don't remember if he just didn't run again or if he got defeated. But wiser heads begin to turn away from him.

By the time this case happened he was no longer on the inside circle of power because as it turned out all he had to offer was "being a pretty boy". He needed money and hurt some very senior citizens with his thefts. He took a lot of money from quite a few people.

We refused to recommend probation as his attorney wanted us to do. It was strongly my administration’s belief that if you are an attorney and violate your duty to your client by stealing their money you should go to jail. We recommended jail time and the Court agreed.

I also think we disbarred him in Superior Court----we disbarred a fairly large number of attorneys during my twelve years as DA. We did not like the slow processes of the Bar and did it under the law in Superior Court.

He did have to take off the nice cloths and jewelry and put on jail attire. Frankly, Larry was a very likeable guy---but that is about all there was. No real depth----just liked to look good. I guess he thought it was better to look good than to be good.

Former Dekalb County District Attorney Bob Wilson remains one of Georgia’s most highly respected members of the court and currently practises law not far from the Dekalb County courthouse at Wilson, Morton and Downs, LLC in Decatur.

Minnesota native, Brad Nessler, currently calls college basketball games for ESPN and ESPN on ABC and college football games for ESPN on ABC.

Nessler's career with ESPN began in 1992 and expanded with the addition of ABC Sports assignments in 1997. From 2002�04, Nessler was a broadcaster for the NBA, including calling the 2003 NBA Finals. He appears annually as the play-by-play commentator in EA Sports' NCAA Football.

Nessler began his professional broadcasting career sharing the play-by-play mike with the legendary Al Ciraldo on Georgia Tech basketball on WGST from 1980-81 through 1984-85.He did the play-by-play for the Atlanta Falcoms from 1982 to 1988 on WGST Newsradio and WSB before assuming the same position for the Minnesota Vikings during the 1988 and 1989 seasons. He's done ACC football and basketball for Jefferson Pilot telecasts.

Editor's note:

Years before Brad Nessler achieved fame and fortune he held down the Newsmonster sports beat in the mid 80's. He was and is not only a great guy to work with, he's extremely versatile, exudes an unforced natural warmth on the air and like our other sports wunderkind, Steve Holman, possesses a great sense of humor. What our old friend Clark Howard is to consumer reporting, Brad is to sports...the genuine article.

One of the Newsmonster's wildly popular weekly sports segments was the body building/wrestling report featuring guest reporter, Jean Manning. Jean, like Brad, is also a versatile piece of work, well-liked and a lot of fun to be around in the newsroom. In another life Jean and your Atlanta Sidestreets editor worked together at London Records. Jean started out as a record buyer and eventually moved up to be one of the first record promotion women in the country... a rare commodity back in the day.

The audio back-and-forth below probably dates from 1984.

Oct 2 - Russian party leader Gorbachev visits Paris Oct 2 - Tigers Darrell Evans is 1st to hit 40 HR seasons in both leagues Oct 3 - Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) adopts constitution Oct 3 - Pope John Paul II declares Titus Brandsma divine Oct 3 - 21st Shuttle Mission (51J)-Atlantis 1-all-military flight launched Oct 4 - Shite Moslems claim to have killed hostage William Buckley- Oct 4 - Henry G Perry completes 157 day, 14,021 mile bicycle tour of Australia Oct 5 - Grambling's Eddie Robinson wins record 324th football game.

Newsmonster Entertainment Editor John Kramer interviewed Mr. Wits End, Phil Erickson, in the early 1980's.

Dick Van Dyke tells CNN’s Larry King how he and Phil Erickson teamed up.

KING: Where did you break in?

VAN DYKE: Well, I...

KING: Did you do stock? Did you do...

VAN DYKE: No, I did night clubs right here in Los Angeles. My partner, Phil Erickson, put me in the business, a guy from my home town, a dear friend who we just lost a couple of months ago.

KING: That was "The Merry Mutes"?

VAN DYKE: "The Merry Mutes," yes. Phil formed it and it came to me and we came out here together. And we were together for about five years, great five years. And he just passed away unfortunately.

KING: And what made you go to New York? What made you want to be in theater?

VAN DYKE: Well, we came here, and we worked night clubs for a little while, and then went to Atlanta, Georgia, which we fell in love with at the time. Both bought homes on the G.I. Bill. And after a while we had to split up. We started having kids. So he opened a little nightclub called The Wit's End, very successfully, and I went to work for the local radio -- television station doing a daily show, an hour a day five days a week.

(Gracious acknowledgement to Larry King Live, from September 22, 2000)

Twenty seven years ago Ato(Mr.) Teshome Zadu opened the Blue Nile on Highland Ave. If memory serves it may have been the exact location that Surin would occupy years later. The Blue Nile was the genuine article.There were no other Ethiopian restaurants in the metro area at the time, as far as we know.

Colleagues, Fisseha Shifferu and Eden Ghebrai helped Teshome make it all come together.
The Blue Nile set the standard for many others who would follow.

Until the Dekalb Farmers Market stepped up to the plate it was very difficult if not impossible to find the necessary spices for Ethiopian cuisine. Usually the restaurateurs themselves or family members would travel to the Big Apple, Washington's Adams Morgan or bring back the requisite spices directly from the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopian like Indian food is best enjoyed communally. Everyone is family. Everyone takes his/her portions by hand from communal plates. It is a beautiful thing. Sadly this sense of community and family around meals rarely exists today for many Americans who're in too much of a hurry. However, this does bring great financial comfort to acid reflux manufacturers you can be sure.

The Blue Nile aired on the Newsmonster in December 1983.