Arnold’s restaurant is a Nashville institution started thirty years ago by Jack Arnold.  Southerners lovingly refer to this type of eatery as  “a meat and 3” and the place to be, standing in lines that run out the door. Get your food and take a seat in this cozy atmosphere or join anyone else for a great lunch and interesting conversation. Recently, the Food Networks, Guy Fieri found his way to “Arnolds”, and left his stamp on the wall.

Friendly faces and warm hospitality are always on the menu along with carved roast beef, fried green tomatoes, and not to be missed, my favorite dessert, chess pie with meringue. The walls are lined with autographed photos of everyone from Brook Shields to Chet Adkins and framed magazines covers that have featured Arnolds. Among the array of photos is one that was presented to Rose and Jack Arnold by the son of Chet Adkins. It includes the art I created for RCA Records in the 70’s that was a collage of the entire country music artists represented by the label at that time. The original art is now part of the permanent collection of the Country Music Hall of Fame (approximately 40” x 40”).

Jack who always had the duty of slicing the roast beef has turned over the knife to his son Kahlil who now runs the restaurant along with the same smiling group who always greets you. So if you find yourself in Nashville at lunch time stop in and say hello to Rose, Franz & Kahlil and the gang and enjoy the Southern hospitality they dish up.

Arnold s Country Restaurant

It was the 22 of November 1963 and I was sitting in our Air Force base theatre in Dreux, France watching the John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart movie, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”. The movie ended, the house lights came on and the theatre manager took the stage to announce that President Kennedy had been shot.  Everyone was stunned! We all left the theater dazed and headed to our teen center where hours rolled by as we sat watching the events unfold.

When the  time came to work on our yearbook, it was only fitting that the dedication be to President Kennedy. I long ago lost my yearbook but with the help of former classmates, I have obtained this drawing.  I drew this portrait of Kennedy when I was seventeen and it was used for the  dedication page of our yearbook.

The past thirty years of traveling to Memphis for Elvis Week, I have made some wonderful friends that I cherish dearly. In 1981 the first fans I met were Marie D’Arc ( 1948-2011) and her New Jersey friends which forged a lasting and wonderful  friendship.

Marie was a very talented artist and teacher. During one of our  Memphis trips, we were driving around the city and she looked up and commented on the beauty of the sky.  From her artistist perspective, she  commented to me on the reds, blues and ultramarines that lit up the evening sky. When I glanced up to the sky, I also saw its beauty, but my first thoughts were the shades of gray that are produced with the pencils of “H”, “F”, HB” and “3H” – we just laughed – two artists and their interpretation of the world around them.

When my second book of Elvis art was published, The Magic of Elvis, I wanted to incorporate some of my poetry with a select few of the drawings. I enlisted Marie to create the calligraphy for these pieces. At first,  she was hesitant because she did not want to write on the artwork, but that was what I wanted her to do which she did beautifully. As we progressed, I received another phone call from Marie, she was upset because she was doing the calligraphy and had become emotional about the piece. She started to cry and her tears fell on the artwork. I told her not to worry, it would only add something special to the piece.

I have felt a profound loss with the passing of a good friend and talented artist. The memories of the fun we had is very comforting. Yearly trips to Memphis, family trips to Washington & New Jersey and having her in our home…are just, “memories pressed between the pages of my mind, memories sweetened through the ages just like wine……”

Here I share with you some of those memories.