Scruffy Little Essays

In 2007, the local newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, ran a contest to select Community Columnists to write monthly opinion columns on regional issues of importance and concern to citizens in the Greater Knoxville area. At the urging of my wife, Lisa, I submitted an entry, and the editors of the Knoxville News Sentinel selected me as one of eight finalists from nearly 100 submissions. With a circulation of over 150,000 subscribers, I embraced both the excitement and nervousness that such a large