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by Wesley Alan Wright (Author)
The Memphis Book is a love letter to a city you thought you knew. It is not a history book about rock and roll, the blues, BBQ, Elvis and FedEx. It is about much more. It shows us a city that survived the Yellow Fever (twice), sustains racial discord and hangs in the balance for new development and industry. With a few missteps along the way Memphis can still be a great city, but some proactive measures must be taken that acknowledge our past and present state with objectivity. We have leadership seemingly not well traveled (displayed ad infinitum via TV, editorials and more), provincial and unaware that the world has moved on and we have been passed by other metropolitan areas that are self sustaining, eco-friendly, commercially proactive and globally competitive. This book will highlight what is overlooked and offer remedies to what ails our city on the bluff. An excerpt: As people move in from other areas of the US (large portions in Midtown and in the outlying towns of Bartlett, Collierville and others) ) they bring with them appetites, expectations, established patterns and traditions that Memphis has always been slow to accommodate. Memphis has been slow in change mainly due to demographic restrictions propagated by many sources (media, politicians, etc) that we are not diverse, nor heterogeneous and not cosmopolitan. We need forums of commerce, transportation and education that reflect those of other large bourgeoning metropolitan areas across the US. It is necessary for legislation, leadership, private entities and others to get with the program, coordinate in their own fashion and usher Memphis into the 21st century.
