Entries for the 'people' Category

Terry Anderson was a “Guitar Hero” before the phrase was even coined.  He’s been featured on hit records, toured the world, and as the owner of Fort Smith’s Ben Jack Guitar Center, has influenced more local guitarists than can be counted.

As the cast of "True Grit" prepares for a big night at the Oscars, one Fort Smith girl will be watching with a unique perspective.  Kaitlin Bradley came close to being cast in the role of Mattie Ross.  She talks about the great opportunity, the process she went through as the decision makers narrowed the field of actresses, and how it affected her drive to make it to the big screen.

Rick Moonen, renowned chef at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, author, and former contestant on “Top Chef Masters,”  hasn’t been to Fort Smith before, or even to Arkansas.  But he will remedy that this month when he heads to the city to cook for a VIP dinner benefitting Bost, Inc., the local agency that provides a critical services for those with developmental disabilities.

Son Thai Tran, a Fort Smith artist, was one of more than a million people who fled Vietnam in the months and years after the fall of Saigon.  He tells the story with precision – the hulky boat taking on water, the sound of the raging sea that threatened to crack the ship in half, the 500 other escapees fearing they might not survive the journey.

When Rowland Stewart was eleven he wrote a graphic short story about war.  In it a fighter pilot blasted targets on the ground, feeling disconnected from the flashes that rose as the bombs exploded.  But later in the story, when the pilot was shot down, he faced hand-to-hand combat.  He survived, but had to kill to do so.

Onstage, he’s a guitar-slinging outlaw taking no prisoners.  Offstage, he’s one of the most humble men you’ll ever meet.

In January, Dr. Charles Liggett took a break from his dental practice in Fort Smith to visit Negril, Jamaica, a place known for its black cliffs, azure waters, and golden sunsets.  But Charles had little time to enjoy the view.

Joseph Meadows leans against the wall in one of the lofts he’s renovated above his bar, MoJo’s Ivory House Dueling Piano Bar in downtown Fort Smith and at only twenty-eight, talks about his long history in construction.

Ten years ago Warren Long was laying brick every weekday.  “I had a world of trouble back then,” he says, remembering the bone-tired weariness that dogged his steps every waking hour.