http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/02/22/a-note-in-passing-on-the-great-bob-lancaster Comments On: A note in passing on the great Bob Lancaster by Max Brantley en-us Copyright 2013 Arkansas Times. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Arkansas Times readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Arkansas Times. robert@arktimes.com (Arkansas Times Webmaster) Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:01 -0500 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:45:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by smokehouse]]> Sun, 24 Feb 2013 18:13:43 -0600 Arkansas Times
One afternoon we were walking through the Shakespeare section of the Hendrix College library. Clarence stopped, pointed to the shelves, and said: "Shakespeare. The guy does good work. But he'll never be Bob Lancaster."
Posted by cruelanimal]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:37:19 -0600 Arkansas Times
It all seemed too weighty for me to even offer up any comment. I always snatched up the Times and went to the back page first. I read it first because it made me laugh and educated me at the same time. It softened me up for the news inside, it made me understand the news inside. Good humorists, like Lancaster, are some of the most serious writers around. It's so much better to laugh than to cry. I could always read Lancaster and say to myself, "yeah, that's EXACTLY the way I feel too, knowing full well that I couldn't ever say it so well myself. I can't read any Lancaster column without laughing out loud and it's damn hard to make me laugh out loud. The only comparable writing that affects me that way is any page of Charles Portis' wonderful novel, "The Dog Of The South".

And thank you David Koon for that wonderful link to the interview with Lancaster. The interview was highly interesting to somebody who grew up with those same Arkansas newspapers. READING THEM that is. I even knew some of those people briefly, who he alluded to. Just goes to show that Arkansas is indeed a small place when a definite nobody like myself can relate to some of those characters. Lancaster, in the interview, struck me as somebody much different than what I'd imagined, much different than the persona who I'd pictured from the back page of the Times. Not so much the crusty old fart who wouldn't give you the time of day when asked but rather humble and self-effacing. I don't ever recall meeting him personally, although I may have flipped him off on the freeway inadvertently. If so, I apologize for it. I may idolize the man but it won't be me among the Sheridan paparazzi whom I'm sure hound him on a daily basis. I WOULD be but I still can't figure out how my digital camera works.
Posted by Olphart]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:11:39 -0600 Arkansas Times Like, Huckabee is a CF.
Get it?
Posted by louie]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:40:00 -0600 Arkansas Times
Verla,

Can’t imagine Bob Lancaster (or anybody else) ever trying to convince you that this serious, life-threatening disorder is joke fodder.

You wrote at 8:08 that you don’t remember what Lancaster was referring to when he wrote that misbehaving students “should be given a CF.”

You said, too, that he told you he didn’t know CF was an acronym for cystic fibrosis.

Seems pretty obvious, then, that Lancaster wasn’t joking about cystic fibrosis. Or suggesting that students who misbehave deserved to be stricken with it. Thus, it’s difficult to understand why you think you were owed an apology.

Don’t know Bob Lancaster. Do know members of his family. If he is anything like they are, nobody could be happier than Bob Lancaster that the infant to which you referred at 1:45 is now 31-years-old and a high school science teacher.

PS: Not piling on. Didn't see Doc's comment above till getting ready to post.
Posted by Durango]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:05:57 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Doc]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:41:18 -0600 Arkansas Times
Heh-heh.

Sherwood ≠ Sheridan

Someone was gonna point it out. Might as well be me.
Posted by hugh mann]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:27:55 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Vanessa]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:02:45 -0600 Arkansas Times
The Arkansas Times gave me my first glimpse of Bob Lancaster and I like to think I became a fan after the wine had aged to perfection. I understand his desire to retire, but never in my 52 years as a resident of Arkansas have we needed Mr. Lancaster's voice more. We'll need more than Max's wise liberal voice if we hope to outlive this horrible era of a Tea Bagger legislature. We simply can't let the 19th century drag us back in.

As a long time AT blogger I've watched lots of intelligent Arkansans dip their toes into Arkansas politics for the first time. I've watched many of my fellow bloggers find their voice and firm up their convictions thanks to the AT blog. If Arkansas ever comes into the 21st century it will be in large part thanks to the progressive thinkers we've come to know on these pages.

I don't know if individually we've accomplished anything, but I know that Max and the Arkansas Times have, thanks to the great investigative journalism practiced by the AT and Max's many FOI requests. Enough sunlight and we just might have good government and equality for all someday....even in the 48th state.
Posted by DeathbyInches]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:02:13 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Neuroglider]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:53:49 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by the Arkansawyer]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:53:26 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Pat Lynch]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:49:23 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Verla Sweere]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:45:04 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by arktrav]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:08:08 -0600 Arkansas Times
I remember a time a few years ago when I was visiting my in-laws in upstate NY. I was relaxing in the hammock, reading the copy of the Times I had saved just for the trip. I got to laughing so hard that I almost (a) fell out and (b) peed my britches. Something about dog peter gnats. They thought I'd had too much wine.

Thanks for so much. So much. Please contribute. Better yet, please be so bored that you want to come back. You're the Michael Jordan of Arkansas newspaper writing. If MJ can come back, so can BL.
Posted by hugh mann]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:59:44 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by ozarkrazo]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:48:57 -0600 Arkansas Times In 1963 at the Ocean Bar in Hong Kong there was a 'hostess' who looked just like Annette Funnicelo (SP?). Please see if she's still there and give her my regards.
Seriously, the Parisienne (SP?) Grill from "The World of Susie Wong" really exists. Great food and high prices lo those many years ago. If I could just fit in my sailor suit I'd go with you. Bet they, like Annette, would remember me.
Posted by louie]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:16:01 -0600 Arkansas Times http://web.saumag.edu/archives/archives/hi…

Then there's Bob's very in-depth 2005 interview with Mara Leveritt about his life, working in newspapers, and how he found his distinctive voice: http://pryorcenter.uark.edu/projects/arkan…
Posted by David Koon]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:04:33 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Arkhobbit]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:09:25 -0600 Arkansas Times http://web.archive.org/web/19990427162445/…

Lost my link
Posted by Barbarosa]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:48:29 -0600 Arkansas Times
Hah! It was George Will...squeaking like meeces...
Posted by Barbarosa]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:46:31 -0600 Arkansas Times
Verla, once upon a time, a wise old board chairman said, “Durango, the day EVERYBODY likes EVERYTHING you’re doing, you’ll know you’re not doing your job.”

Always felt I was pretty good at what I was doing, since there was never a time when SOMEBODY wasn’t pissed at me. The same holds true today.

Godspeed, Bob Lancaster. Y’done good.

Happy trails, Max. Glad yer smart enough not to try doing Australia and New Zealand during the same journey. It’s a bad mistake most people make.
Posted by Durango]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:42:02 -0600 Arkansas Times
My personal favorite was a Huckabee piece were he had Huckabee as two of the three persons of the trinity. I can't remember exactly how it went but I saved it for months and laughed just as loud each time I read it.
Posted by FullThrottle]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:37:23 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by pollen]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:37:10 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by CatMan Did]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:23:20 -0600 Arkansas Times