Longtime Swensson VP passes away
Posted on November 10, 2009 at 2:00 pmRay Pratt, vice president of Nashville’s oldest architectural firm, died Sunday. He was 79. Pratt was a principal and VP of construction at Earl Swensson, a firm he joined in 1966, six years after its founding.
“Ray’s favorite saying, with regard to construction, was ‘Never assume anything. Always prove it.’ He was a hands-on construction problem solver with an excellent mathematical mind and technical ability,” ESA Chairman Earl Swensson said. “We were so fortunate to have him on our team. He was well respected throughout the construction industry around the country. His contributions to our firm are many, but, above all, I considered him a brother.”
The company’s president, Richard L. Miller, said Pratt’s four-plus decades with ESA produced a legacy of mentoring.
“Ray was a leader and a mentor to countless young people in the industry. He, in fact, continued to mentor until the day he died. He had an uncanny ability to look at situations and then come from different directions with solutions. He taught all of us so much,” Miller said.
While at ESA, he led the firm’s construction administration of numerous healthcare, commercial and education design projects.
Pratt is survived by his wife Sharon; his sons Craig (Donna), Tim (Derenda), and Philip (Natalie Bottoms); his daughter Ashley; and four grandchildren Keith, Alex, Robyn and Izaak Pratt.
Visitation is scheduled from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 660 Thompson Lane in Nashville. Funeral services are at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.
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VU political science chair dies
Posted on September 15, 2009 at 11:27 am
Neal Tate, a former University of North Texas professor who led the rebuilding this decade of Vanderbilt’s department of political science, has died.
Bruce Oppenheimer, professor of political science and acting department chair, said that Tate was simply a first-rate person and friend who demonstrated great leadership. “Neal contributed a huge investment of his time and effort the past six years to guide our department. For example, the number of political science faculty increased by two-thirds under his watch.”
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Former Belmont president dead at 95
Posted on September 10, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Herbert Gabhart, who led Belmont for more than two decades and has been a chancellor of the university since 1983, died this morning.
When he arrived at Belmont College in 1959, the school’s enrollment was 360 students. When he retired as president in 1982, Belmont’s student population had grown by 500 percent to more than 2,000. He oversaw a budget increase from $480,000 to $8 million, and the campus also saw physical expansion with the addition of nine new buildings, including the Massey Performing Arts Center, Wheeler Humanities building, Hitch Science building, the library, and more. Belmont also expanded academically by adding many majors and degrees, including music, nursing, business and more.
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Les Paul, 1915-2009
Posted on August 13, 2009 at 12:07 pm
From Gibson Guitars, a tribute to the man who gave his name to the company’s best-known product:
The year was 1950, and Paul had just signed on as the namesake of Gibson’s first electric solidbody, with exclusive design privileges. Working closely with Paul, Gibson forged a relationship that would change popular culture forever. The Gibson Les Paul model—the most powerful and respected electric guitar in history—began with the 1952 release of the Les Paul Goldtop. After introducing the original Les Paul Goldtop in 1952, Gibson issued the Black Beauty, the mahogany-topped Les Paul Custom, in 1954. The Les Paul Junior (1954) and Special (1955) were also introduced before the canonical Les Paul Standard hit the market in 1958. With revolutionary humbucker pickups, this sunburst classic has remained unchanged for the half-century since it hit the market.
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Vanderbilt bids adieu to ‘champion of the open forum’
Posted on July 26, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Former Vanderbilt Chancellor Alexander Heard died Friday at his home at the age of 92. His presence on campus spanned more than four decades and was characterized by expansion and a fearless commitment to honest debate.
“The university’s obligation is not to protect students from ideas, but rather to expose them to ideas, and to help make them capable of handling and, hopefully, having ideas.”
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Eddie Jones says goodbye
Posted on April 6, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Former Nashville Banner editor, Tennessee political operative and Nashville Chamber of Commerce leader Eddie Jones, who passed away yesterday at 85, closed out his old-school journalistic career with these words in the final edition of the Banner ever printed, on February 20, 1998:
My first stint at the Banner was from 1949 to 1956.
My mentor, writing coach and drill sergeant was Charlie Moss, the legendary Banner editor who pushed several generations of would-be reporters into becoming seasoned journalists.
Here was the Moss style:
One day I was summoned to his office, always a nerve-wracking experience, and Boss Moss had on his desk a 10-page story I had written about a complicated battle over one of the new TV licenses being issued in Nashville.
“Son,” Moss growled, “what the hell does this say,” waving my copy.
“Well, Mr. Moss, here’s what the situation is,” which I explained in just a few minutes.
“Son,” Moss said, handing me back my copy, “get your ass back to your desk and tell your typewriter what you just told me. The readers can understand that!”
When I came back to the Banner a decade ago, and 31 years after leaving, things were, well, quite different.
The blue haze hanging over the newsroom generated by the standard-issue ashtrays on every desk was gone. Paper had been largely replaced by computer screens, the paste pots were gone as was the hot metal type.
And it was god-awful quiet! No rattle of half a hundred Royal manual typewriters clacking out hot stories, no battery of wire machines setting off a chorus of bells when a bulletin or flash was moving, no editors yelling “Boy, copy!” when a story was ready to move. (They really said that; political correctness hadn’t been invented.)
So while it was different, it was a heady experience for me to sit in the office where Charlie Moss sat, to use his desk and to remember him with great love.
For a while I was focused on the difference between the wild and woolly ’40s and ’50s, replete with practical jokes and great scoops, and today’s milder newsroom atmosphere.
But then my senses got straight and I suddenly realized that while many things were different, the Banner staff was still something special. They knew that they were just a little bit better than anyone else, that they had justifiable pride in their professional abilities and that they could always hold their heads high.
They are doing that today, and I’m proud of them for it. The Banner family is, always was and always will be special!
This is the last piece of copy that will be written on my Royal manual typewriter, a vanishing piece of news equipment.
Readers may not know exactly what this ending means, but journalists everywhere will know how heavy my heart is as I strike these characters:
-30-
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Trammell Crow, RIP
Posted on January 16, 2009 at 10:47 amA real estate development innovator whose company ceased operations in Nashville in 2002 has died:
Trammell Crow, a one-time accountant with no real estate experience who built one of the largest real estate development companies in the nation, has died. He was 94.
Spokeswoman Cynthia Pharr Lee said Thursday that Crow died Wednesday at a family farm near Tyler in East Texas. The cause of death wasn’t immediately released. In 2002, Crow’s wife disclosed that the legendary developer suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
Trammell Crow Co. was sold in 2006 for $1.8 billion to CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., which was interested in Trammell Crow’s list of blue chip corporate clients, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Bank of America. Analysts said big corporations liked doing business with Trammell Crow because the firm handled both property management and development of new projects.
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James Webb, RIP
Posted on January 9, 2009 at 2:03 pmFrom Vanderbilt University:
James A. Webb Jr., a three-sport athlete at Vanderbilt, prominent Nashville banker and an emeritus member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust and the board of Vanderbilt Medical Center, died Jan. 8 at Vanderbilt. He was 86.
A memorial service was scheduled for 3 p.m. Jan. 11 at First Presbyterian Church, with visitation to precede the service from 1 to 3 p.m.
“Jimmy Webb’s extraordinary life was intertwined with Vanderbilt from the time Bear Bryant recruited him to play football here until his untimely death,” said Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos. “Vanderbilt benefited enormously from his talents and counsel over several decades. He will be missed.”
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