At the age of 85, she’s one of the greatest at barbecuing, where barbecuing is taken very seriously… in the State of Texas!
She’s Ms. Tootsie, and she’s one heck of an interesting person! Even through difficult circumstances, the death of her husband, and later her son — she depended on both of them at the restaurant — she kept at it. She loves her craft. She loves the folks who relish her food. She loves her town of Lexington, Texas (population, as of 2018, 1,198).
My wife talked me into watching a TV series about fascinating people in the BBQ food business. She’s observed me, over the years, trying my hand at grilling, and — at last! — getting to where I know a little something about it.
In another show in the series, we learned about Rodney Scott of South Carolina, who, like Ms. Tootsie, is at the top of the grilling craft. He started grilling hogs when he was just 11 years old. His father taught him how to do it. And as Rodney was growing up, he thought about some new things he might try.
That caused some difficult circumstances, involving Rodney and his father. Sadly, they never quite saw eye-to-eye. But, the combination of everything Rodney learned as a child, and the innovations that came to him as he was growing up, worked out really well.
“There are no strangers” at Rodney Scott’s restaurants — he has more than one location, now. “Everyone has a seat at our table,” he notes in the rundown on his places, online. And, indeed, from scenes in the show, we could see people, from all walks of life and many different ethnicities, at the table… like at Ms. Tootsie’s place in Lexington.
At Lennox Hastie’s place in Sydney, Australia, “There’s no gas or electricity at his restaurant. You can’t boil a pot of water in this kitchen unless you’ve made a fire first – that’s probably as close to off-grid cooking as you’ll get in the middle of the city,” according to Good Food, an online site in Australia. Like others in the TV series we were watching, chef Hastie had to deal with some difficult, challenging circumstances.
Back in the 1990s, a group of young men from some of the toughest Chicago neighborhoods, many of whom were in rival gangs, established the first African American public high school rowing team. “A Most Beautiful Thing”, a film documentary about the team is about to debut. Rowing together, and working together, the young men got to know each other.
They’re in their 40s, now, and they got back together, to shake off some rust, I suppose, and to row, once again. And, perhaps, with difficult circumstances in mind, right now, involving people of color and the police, the rowers got this great idea. They asked Chicago police officers to row with them. To join their team, to work together. To get to know each other.
And, seeing in the news, people of many ethnicities and many different life experiences in important roles, is encouraging. Hearing about leaders and innovators in medical research, engineering, architecture and other businesses, and university presidents and leaders in sports and other fields, you get good feelings about things.
Even with all circumstances considered! These days!
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.