Political Quotes

“Today I learned that John Kilzer, a friend, an important figure in Memphis and in the music community, passed away. John Kilzer was 62 years old. He was born in Jackson, Tennessee, up the road from Memphis, but he lived most of his life in Memphis. He was the epitome of what Memphis is about. A lot of times people in Memphis call us grit and grinders, and the city is the city of grit and grind. It comes from the basketball team, the Grizzlies. John's life was Memphis and John's life was grit and grind. He was a high school All-American basketball player who went to the University of Memphis, then Memphis State, and played basketball. Didn't play it that well, but he played it. He was on the team; a good outside shooter and a scrapper. He got interested in other things and he had some demons with him too. Those demons came along maybe from his father, who was an alcoholic, and it caused John to have problems with abuse of drugs and alcohol as well. It interfered with his basketball career, interfered with his music life, but he never let it keep him down. He came back. He came back every chance he could. He came back as a musician who was signed by David Geffen, had two albums by Geffen, one song that made the top ten, and songs recorded by Maria Muldaur, Rosanne Cash, and others. He became a minister and he had a series of ministries in St. John's United Methodist Church in Memphis.…”