Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/89420
[ Circuit ] 21 Questions With… Besse Besse is "old enough" and co-owner of Carmichael's Bookstore Illustration by Steven Dana In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job? "I help people find something good to read." Your perfect meal? "Depends on the season. In the winter, meat and potatoes. In the summer, I love a cold meal from the garden — something like mozzarella with tomatoes, avocado and green bean salad." Earliest childhood memory? "Playing on the beach in Ogunquit, Maine, where my family used to go in the summer." The weirdest place somebody has recognized you in public? "On the New York subway — with a little help. I was carrying a Carmichael's tote bag and someone said they grew up in Louisville and loved Carmichael's." Who's somebody doing big things in Louisville and is flying under the radar? "My friend Monica Orr and the other members of the mayor's tree commission. The loss of our urban forest is a major problem that will have long-range, negative effects on our city but has very little visibility." What film has had the greatest influence on your life? "Star Wars. Is there ever a situation where there's not an appropriate quote from Star Wars?" Biggest regret? "Not having my picture taken with Bob Dylan when he was in Carmichael's a couple of years ago." Fleur-de-lis: had enough or can't get enough? "People love to hate the French, but I love the French. They know how to live in style, so yes, I love the fleur-de-lis." If forced to get a tattoo today, what would you get? "Yellow Dog Democrat." Benedictine? "Yummy — but hold the green dye." Your drink? "A lemon drop — vodka and lemon juice, with a sugar rim." Favorite possession? "My binoculars. I'm a birder so they are my prized possession." All-time favorite Louisville restaurant? "I still miss the Rib Tavern; their baby-back ribs and onion loaf were the best." Favorite local sports team? "The Cards. Having not grown up in Kentucky, I wasn't a basketball fan when I moved here 35 years ago. I resisted the pull for several years but finally succumbed. Nothing beats March Madness, even though I lose our pool every year." All-time favorite Kentucky Derby winner? "Genuine Risk warmed my feminist heart." Best book you've read over the past year? "A pretty tough call for me, but I'll pick Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a novel about monarch butterflies, migration, global warming, mountain folk and family by one of Kentucky's great writers." WE LOVE A huge point of pride for many a New Yorker reader would be to win the magazine's weekly cartoon caption contest, a feat no Louisville wit has pulled off in more than five years. So we bow to local writer Tom Pierce for ringing the bell in the Sept. 24 issue after, by his estimate, "dozens and dozens of attempts" since the competition's final-page origin in 2005. (For those uninitiated, the New Yorker supplies the cartoon; you supply the words. Pierce's winning caption is pictured.) Pierce's tips for a chance at winning: 1) go for understatement and stay away from "punny or jokey"; 2) your submission "should have a subtext that engages the reader's imagination or theater of the mind"; and 3) pay attention to the talking character's expression. How excited was Pierce to win? "My family was more excited than me," he says. "My wife's stepmother from Denver bought a bunch of copies and asked me to sign them." [12] LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 11.12 Last live performance you saw in Louisville? "Wicked at the Kentucky Center." Bardstown Road, Frankfort Avenue or Market Street? "I couldn't choose between Bardstown Road and Frankfort Avenue because we have stores on both, so I'll pick Market Street. It hasn't reached critical mass yet; it takes years for neighborhoods and business corridors to reach their full potential. I remember Bardstown Road in the late '70s when we opened Carmichael's on the corner of Bonnycastle. We felt like pioneers." Fill in the blank: "_______________'s Louisville" should be the next banner on the side of a building. "Hunter Thompson. Gotta go with an author." Where do you go to be alone? "The woods." What makes somebody a Louisvillian? "Being proud to claim Louisville as your hometown, especially when faced with the misinformed masses who think everyone in Kentucky is a hillbilly, a redneck or Colonel Sanders." Carol