Bonnie Parker

At least once a year, I try to visit the graves of the down-trodden and forgotten. Call it what you will. In fact, the Good Book says that we should visit the graves of the dearly departed. The term dearly could mean family. It could mean friends. It could also mean the down-trodden and forgotten. There are a couple of graves that I visit at the National Cemetery, too. It takes some effort, sure. But, people turn out by the tens of hundreds to visit Elvis' grave at Graceland, or JFK's grave at Arlington. Jim Tipton of Find-A-Grave fame, made a hobby of visiting celebrated individuals at their graves. Ancerstry.com had been linking to his site for years before finally buying the site. In Dallas, there are several that fall into two groups. Those on the Shady side of the street and those on the Sunny side of the street. I visit both because I do not judge anyone. True, I might express displeasure with their viewpoints, but as a person, to judge is not in my cupboard. So going to the grave of Lee Harvey Oswald, or Bonnie Parker or any other is a way to spend an afternoon in the summer. I have a personal connection through mom as to why I visit the grave of movie star, Greer Garson and while in that cemetery, I go see Mickey. To me growing up, he was Mr. Baseball. He still is.  

Yesterday, I was  checking up on the progress of the US Geological Surveys Ft. Worth Field Office's installation progress of radar measuring devices over waterways. I had taken pictures earlier in the summer of one of their new devices and had talked with their Public Information person in Austin. After looking at the pictures, the PI person ask if I would withhold  one image until such time as the Field Office had completed the installation. Naturally, I'm going to comply with her wishes.She explained to me what they were waiting on to complete the installation and in my original image, there was a bare wire that had not and could not be completed at the time the unit was placed. Once that wire is connected, then I am free to release the images as stock.

 That also means going back and retaking the image again. So, since there are two more units in the works, I'll wait until they are all complete and then go  out and shoot all three. There are no stock images of these new devices anywhere. Therefore, not only do I not want to reveal the locations at the request of the USGS office, I don't want the competition shooting them either! So, I go on a faux-shoot and just observe the progress. But, on the way back from any shoot, I try to fulfill my penitence and visit a few graves of forgotten and down-trodden souls.

 Yesterday, it was the grave of Bonnie Parker of Bonnie and Clyde fame. Clyde's grave was a bit closer to where I was  but you can't get into the cemetery because it is posted and locked. There are those that have done so but my images go untouched by the devil of soft wear that is called photo shop, I don't shoot images on posted property either.

If I am invited, that's one thing and I carry releases with me. Or, if on common property that can be shot from a street or public place, I shoot until the cows come home. While trying to respect the fact that graves are family related and sensitive, weighing those images in the general public interest in a good way is permitted. It's only when in the name of "news" that  you try to put someone down in bad light using the media, that colors the waters of photo journalism and related forms. That's why the tabloids have so much trouble.

Bonnie Parker was a girl that had a good heart. She lived in a time when the Wild had not totally been removed from the "Wild West" by time. It was the first modern era of the Wild West with Prohibition and real gangsters like Thomas "Lonnie" Licavoli, and Al Capone. It was a time when making a name for yourself was recorded with the old flash-type cameras, daily newspapers running headlines with one and two inch block type; the bigger the type, the bigger the story. And the villains made their fame with the clothes still on. My, how things have changed. And it's still as political today as it was then; even more today, I would say.

Since my last visit there, the care at Crown Hill has gone down. The mausoleum is showing its age on the outside. The grass had not been cut. The grounds were dry and cracked and Bonnie's grave was without grass. Still, the grave echoed a message through the inscription on the headstone that rang of an inter- character. Bonnie Parker was a good person at heart.

Bonnie Parker 1910-1934
"As the flowers are all made sweeter by the sunshine and the dew, 
So this old world is made brighter by the lives of folks like you."

Harry James, Beatles, Greatful Dead

A sharpie discarded outside The Door. Signing autographs is common from the rock bands

Deep Ellum on the east end of Elm Street.

"Once I knew a preacher

Preached the Bible through and through,

But he went down in Deep Ellum

Now his preachin days are through.

Oh, Sweet Mama, Daddy's got them Deep Ellum Blues."

Recorded in 1935 by the Lone Star Cowboys and featuring Joe and Bob Shelton, the song has been recorded by trumpet player, Harry James, recorded by the Beatles and  recorded by that awesome band, The Grateful Dead.

People tend to forget that Dallas has a Blues culture that equals Memphis or New Orleans. Deep Ellum is the kettle were it still gets stirred, especially at The Door or Trees and others.

Sunday, I revisited Deep Ellum for its fantastic architecture, long history lines that included the days when Bonnie and Clyde hung out in Deep Ellum to the current rock bands that visit The Door and Trees with their tricked out  tour buses and loads of customer ticket purchases just to get inside to see the groups. The atmosphere is eclectic and electric all rolled up in one. It's the culture of Deep Ellum that I enjoy and how it has evolved over the years.

A decade ago I did a marketing survey of Deep Ellum for a Fortune 200. It lead to a grant for the Deep Ellum Association, the funding arm of the Deep Ellum Foundation.  It was a six month task that turned every rock, went down every alley, into every business, and noted trends from  old posters and signs and window displays including broken beer bottles in lots, alleys and streets. Broken glass in the alleys and parking lots on a Monday morning told the story of the past week end. Good or Bad. 

 Deep Ellum has always been like a magnet for me,culturally. I love Blues and Jazz and Heavy Metal. Deep Ellum is the elixir of all that. The tattoo parlors, their indelible inks and art are a current trend, although tattoos are tens of hundreds of years old. I've noticed more bikers than in the past twelve years. To me, the kettle is brewing again. Brewing like it did in the old days. It's not just the kids that want to get wild on a weekend like it was for a while. Older people are coming back to Deep Ellum with their families. The lines for tables on Sunday were out the door and down the block. That is with the heavy street construction going on down the Elm Street section were everything from new storm sewers to new pavement is beginning to look more complete. It is still a mess but Dallas let a few things go way to long.

Cultural districts have a way of working around that. Especially the ones that Main Stream feels is a bit uncouth, when it was the uncouthness that made Main Stream what it became.  You have to learn to mix with it all. Nothing is more fun than seeing an old neighbor in jeans and a tee on a Friday night then at the Meyerson or Wyle all gussied up the next night. It's meant to be that way. Cross overs in culture thrives. Grows. It becomes a great experience. People who can not do that miss out on the experience of life.Mom missed out on more than she should have, but at least, she was aware that the "country club" boy and the "farm boy" could be both, like my old neighbor. Even needed to be both at times. She loved the old song that sang of the soldier," how you gonna keep them down on the farm after they've seen Pariee?"

Historical irony. The box is located across the street from the old Union Bankers Bank. Romantic thought of the 30's, Bonnie and Clyde might have noticed at one time.

Now, DART Rail has two stations in Deep Ellum on the Green Line. Some of the old charm is fading unfortunately. Still, one can find the unusual and see past history just by walking down the streets of Deep Ellum. The old newspapers covered the windows of one business on  Elm Street.

edited to remove Long and add Lone from Long Star to Lone Star 09/09/14

Eerie seeing this 100-year old history on display.