Category Archives: Autobiographical

Our Corner That Keeps Flapping Around

Posted on March 31, 2016 by aamontgomery

Nearly twenty years ago, my father Roy Allen retired at the age of 62. Daddy’s passions were (1) his family (especially his fellow sports maniac, his grandson Justin), (2) Lady Vol basketball, (3) New York Yankees baseball, and (4) traveling … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Courage, Family, Happiness, Joy (Joie de General), Love, Tribute, Wonder, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

I’m a Dancing Girl

Posted on March 5, 2016 by aamontgomery

I have always been drawn to people and communities who dance. My theory is that when a culture loses its dancing–as a community–it loses its vitality, passion, and reason for living, what the French call raison d’être. Conversely when a … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Bruce Springsteen, Creativity, Dance, Happiness, Joy (Joie de General), Love, Music | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Work is a Kind of Love

Posted on February 29, 2016 by aamontgomery

~ wrote Marilyn Monroe in her recently discovered journal While watching the HBO documentary “Love, Marilyn”, my husband Kurt and I were surprised to hear the depth of the intelligence and insight found in Marilyn Monroe’s private thoughts as she … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Happiness, Ideas, Love, Photography, Screen, Tribute, Work | Leave a comment

Grace’s Son, Tom Parkhill

Posted on January 24, 2016 by aamontgomery

When I was growing up in East Tennessee just across the river from downtown in South Knoxville, I went to school with a rather extraordinary guy named Tom Parkhill. Our parents were friends so we would occasionally go over to … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Courage, Family, Friends, Happiness, Knoxville, Love, Stage, Tribute, Women, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Caught a Long Wind

Posted on December 31, 2015 by aamontgomery

As Dickens wrote in his 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities about London and Paris during the French Revolution of the late 1770s: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Blooming, Childhood, Courage, Family, Home | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More Than Enough

Posted on November 28, 2015 by aamontgomery

For all those of you who believe your life is over when you turn 30 or 40 or 50, I have a secret for you: I have passed those milestones and have never been happier, looked better, enjoyed life more, … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Blooming, Courage, Family, Happiness, Home, Joy (Joie de General) | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

My Hand, Always in Daddy’s Glove

Posted on September 30, 2015 by aamontgomery

In his black-and-gray herringbone coat with his bitten-short fingernails, Daddy would come through the door after work. That is my first hazy memory from childhood. I am not sure why I remember Daddy’s coat and his nails as the same … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Blooming, Childhood, Freedom, Happiness, Home, Knoxville, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Coming Up Short in a Small-town City

Posted on August 31, 2015 by aamontgomery

When I was growing up here in the South in the valley near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, my hometown of Knoxville seemed organized, adults had rules, my sister and I enjoyed a good many snowfalls, and I could … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Home, Knoxville, Op/Ed Thoughts, Work, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Fortunetellers in Our Heads

Posted on May 1, 2015 by aamontgomery

Most mornings when I get up, music is already playing in my head. Snippets of songs, a phrase that hangs with me. I can’t tell sometimes whether the song has a significance for me at that moment–my subconscious trying to … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Courage, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Birds a la Hitchcock, Ballanchine, and Boogaloo

Posted on February 20, 2015 by aamontgomery

On Wednesday I woke up and looked out our front door to find snow, ice, and swarms of birds (and I mean hundreds, not just a tweeting few) raucously flip-flapping as if they were reenacting a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s … Continue reading →

Posted in "Pets", Autobiographical, Backyard Nature, Books, Childhood, Courage, Freedom, Love, Screen, The Arts, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment