Category Archives: Freedom

The Day the Music Lived

Posted on June 30, 2019 by aamontgomery

Buddy Holly’s quintessentially American music could have died with him in a plane crash in 1959. But the power of his idiosyncratic genius lives on. Our music is what defines us and our music is what saves us. Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Bruce Springsteen, Childhood, Creativity, Freedom, Happiness, Ideas, Knoxville, Music, Op/Ed Thoughts, Tribute | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Backyard Excavation

Posted on June 27, 2018 by aamontgomery

After 15 years in a house we loved but that had grown too large for us, we decided to downsize and drag fewer possessions through life. We wanted to move to an area (1) we could afford, (2) in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Backyard Nature, Beauty, Family, Freedom, Happiness, Home, Ideas, Knoxville, Love, Music | 8 Comments

Ode to Little Man

Posted on December 1, 2017 by aamontgomery

I have a dark-eyed, adorable obsession: the Little Man who a month ago was born into our lives. Last year my son Justin married the love of his life Tracy. From their love, has come their son Lincoln, the already … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Childhood, Courage, Freedom, Happiness, Ideas, Love | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Arriving at Last

Posted on October 31, 2017 by aamontgomery

In the fall of my senior year at South (Knoxville) High School, I was offered a full scholarship to Berea College, a small liberal arts college in Kentucky. I didn’t know it at the time, but Berea was founded in … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Childhood, Courage, Education, Family, Freedom, Ideas, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Taking Along Our Ghosts

Posted on September 22, 2017 by aamontgomery

When I was young, I saw the 1979 movie “Being There” starring Peter Sellers in his most provocative role as Chance, a simple, uneducated man who grew up and tended the garden on a great estate, and had never been … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Backyard Nature, Beauty, Courage, Creativity, Freedom, Friends, Ideas, Love, Screen, The Arts, Wonder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Independence Day

Posted on August 31, 2017 by aamontgomery

Recently I have been listening to Gretchen Peters’ recording of “Independence Day”, the song she wrote that was a huge hit for country music star Martina McBride in 1995. Well she seemed all right by dawn’s early light Though she … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Courage, Freedom, Happiness, Knoxville, Women | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Also Known As . . .

Posted on March 31, 2017 by aamontgomery

When I was born in East Tennessee, oh, quite a few years ago, my parents Roy and Arzelia Allen named me for a dear friend of theirs named Anna Marie. In the Southern way, their friend was called by both names, … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Books, Childhood, Courage, Family, Freedom, Home, Joy (Joie de General), Knoxville, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Give Me a Young Man’s Wisdom

Posted on February 28, 2017 by aamontgomery

[I wrote this original blogpost two years ago. Though much has changed since April 2015, it is amazing how much has remained the same–and I find this post eerily relevant to our country in February 2017.] Sometimes I find the most extraordinary … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Childhood, Courage, Freedom, Happiness, Ideas, Joy (Joie de General), Love, Music, Op/Ed Thoughts, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Love, Honor, and Compassion

Posted on November 7, 2016 by aamontgomery

Grandfather, Sacred One, teach us love, compassion, and honor that we may heal the earth and heal each other. ~ Native American Ojibwa Prayer Perhaps growing up poor gave me a natural affinity for Native Americans and other people who were … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Beauty, Books, Childhood, Courage, Family, Freedom, Friends, Ideas, Love, Op/Ed Thoughts, Photography, Women, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Daddy’s Last Vote

Posted on October 1, 2016 by aamontgomery

When I was a child in the early 1960s, my world was a fog of (1) trying to figure out the inexplicable behavior of the adults around me, (2) hoping to discern what they wanted me to do, and (3) … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Childhood, Courage, Family, Freedom, Knoxville, Op/Ed Thoughts, Tribute | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment