Bruce VanWyngarden

Memphis

Senior Editor and Columnist at Memphis Flyer

Memphis Flyer senior editor/columnist; author “Everything That’s True”; “Aquarius Revisited: Seven Who Created the 1960s"; music, humor, all things Memphis.

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Articles

A Toenail Is Better

2 weeks ago | memphisflyer.com | Bruce VanWyngarden

“‘Stink for a dime’ is an idiom that means to be extremely bad, unpleasant, or worthless. It’s often used to describe something that is so poor in quality or value that it’s not even worth the low cost of a dime.”Who among us has not fallen back on that popular saying, “stink for a dime”? It comes in handy now and then, right? What? You’ve never heard anyone say that? Well … okay, you got me. No one ever says that.
Turdus Migratorius

3 weeks ago | memphisflyer.com | Bruce VanWyngarden

I’m sitting on the deck, sipping a fresh-brewed cup of early coffee. It’s Easter, and the air is clear and bright and alive, offering the promise of another glorious Memphis spring day. The earth has resurrected itself and donned its finest vestments: Azaleas, dogwoods, irises, shamrocks, lantana — all manner of flowers large and small are in full bloom, turning the city, and my own backyard, into a celebration of color. There is a mixed chorus of birdsong coming from the trees above.
Sips: Finding Balance in Overton Square

1 month ago | memphismagazine.com | Bruce VanWyngarden

Rubén Tree has done a lot of living in the 13 years between his graduation from Germantown High School and his current gig tending bar at The Second Line in Midtown. But the first thing he had to do was learn to walk again. “I tore a meniscus in a sports accident in high school and was in a wheelchair for nine months afterward,” Tree says.
Memphis Flyer | When It Rains

1 month ago | memphisflyer.com | Bruce VanWyngarden

Perhaps the nadir of last week for me came Saturday morning, as I was standing in a sudden downpour with my two leashed dogs, imploring them to, well, pee.
Memphis Flyer | Sea Change

1 month ago | memphisflyer.com | Bruce VanWyngarden

A pelican glides by just offshore, there, out where the blue dolphins dance, emerging and disappearing into the sea. The kite hangs overhead, side-slipping in the ocean breeze, tethered to your umbrella pole by a gracile thread. You push your new sunglasses up on your nose and soak in the sun, the blue sky, the bleached sand; you hear the surf mumbling, “Stay.”I could do it, you think, shifting in your canvas chair. “I could get a job renting beach umbrellas or maybe working on a fishing boat.
Sips: A Smooth Landing at Bao Toan

1 month ago | memphismagazine.com | Bruce VanWyngarden

Tony Nguyen always wanted to fly. “When I was growing up,” he says, “I liked to build model airplanes, and one of my best friends was also into flying. I always had a love for aviation.” It was Nguyen’s love of flying — and of jumping out of airplanes — that took him away from Memphis for a few years, and ultimately, it was what led him back home, where he now manages the bar for Bao Toan, the brand-new Vietnamese restaurant in Crosstown Concourse.
Memphis Flyer | March Madness

1 month ago | memphisflyer.com | Bruce VanWyngarden

Every year I play in an online pool to predict the outcome of the NCAA basketball tournament, aka March Madness. It’s made up of longtime friends who are scattered all over the country and who communicate for the most part via social media. It’s become a rite of spring for a lot of us, with good-natured smack talk being the main attraction. We use a CBS Sports platform, and for some of us the hardest part is remembering our password every 12 months.
Social Insecurity

2 months ago | memphisflyer.com | Bruce VanWyngarden

On the fourth Wednesday of each month, a four-figure amount from the U.S. government gets deposited into my bank account. I wouldn’t want to try to subsist solely on my Social Security check, but it’s an invaluable source of income for me in my semi-retirement, and it’s a fund I’ve contributed to since I was in high school, working as a pharmacy stock boy.
Memphis Flyer | Big Boss Man

2 months ago | memphisflyer.com | Bruce VanWyngarden

I’ve been the editor of several publications in my career. I managed teams of writers and editors — and did my best to empower them, motivate them, and get them to work together to produce newspapers and magazines we could all be proud of. I was, to use the term loosely, a “boss.” I made my share of mistakes, but I always tried to treat my employees with respect and compassion.
Sips: Amy Richards Is a Woman on a Mission.

2 months ago | memphismagazine.com | Bruce VanWyngarden

My father used to say to me that everybody has a gift. My gift is talking,” says Amy Richards. “I love to meet people and make them feel good, whether it’s here or in a classroom full of sixth-graders.” Richards has been bartending at the Half Shell — an East Memphis institution — for 23 years. It’s a job that has shaped her life in more ways than one. “This place is iconic,” she says. “Most people who’ve been in Memphis a while know the Half Shell, and it’s become family to me.