Quite thrilled to note some quick-turnaround, on-the-ground reportage from Charlotte mag and WCNC producer Jeremy Markovich on the occasion of the snap closing of Park Road watering hole Sir Edmond Halley’s.
But first. Sir Ed’s marks the second landmark Charlotte bar which has hosted me and a certain multi-media biker maven only to meet an untimely end months later. Big Ben’s was the first. Dude, we are drinking in abandoned parking lots from now on. No offense.
Now to the matter at hand. Markovich’s detailed, free-form dispatch struck me as something I’d expect in a DC or NYC alt-media venue. No agenda or cant, just an insider giving us the low-down on the demise of beloved local institution. Exactly why Sir Ed’s got the quick boot seems somewhat of a mystery. Markovich promises an answer, I have no reason to doubt him.
The trigger finger in this deal belongs to Charlotte mag editor Richard Thurmond, who relates that his previous dealings with Markovich — only an award-winning account of a blind hiker on the Appalachian Trail — provided a comfort zone in an otherwise flying-blind situation. Thurmond explains:
I have to admit it was a bit of lightning in a bottle. Jeremy emailed me, said he was going, did I want something. I said yes, I’ll post whatever you send. I told him I wanted it fast. He sent it this morning, I did a quick edit, and up she went. I knew what type of writer he is, so I knew he’d give me something good. Obviously, lion’s share of credit goes to Jeremy. And it helps that he works in TV, so he knows from quick turnarounds.
One element I’d add is that Sir Ed’s was a real place, so some real reporting did it justice and supported the blow-by-blow. Not so, say, Daddy-O’s or a hundred other plastic places in greater Charlotte which have come and gone without a ripple.
RIP Sir Ed. Long live honest accounts of whatever comes next.
