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Photo by Louis Tucker
Holly Whitfield
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photo by Holly Whitfield
The Legacies Statue at Chickasaw Heritage Park is just one of many weird, wonderful, and obscure things covered in Secret Memphis.
Why on earth does Memphis have a giant pyramid?
Why does Memphis have trolleys?
Who’s sitting on the bench in front of the Blues Hall of Fame?
If you’ve ever wondered about these burning questions (and about other Memphis weirdness), you’re in luck. Holly Whitfield knows. And now she’s shared the answers with us in her brand new book, Secret Memphis: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. The book is out now from Reedy Press (St. Louis, Missouri).
Whitfield is a professional Memphian. She’s been on the beat for the city's surreal and sublime since 2013 for the I Love Memphis blog. She’s been everywhere in the city, it seems, and uncovered many of its strange secrets, eccentricities, and best places to eat and drink anything and everything. All of that is on display in Secret Memphis.
Secret Memphis
"As Memphis author Holly Whitfield leads you through the most surprising, intriguing, and marvelous locations in the city, you’ll discover places you never knew existed and the unexpected stories behind familiar sites,” reads a description of the book from Reedy Press. “From a glass-and-steel pyramid on the banks for the Mississippi River to a park populated by bison, to mounds built by Native Americans centuries ago to the birthplace of the Queen of Soul, Secret Memphis unearths this authentic, lively city’s mysteries one by one.”
The book is organized in a series of two-page vignettes, accompanied by black-and-white photographs of the subjects. A series of color photographs appear in the middle of the book with images of the Peabody’s secret room, Memphis’ Lady Liberty, and more. The stories range from a Midtown cemetery next to a grocery store, the story of Tom Lee, the Memphis Slim House, and to Silky O’Sullivan’s famous diving goats.
“This book is a different kind of travel guide, full of unexpected twists and turns,” Whitfield writes in the book’s introduction. “It’s a look at the city’s sometimes difficult past, while appreciating the soul that makes the city unique.
“Above all, it’s a love letter to Memphis. I hope you fall for Memphis as much as I have.”
As for the questions above, pick up a copy of Secret Memphis and find out for yourself.
Secret Memphis: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure
Holly Whitfield
Reedy Press
Paperback
224 pages
$20.95
