Atter we finished our last issue together last month, Jean wanted to know why I had not made a reference to her departure. The truth is, it's hard to know what to say about a ten-year long association exept that it hasn't ended, only the Louisville Music News part.
Jean Metcalfe and I have been involved in songwriting from the beginning and will no doubt still be involved in songwriting together.
Nonetheless, as I sit here, a late night before print deadline, I miss her and I will continue to miss her.
And so will others: forthwith letters to Jean Metcalfe from some of her friends:
Dear Jean and Paul:
I am continuing to receive copies of Louisville Music News through Rogue Enterprises, Inc., and received the May issue in which Jean announced that she was leaving as editor of the publication. I have terrific memories of the Louisville Area Songwriters Co-op and the many LASC seminar weekends that Ross McCort and I attended. We have kept up with our many Louisville acquaintances through the Louisville Music News, and I have always appreciated the publication. My best wishes to you both and congratulations on the many years that the two of you have put together one of the best city-based publications I have read.
Eric T. Johnson, P. C.
Atlanta, Ga. 30328
(Thanks, Eric, those seminars were certainly experiences to remember. — Editor.)
I received the letter about Jean Metcalfe's leaving Louisville Music News just as we were going to press with HT v 4.4 (Hard Times), and I'll have to admit, it took me by surprise.
I will miss her. She was a rare jewel in the cut-throat world of publishing in Louisville. Jean was always willing to take the time to check a fact, discuss story problems, or get on the phone and shake up a reporter when deadline approached (I'll miss those calls, Mrs. Metcalfe).
When no one would publish my own miserable attempts at expressing myself, I started the Hard Times, and it was Jean that [sic] saw something there in my writing that prompted her to take a chance. She asked me to write for LMN and cut me my very first paycheck for a piece of journalism. I still have it (well, a photocopy of it, anyway) framed and hanging on my wall.
I know of no editor in Louisville that [sic] is as charming and gracious as Mrs. Metcalfe, or (more importantly) possesses her deft skill at handling the inflated egos of free-lance writers.
Jean Metcalfe took a small newsletter and built it into a successful journal of local music, much respected within the music industry. Mark Abromavage once told me that it was an LMN cover story which convinced Caroline Records to sign his band Kinghorse
The Louisville Music News has always been a shining star among the gossip-and-hidden-agenda-ad-rags that litter the tops of cigarette machines in Louisville's night spots, mainly due to Mrs. Metcalfe's diligence and commitment to providing the public with the truth. Her editorial policy was always unbiased and fair.
I would like to take this chance to thank Jean and wish her the best of luck in whatever projects she chooses to pursue. I would also like to congratulate Paul Moffett on his decision to keep LMN up and running and hope that he aspires to follow in Mrs. Metcalfe's footsteps. He would do well to remember how Jean conducted business and use her as a role model. I know I do.
Darrell Ray Elmore
editor & publisher
HARD TIMES
(How very kind of you, Darrell Ray. Jean got a large charge out of your letter when I read it to her over the phone. And thanks for your support for the continuation of LMN – Editor. )