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Vol. 5, No. 3 • January 17, 2011 • www.ShopperNewsNow.com • 10512 Lexington Drive, Suite 500 37932 • 218-WEST (9378)
Two million miles and still going By Joe Rector John Brown has spent his life in the cab of an 18-wheeler. During that time, he’s been as safe a driver as anyone who’s ever hit the highways. Brown was recognized recently for an astounding feat. Not only has he driven more than 2 million miles for Conway Freight, but he has covered those miles without an accident. To put things in perspective, Brown has driven a 70-foot rig accident-free a distance equal to 80 trips around the earth or more than four round trips to the moon. A 1969 graduate of Karns High School, Brown began driving a truck when he was a teen. His family owned a furniture store in Oliver Springs, and he worked delivering furniture after school and during the summers. He was a publications and ad specialist with the Tennessee Air National Guard from 1969-1975. His driving career began at Skyline Freight, where he began as a dispatcher and ran a route
John Brown has spent most of his working years driving. Photo by Joe Rector
John Brown helps his grandfather drive a tractor on their farm in Karns. Photo submitted
to Greenville, Tenn., for 13 1/2 years. He has no idea how many miles he drove during that time. In 1991 Brown began at Conway and worked part time. The next year he became a full-time employee. He’s driven daytime driving hauls to Birmingham, Ala. One way the trip takes about five hours. This year he will start a route to Roanoke, Va., that will take approximately 4 1/2 hours each way. “It seems that I’ve been driving all my life,” he said. The best things about the job are meeting new people and seeing the countryside. Brown also says he’s able to think things over during the trips
before he makes decisions. When he needs entertainment, he listens to music and books on tape. The time is quiet because personal cell phone use isn’t allowed. Most of all, he likes being his own boss when he drives down the road. Among the things he doesn’t like about the job are tailgaters. “I despise tailgaters. Speed isn’t what kills. Instead, it’s following the car in front too closely. If a driver can’t see the rear tires of the vehicle in front of him, he’s too close,” he said. Brown also has a strong dislike for moms who have a carload of children and a phone at their ear. He says many of them zip between lanes at high speed
or hold up traffic by driving too slowly in the inside lane. John and his wife, Terrie, have been married for 31 years. They have sons: Justin, 28, and James, 26. Away from work, he and Terrie visit yard sales and find antiques. For his 45th birthday, Terrie bought him a 1966 Chevy Nova he’s worked to restore. Brown says he loves his job. Conway will present him a 2 million mile jacket at a celebration later in the year. He’s also earned company reward points for a variety of items. Brown has already started on his next million miles. He’s a safe driver and one with whom other motorists will gladly share the road.
Mayor Brown takes charge By Betty Bean Becoming mayor overnight is a big adjustment – just ask Daniel Brown, whose new office affords him a panoramic view of the Tennessee River between the now-closed Henley and Gay Street bridges. “Looking over there, the Gay Street Bridge is jammed,” Brown said. “A lot of times over the past few days, I’ll think ‘They should do something about this and they should do that.’ Then I realize ‘they’ is me.” The 6th District City Council member was named interim mayor by his City Council colleagues last Monday in the 11th round of voting. He succeeds Gov. Bill Haslam, who resigned shortly before Brown was selected. He will serve until a new mayor is elected and sworn into office in December. Meantime, there’s a city to run.
He says he plans to lean heavily on the services of Haslam mainstays Larry Martin and Bill Lyons. “I’m very glad they’re here,” he said. “If they had resigned or if the governor-elect had taken them with him, that would have been a major upheaval. This means stability. Those two gentlemen remaining in place will allow us to move smoothly during this transitional period. They really are the movers and shakers. And City Recorder Cindy Mitchell, she is of great help as well.” Brown, 64, is a retired employee of the U.S. Postal Service, a longtime community volunteer and election worker, and a graduate of Tennessee State University. He has been a council member for a year and was considered something of a sleeper for the job of interim mayor because he
played his cards so close to the vest. “When people first started asking me if I was interested, I just answered, ‘We’ll see.’ Then when the mayor gave his press conference announcing when he’d resign, I saw where five of my colleagues said they were interested. I thought I better start letting people know that I was interested, too. “The morning we voted, because of the Sunshine Law, I had no idea how things were going to turn out. I knew I would get one vote – my own. Then, when we started voting and things were at a standstill, I thought ‘This may not work.’ But it did. “I believe that everyone on that council has integrity. I’ve said it before and will say it again – any one of us could have done this job and I respect and admire each and every one on that council. I
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think we’re going to be just fine during this transition.” Brown is divorced and has a daughter, Stephanie Burgess, who teaches school in Shelby County. He has two grandchildren: Miles, 6, and Maya, 2. His brother, Warren, is a bishop with the AME Zion Church and is off on a business trip to England where he oversees the AME churches. When he returns, he plans to organize a celebration for the new mayor, who has become the first African-American to hold that position. And that thought brings up something that has been on the minds of many over the past week: “I hope we can get past the question of race,” Brown said. “But since this is happening the week that we are remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and February is Black History Month, that fact
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Pat Summitt and Knoxville Mayor Daniel Brown at the Riverwalk. Photo by Betty Bean
is not lost on me. I know that many in the African-American community are happy – well, maybe some are not – but it might be a good thing for the young people of this
city to see that whoever they are, wherever they might be, if they work hard and prepare themselves, they can be whatever they want to be – if they prepare themselves.”
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