Mark Kennedy is a columnist whose work appears in several sections of the Times Free Press. His human interest column "Life Stories" appears each Thursday in the Region section. He also writes the "Test Drive" automotive column in the Saturday and Sunday Business sections and the "Family Life" column in the Sunday Life section. He is contributing editor of the Edge business magazine. Kennedy has won the Tennessee Press Association's first-place awards for column writing 10 times, and is also a five-time winner of the newspaper's Best of the Best contest in the columnist/reporter category. He has also been the newspaper's features editor, Sunday editor and opinion editor. Before the merger of Chattanooga's two newspapers in 1998, he was the coordinating editor of the Chattanooga Times. Kennedy lives on Signal Mountain with his wife and two sons.
I'm teaching a class (face-to-face) at a local university this semester. At the same time, our older son, 18, just left home to attend college in Alabama.
by Mark KennedyPhil Spencer, 84, bought his beloved property on South Chickamauga Creek 20 years ago with a grocery sack full of money.
by Mark KennedyAs the Chattanooga Red Wolves soccer club warmed up minutes before its first-ever game at CHI Memorial Stadium in East Ridge Aug. 1, the brand-new stadium's PA system cranked out an old Elvis Presley hit: "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You."
by Mark KennedyIntegrity. Diligence. Compassion. Translated to human actions, these three words can mean: Do the right thing, work hard and love others.
by Mark KennedyFresh out of Samford University in the early 1960s, Birmingham native Jim Pesnell went to work for International Harvester. His sales job entailed driving a big truck.
by Mark KennedyWhen Nashville native Marley Lentz arrived for a marketing internship at Chattanooga's Office Furniture Warehouse in 2016, he was handed a "to-do" list by the boss to complete during his time with the company.
by Mark KennedySometimes the generation gap in my family feels like a canyon.
by Mark KennedyThis 1953 photograph recalls the heyday of the Home Stores, a chain of Chattanooga-area groceries.
by Mark KennedyFourteen years ago, Brandon Ellis hit rock bottom.
by Mark KennedyThis is the week I've dreaded for 18 years. Our older son — our firstborn child — leaves for college.
by Mark KennedyFor much of the 20th century, Incline Drug and Surgical Co. in St. Elmo was a hub for healing and a center for commerce.
by Mark KennedyTimothy Withers, a United States Air Force retiree, is trying to solve a lost-and-found mystery.
by Mark KennedyIf, as they say, "you are what you eat," then your go-to breakfast cereal might reveal your personality.
by Mark KennedyFor a chunk of the 20th century, Tomlinson's Restaurant was a Chattanooga tradition.
by Mark KennedyOn July 31, two days before he died, World War II veteran and D-Day survivor Russell LeeRoy Pickett gathered his family at his bedside. One by one, he asked them if they were strong in their Christian faith.
by Mark KennedyWho knew that being a former band geek would one day come in handy.
by Mark KennedyOnce upon a time, six young women were sitting in a boat.
by Mark KennedyToday, Chattanooga is a transportation hub at the intersection of two interstate highways, Interstate 75 (north and south) and Interstate 24 (from Chattanooga northwest to St. Louis).
by Mark KennedyLast week in this space I put out an SOS.
by Mark KennedyKacey Swindell, the director of sales at the Moxy hotel on King Street, was working the front desk one day in early April when a remarkable thing happened.
by Mark Kennedy