Photo by Jeremy Kramer
In our swirling world of clashing opinions and competing views of reality, one of the few facts we can all agree on is this: Jim Tarbell has made a difference in Cincinnati. He became the city’s mascot of sorts over a 50-plus-year public life. Fusing civic pride and historical knowledge with whimsy and bombast, he’s made living here more interesting and more fun. His boundless “Why not?” energy inspired countless numbers of us to agitate against Cincinnati’s traditional reluctance to change.
Two new books published in December attempt to describe Tarbell’s motivations and legacy. Buck Niehoff’s Tarbell (Orange Frazer Press) collects lunch conversations between them over the years à la Tuesdays With Morrie. The other, Tarbellpalooza!, is a series of appreciations and recollections from local writers curated and self-published by Greg Hand. Both titles are available at area independent bookstores.
We’ve selected two chapters from Tarbellpalooza! to excerpt this month: One about Tarbell’s contributions to launching Bockfest in 1993, the other a charming tale of Bart, the house dog at Arnold’s Bar & Grill, the historic downtown restaurant Tarbell resurrected in the 1970s. Bockfest, now a staple on Cincinnati’s social calendar, returns to Over-the-Rhine this month; the parade featuring goats, monks, Sausage Queens, and other pranksters steps off from Arnold’s at 6 p.m. March 6.
- Bockfest Beginnings, by Holly Brians Ragusa
- The Ballad of Bart, by Greg Hand
Excerpts reprinted by permission of the authors.
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