Shattered Grass
When it comes to authoring a book, research is relative. Getting your facts straight can be the difference between being a respected writer or being debunked as a charlatan. You might have read in an earlier blog about the collection of short stories, A Guitar and a Pen, co-edited by Robert Hicks. This book is recently under scrutiny. Oral tradition is only accurate when you hear a story firsthand, apparently Hicks does not understand this. The book is entirely made up of short stories written by Nashville songwriters, except one. Hazel Smith, a prominent figure in the music business, was to collaborate on a story that Hicks had heard at one time about the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe at the Whitehouse during the Clinton administration. Apparently, the lines of communication got crossed and Smith never recounted the story to Hicks. So what did Hicks do? He took it upon himself to write down the story from what he has heard fourth or maybe fifth hand. Too bad Hazel was never even there. He has since apologized for the embellishment, but the damage might be irreparable. Maybe he could join forces with Stephen Glass and Jason Blair.
That’s not entirely how it happened. I’m familiar with what happened, and I think I can clear some things up.
First, Robert Hicks did not invent this story. Hazel Smith did, and has been telling it for years.
Second, Hazel Smith wanted to be in the anthology, but didn’t want to actually write down one of her stories. Hicks volunteered to write down one of her stories for her.
Third, Hazel Smith is being paid for her contribution. When it came time to sign the contract, she was offered the opportunity to read and edit her story. She refused.
Fourth, On March 17, Hazel was so excited about her contribution to the anthology, that she wrote about it in her “Hot Dish” feature on CMT News: http://www.cmt.com/news/hot-dish/1583468/hot-dish-alan-jackson-and-ashton-shepherd-excel-with-their-new-albums.jhtml
Fifth, because Hicks did not invent this story — Hazel Smith did — errors of fact are Hazel Smith’s. Hicks merely volunteered to help an old friend (and they are very old friends) by writing down her story for her, at her request. There are dozens of people in Nashville who have heard her tell that story just that way, with all of those so-called “facts”.
Hicks agreed to include her story in the anthology, and even did the work of writing down the story she often told, to the best of his recollection, offered her the opportunity to edit it, all out of his friendship with her. He has a picture of Hazel Smith above his desk, for heaven’s sake.
They’ve been friends for many years, and now she throws him under the bus. Very nice, very Christian of her.
Wow! It sounds like she has ruined hers and Hicks’ friendship. So has she been telling this story for these many years, and when she finally sees it on paper, she now realizes that story never happened, and to save her own skin, she blames Hicks? She definitely has integrity(sarcasm oozing out of every word of that sentence).
Prior to this, I had always thought rather highly of Hazel Smith; it saddens me to hear that the “mother of Music Row” turned out to be a back-stabbing twit. If I see her around town, I shall give her many lashings.