The Providence Phoenix's 30 on 30

The Providence Phoenix, born as the NewPaper, has been on the Rhode Island scene for 30 years, and we celebrate the anniversary this week.

The highlight in this week's Phoenix is a series of Q+As -- kind of like Vanity Fair's famous Proust questionnaire or our own Almost Famous -- with a series of Ocean State luminaries. It makes for a great read, and kudos to my colleague Lou Papineau for putting this together.

A sample:

George and Johanne from Al Forno

WHAT BAR/RESTAURANT/LANDMARK/PERSONALITY THAT HAS CEASED TO EXIST IN THE LAST 30 YEARS DO YOU MISS THE MOST? The New Yorker (Tini’s present location), the original Smith’s on Atwells, Dewey Dufresne’s Joe’s Old Abandoned Grocery Store on Benefit, and Joe’s Upstairs in downtown Prov, Julie Peterson’s Julienne on Washington Street, John Rector’s bar/restaurant Leo’s on Chestnut Street, Roxy’s Arboretum in East Providence, Guy Abelson’s Café In the Barn, the Blue Point on North Main, Richard Fensterer’s wine store on Custom House Street, just to name a few.

Lou Schwechheimer of the PawSox

FAVORITE FORMER PAWSOX PLAYER? I have an all Good-Guy Team, so one favorite is tough, but guys like Timmy Naehring, Tommy Barrett, Mike Twardoski, Mo Vaughn, Glenn Hoffman, John Flaherty, Justin Masterson, Jon Lester, Brandon Moss all made coming to the park fun and gave of themselves every day. This year the Big Papi, Mike Lowell, Alex Cora, and Sean Casey joined the list, as their stints on the roster proved you can be a big leaguer with a big heart and a big sense of community.

Derek Wagner of Nick's on Broadway

FAVORITE THING ABOUT RHODE ISLAND? The colorful culture. The landscape/scenery. The appreciation for the arts and entertainment. My family. The ability to go from the vibrant city, to the coastal beaches, to the apple orchards, where I grew up near all with in an hour’s drive.
LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT RHODE ISLAND? The politics of doing business: the ever-present red tape, bitter attitudes, over-taxation, and under-organization of a state/city government that has forgotten that small businesses are an important and integral part of our economic landscape. Oh yeah, and where the hell have all the smaller music venues gone? And what’s with the cover band fetish around this state? There’s not enough venues/support from club owners for original acts. I can’t play Skynyrd and I don’t want to.
COFFEE MILK OR DEL’S? To be or not to be? The chicken or the egg? One of life’s eternally unanswerable questions (but don’t you just love to hate the brain-freeze).

Other subjects include:

-- Novelist Ann Hood

-- Bert Crenca

-- Ray Rickman

-- Musician Mark Cutler

-- Richard Walton

-- Don King

-- Scott MacKay

-- Trudy Coxe

-- Josh Miller

and many more.