Hall of Fame

By popular demand, we hereby name those who have achieved fame into the Peach Fuzz Chronicles Hall of Fame (Please add - these are only a start)

Nathan Bedford Forrest: (This overview is plagarized from Wikipedia) b. 1821 Tenn. d. 1877. This intriguing character who became head of the family at the tender age of 17 managed to raise his family out of poverty to become one of the South's richest men in pre-war Memphis. At first a farmer, then a plantation owner, he was a slave trader on Memphis' Front St. market when the Civil War started. During the War, he became a legendary rebel, confederate general and perhaps the American Civil War's most highly regarded cavalry and partisan ranger (guerrilla leader). Regarded by many military historians as the war's most innovative and successful general. His tactics of mobile warefare are still studied by modern soldiers. Locally, in one humiliating raid, his band stormed and temporily freed Union-occupied Memphis and in another, he stole the occupying Union general's uniform from his bedroom while he slept. In modern times, Forrest's reputation suffers not only because of the immoral stain of being a slave trader but due also to his involvement in the first few years of the Ku Klux Klan following the war. Forrest later called for the disbanding of the Klan, distanced himself from it, and in 1875 was invited as the first Anglo-American man to speak before a forerunner organization of the NAACP, where he declared his belief in a peaceful inclusion of African-Americans in public life. (See Bio link below for exerpts of his speech). However, his early connection with the slave trade and the start up of the klan still creates controversy and carries a stigma. After the Civil War he became the president of the Marion & Memphis Railroad and established a camp at the present site of Forrest City, Arkansas. He became interested in the area around Crowley's Ridge during the war. Afterwards, he contracted with railroad companies in Memphis and Little Rock to cut through the rough ridge and succeeded in linking the two cities by rail in 1868. General Forrest later built a commissary located on Front St. and Colonel V.B. Izard began the task of designing the town. Most citizens were calling the area "Forrest's Town," thus the evolution of the name Forrest City. General Forrest's camp was incorporated 1870. The county seat was permently moved to Forrest City in 1874. Continued Nathan Bedford Forrest bio.

Rev. Al Green: As stated on Rev. Green's official website, "Green started singing professionally at age 9, when he and his brothers formed a gospel quartet, the Greene Brothers, in their hometown of Forrest City, Arkansas." (The "e" was dropped when they went professional). In the early 1970's Green carved his place in music history with a run of celebrated hits that made him an R&B star and pop icon. Since 1979 he has led his Baptist congregation, the Full Gospel Tabernacle, in Memphis, Tenn. "The music is the message, the message is the music. So that's my little ministry that the Big Man upstairs gave to me—a little ministry called love and happiness." Bio.

Don Kessinger: b. 1942 Forrest City. Former Major League Baseball shortstop. six-time All-Star, signed by Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent in 1964. Married Carolyn Crawley also b. Forrest City. Bio.


Charlie Rich: Class of '50. b. 1932 Forrest City, d. 1995. Called "The Silver Fox." Married Margaret Ann Green of F.C. Grammy award winning Musician, songwriger & performer in diverse genres of country, jazz, R&B, gospel & Rock n Roll. His three #1 country hits won him fame when he slammed the 1973 Country Music Awards. His Official Website says, "He was born in Forrest City, Arkansas, the same town that produced Al Green. A little-known fact is that Charlie and Al worked the very same land for a time." One of his earliest musical experiences involved a sharecropper by the name of C.J. Allen who worked the family land, a blues piano player. C.J. would teach Charlie basic blues piano riffs, serving as a powerful influence in Charlie’s musical development. Charlie played the sax in F.C. High school band & attended Arkansas State on a football scholarship. Served in the Air Force. Afterwards, he farmed while playing part time around Memphis. Margaret Ann, a musician also, dropped off his music at Sun Record and finally Charlie went professional full-time, joining Sun Records as a session writer/musician. Family photos of Charlie & Margaret Ann. Full Bio.


Richard Trail: Class of '62. He did a great job for FCHS and the U of A. He competed in football, basketball and track. He was named All-District and All-State along with being awarded a full football scholarship to the U of A where he enjoyed being a part of the Arkansas Razorback national football Championship team. He brought a great deal of class to our city and our school. (Submitted by Bogie)

Charles "Sonny" Liston: b. 1927-1932? one of seventeen children of Tobe Liston and Helen Baskin. Sand Slough, St Francis Co, Arkansas. d. 1970. Ran away from abusive father at age 13 to reunite with his mother in St Louis. World heavy weight champion boxer. Life and personality were obscure and stormy. Thought of by many to be one of the most powerful punchers in the history of the heavyweight division. Death was featured on TV's Unsolved Mysteries. bio (Submitted by Dora).

Henry Loeb: b. 1921 d. 1992. Dynamic political renegade and controversial 2 term mayor of Memphis busted the old Boss Crump machine that long controlled the city before the mid 1950's. Loeb served during turbulent social upheaval and racial strife, including the asassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968. He moved to St Francis County, Arkansas in 1972. Popular Henry Loeb Dutch Treat luncheons started during his mayoral reign continued throughout his life to present day in Memphis. Loeb, who had tall movie-star looks and a colorful personality, and his wife Mary Gregg (from a St Francis Co land owning family) who was 1950 Cotton Carnival Queen, married in 1951. During his retirement from politics, Loeb was a prominant Forrest City businessman who owned the first farm implement business in the city. He and Mary lived on and managed a 150 acre farm in Madison that had belonged to her family. Profile/Interview.

Jim Lindsey: Class of '62. Running back for the Minnesota Vikings from 1966 to 1972. Lindsey was a member of the 1964 National Championship football team at the University of Arkansas, and founded Lindsey & Associates in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1972. Lindsey is a member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, and has been central to many of the decisions made by the board, including the hiring of head football coach Houston Nutt in 1997 and the decision to continue to play football games at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas.

John W. Henry: b. 1949, Quincy, Ill. His early childhood years in Forrest City were spent learning about farming and raising the land in on some land owned by his parents who were farmers by profession. At the age of 15 his family moved to California. At one time, John was a singer-songwriter who travelled the US as a professional singer. John is founder of a company which is the 8th largest managed futures advisor in the world by Assets under Management. Among others he serves as a trustee for the Library of Congress and the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard University. He also received the Ted Williams Lifetime Achievement award. He is the current principal owner of the Boston Red Sox which won the World Series in 2004. Bio.


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