The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 49

Saturday, December 28, 1996 THE TAMPA TRIBUNE Send comments and tips I II 1 1 1 or write coThTampa Tribune, Mf Sa Jk- rj fl PO Box 191Tmna Fin Mfifll 'lta- Zephyrhills woman tells Heloise an explosive tale about the danger of using the stove top as a storage area. Story, Page 4 13 aintings a shared suffering depict a By EILEEN M. SCHULTE Tribune correspondent Vv A A 'r ri IS4 UfhvTfty' Av OA v-. 1 1 "I i xr (r It -I i 1 ill 2 ti 5 7 i-i i ft-: Photo from Jeanne Walker Rorex Rorex says her paintings build bridges and uncover roots for black and Indian women. ST.

PETERSBURG The Indian and black women who peer out from the paintings that line the walls at Red Cloud Gallery have suffered, their faces tired but proud, begging the viewer to understand the struggles they've endured. Jeanne Walker Rorex's art gives a rare glimpse into a phenomenon many people may not know existed: the melding of the black American and Cherokee Indian cultures that needed each other to survive in the mid-1800s. Customers of the small gallery in the heart of St. Petersburg's downtown waterfront have found themselves transported back in time as they come face to face with black and Indian women who walked the Trail of Tears, farmed the land side by side and raised children together. About 200 of Rorex's works are displayed along with the five paintings in her "Sister Series," which she started five years ago.

The series explores the relationship between black and Cherokee women, with "Trail Sisters," "Sisters in Harmony," "At Day's End," "Harvest Visit" and "Sharing Sisters." Although Rorex has painted hundreds of portraits of women for more than 16 years, the series is especially close to her heart. It focuses on the Trail of Tears, the route taken by the Cherokees forced from the Southeast to Oklahoma in the 1830s. About 4,000 died along the way. "It's important to me and I don't know why," says Rorex, who has no black ancestors nor any who walked the trail. Somber and serious, the series shows not even the hint of a smile on the women's faces.

Rorex, 45, says there is a silent communication between the viewer and the characters in the paintings. "Some people say they look you in the eye," she says by phone from her Oklahoma farm. Each of SISTER SERIES WHAT: Five paintings by Jeanne Walker Rorex depict black and Indian women working together during the mid-1 800s. WHEN: through Jan. 11; 10 a.m.

to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. (Closed Monday through Wednesday next week.) WHERE: Red Cloud Gallery, 208 Beach Drive N.E., St. Petersburg; call (813)821-5824. black woman and an Indian, woman hold hands, the Indian's stomach swollen from pregnancy.

Rorex says the painting is about women facing an unknown future at a time when people sought strength from" one another, rather than tearing each other down with bigotry. "When you are facing a trage-; dy, the stations of life are forgot- ten. It's about survival." Almost all of her Indian paint- ings depict women working among" cornstalks and weaving portrays a woman surrounderf by two kids, a shadowy spirit just'-visible over her right shoulder. Rorex says the ghost is the worn- an's grandmother come to help her through the difficult times. Rorex's work brings to light a time when slaves escaped from -farms and plantations in the 1600s through 1800s and found refuge with the Cherokee, who gave See SISTERS, Page 2 the five paintings includes a large sun or moon in the background.

"I never knew until after I finished painting the series that a circle is the universal symbol for female," she says. Rorex's niche is painting people especially women. "I see life as a woman, with emotion," says Rorex. "Why should I paint men when I know women?" IN "TRAIL SISTERS," a Jeanne Walker Rorex's painting "Memory of Her First Bom" is part of the "Sister Series," which depicts the bonds Cherokee and black women forged in their suffering during the mid-1 9th century. Special seeks to turn viewers on to jazz v.

By WALT BELCHER ot The Tampa Tribune j' mtit rliHwuBMMi li i My i TAMPA T.S. Monk says he wants to bring jazz, kicking and screaming, into the mainstream of America's taste in music. "Today, if it isn't on television, it doesn't exist," says the drummer and son of the late great jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. T.S. knows that some jazz purists will be kicking and screaming over tonight's special, "Nissan Presents a Celebration of America's Music," at 10 on ABC.

Because jazz has become an esoteric art form, it's rarely performed on TV and is in danger of dying out, Monk said recently from his New York home. Photo from the Loncke family Katie's Wee Do Puzzle, which debuts today on Page 8, is the work of Barry Loncke, wife Lilly Spitz, and daughter Katie. The puzzle is a family project. This enterprising family has a we'do attitude tvpreview NISSAN PRESENTS A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA'S MUSIC WHAT: Special' honors the 10th anniversary of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. WHEN: 10 tonight WHERE: ABC "We've got to put some show business back into the presentation," he says with the passion of a man on a mission.

"Somehow people have the idea that jazz is something played late at night for a handful of people in smoky little clubs, or something studied on college campuses. To survive, we have to change that image." He says tonight's special, which celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz jn Washington, D.C., is the first prime time showcase of iazz on a major net By AMY SCHERZER of The Tampa Tribune for the 10 newspapers that syndicate the word puzzle. Spitz, 49, colorizes each of the pen-and-ink cartoons. Ultimately, she would like to scan the puzzles into a computer and colorize them electronically. When not coloring at the kitchen table, she is an attorney for the California Hospital Association.

"We all come up with scenarios," says Spitz. "Barry's are usually serious; mine are more frivolous. Katie's add a kid perspective." A California superior and municipal court trial judge for the past 16 years, Loncke, 56, a Yale University and Cornell Law School graduate, says he grew frustrated seeing so many people involved in criminal activities appear before him "lacking critical education skills." "A foundation in my life comes from being able to read and enjoy books and news-See PUZZLES, Page 3 Photo from ABC Jazz musician Clark Terry watches host Bill Cosby tickle the ivories on "Nissan Presents a Celebration of America's Music," a special that pays tribute to jazz. The music is presented on a large stage with costumed dancers prancing about. Featured are the more familiar works of such legends as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.

The first number, a tribute to Ellington, features Joshua Redman on saxophone and pop legend Stevie Wonder backed by a big band. The second number is Thelonious Monk's Midnight" with vocalist Nina Freeland, Herbie Hancock on piano, T.S. Monk on drums, Christian McBride on bass and Pat Metheny on guitar. Latin singer Jon Secada and percussionist Tito Puente introduce viewers to Latin jazz. Also, composer-producer Quincy Jones gets a lifetime achievement award.

Some critics say the event, taped Nov. 25 at the Kennedy Center, went too far afield, slighting jazz musicians. But Monk defends the show, a fundraiser for the nonprofit institute. "Jazz is America's music. It has a rich cultural history.

It was created here. But it will die here if we don't start getting more young people turned on to the beauty of the music. "We've got to stop fighting among ourselves about the way jazz is presented." TAMPA Today, The Tampa Tribune introduces Katie's Wee Do Puzzle, a new addition to the Saturday Fun Page lineup. The word scrambles for kids, appearing on Baylife's Page 8, are produced by a family in Sacramento, Calif. "We believe in working and creating together," says Barry Loncke.

"Note the copyright reads The Loncke His wife, Lilly Spitz, and 10-year-old daughter, Katie, each play a role in the weekly production. "Katie is in charge of quality control," says Loncke. "That means she proofreads and checks for mistakes. She also comes up with ideas for puzzles herself and assists with word formatting." In addition, Katie prepares the invoices work since "The Nat 'King' Cole Show" in the 1950s. If it pulls new people into the jazz tent, there could be more TV exposure, he says.

Monk, who performed at the 17th annual Clearwater Jazz Holiday in October, divides his time between performing and his work as executive director of the nonprofit institute named for his father, who died in 1981. The institute sponsors "jazz in the classroom" programs in public schools, holds international competitions, runs jazz seminars and is planning a jazz center at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, which will be the future home of Thelonious Monk Jazz Academy. There's no mention of "jazz" in the title of tonight's ABC special, and the show is packed with familiar faces to lure in non-jazz Tnnv Bennett. Natalie Cole. K.D.

Lane. Billv Dee Wil liams, Debbie Allen, Sinbad, Joe Williams, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and host Bill Cosby, to name a few..