In all of the conversations that I had with Ron Maddox since I first met him in 1978, I never misunderstood him. He was always forceful, clear and concise in his opinions. He called himself an idea man, a booster, a promoter--a man concerned about the person not fortunate enough to afford a cabin on a lake.
It's my life and I'll do what I want
As a young couple, my wife Vivian and I had purchased a home on St. Paul's West Side, so we were interested in learning about our new neighborhood at a community meeting. It was there that I first met Ron Maddox,
The City of St. Paul had not yet gone to the ward system of City Council representation and Ron was the at-large council member for our part of the city. When we first heard him speak that night it seemed that his personality was larger than life.
After a discussion about the rebuilding of the Robert Street viaduct, Ron asked if any those in attendance had specific concerns about their neighborhood. Vivian and I did. We were in the midst of learning a valuable life lesson--if a bar is located in a residential neighborhood, the patrons will often park in front of your house and engage in activities that will wake you from a deep slumber. To complicate matters, the bar that was producing unruly behavior was located one block away from our St. Paul home in West St. Paul, a different city and county.
Ron listened to our concerns and responded with his opinion based on his experience as a bar owner. He pointed out that the owner of the establishment was responsible for making sure that his patrons did not disturb the peace of the surrounding community. He promised us that he would look into the matter and get back to us with some ideas that would aid in us getting a good night's sleep.
We left the meeting thinking that this was just another politician telling us what he knew we wanted to hear. We figured we would never hear from him again. His words would be just another empty promise. We didn't know Ron Maddox
The next day two St. Paul police officers knocked on our front door and spent half an hour asking questions and gathering information about the impact of the bar on our lives. They told us not to hesitate in calling the department about disturbances and that they would talk with the West St. Paul bar owner to have him take control of his patrons after the bar closed at 1 am.
Ron Maddox called us a few days later to follow up and make sure we had some level of satisfaction about the response from the police. He also told us to call the St. Paul Police if there were early morning disturbances to the tranquility of the Hart household. We were impressed with his response and follow through.
We moved out of St. Paul after our son was born and twenty years later my wife, Vivian Hart, was elected to the West St. Paul City Council. She always remembered Ron Maddox and his response to constituents' concerns and made sure she acted in a timely and decisive way for the people she represented, just as Ron Maddox had done.
I wasn't born there, perhaps I'll die there
Ron Maddox wasn't born in St. Paul. Yet, after he landed in the capital city, he was become well know as its tireless booster and promoter. He loved the neighborhoods and especially the people. His compassion for all people motivated him to author the first human rights ordinance while on the City Council. Ron always said that since everyone didn't have a cabin to drive to during the weekend we celebrate our independence from Great Brittan, the Fourth of July, they should have an alternative. His idea for a free festival in St. Paul where people could sample music and food (you had to pay for the food) and see a display of fireworks succeeded despite unbelievers. The Minnesota State Capitol made a good visual for pyrotechnics and its lawn a great location for the event. Ron also figured that since the people owned the grounds and the Capitol is the people's house, why not celebrate where democracy is practiced? He also told me that he thought festival attendees might go inside the Capitol for the first time in their lives and see beautiful building that is the seat of Minnesota's government. I don't think everyone at the Capitol complex enjoyed the idea of thousands of people walking on those well-manicured greens for a few days in the summer, but Ron stuck to his idea and Taste of Minnesota was born and an instant success. To view a story about Ron, click here.
If you drew a line from the Capitol to Harriet Island to United Hospital you would get a triangle in which Ron operated for the past several decades. However, he did branch out from the city to help the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. We visited him on the shores of Mille Lacs and I met him on a country road after a tornado near the big lake. As I usually covered some of Taste, I could count on seeing him there every summer. We would talk about politics, the media and life. I would remind him of how he helped a young St. Paul family sleep better on those warm summer nights with the windows open.
Our last conversation was this past summer at a Taste of Minnesota event. He sat in his famous golfcart, a constant companion that helped him get around despite health issues, and gestured animatedly about the topics we had talked about for years. I didn't misunderstand anything he said. I'll miss you Ron.
The Hartbeat goes on...
The Musical Notes
Eric Burdon performed at a Taste of Minnesota. I listened to him as I wound up the cables and put away my camera and tripod after a live KARE 11 broadcast. The music of the Animals fits Ron's character (he called himself The Bull for a while), so here are some nuggets about the songs:
Don't Let me be Misunderstood was first recorded by Nina Simone in 1964. The Animals released it in early 1965 and it was a hit for them in England and the United States. Hartbeat Director of Research, Greg, pointed out that Santa Esmeralda, a U.S./French disco group, made it a hit again in 1977.
It's My Life was written by Roger Atkins and Carl D'Errico, two professional songwriters associated with those working from the famous Brill Building in New York City. It was written specifically for the Animals. Two other Animal hits, We Gotta Get Out of This Place and Don't Bring Me Down were also written by Brill Building writers that included Carole King.
The members of the Animals second incarnation (different members than the hit-making first incarnation) wrote San Franciscan Nights as a tribute to the popular culture scene of San Francisco in 1967. Ron's work with the Ojibww has a connection to the lyric of the song, "It's an American dream, includes Indians too."
The passing of Ron Maddox follows the February 13th death of Dale Hawkins. A Louisiana guitarist best known for his 1957 hit Susie-Q, Hawkins was an early rockabilly star and is credited with the "swamp rock" sound which was a big influence on Creedence Clearwater Revival who had a top 20 hit with Susie-Q in 1968. The distinctive guitar riff of Susie-Q was performed by fellow Louisianan James Burton who played on many important records and was a key element in the music of Rick Nelson and Elvis Presley.
What's Cooking on the Hartbeat Grill?
The public library once again provides a book that will be a must read for all Bon Jovi fans. Bon Jovi-When We Were Beautiful by Phil Griffin is comprised of photographs of the band along with conversations with the members. Many of the photos were taken during the March 2008 Lost Highway shows in at the XCEL Energy Center in St. Paul.
The Photo Notes
The photos of Ron Maddox were part of a display at his memorial service held on February 23rd which I covered for KARE-11.