They write letters...

An explosive email is making the rounds today, and happened into my own inbox. It contains what is purportedly a letter, allegedly written by Isaac Tigrett (son of John Tigrett, step-son of Pat Tigrett), to the editors of the Commercial Appeal and several other newspapers. The subject of the letter would seem to be, in a manner of speaking, Pat's Balls. I cannot vouch for its authenticity, but the text was also posted yesterday as a comment on the Memphis Flyer's site and they seem to believe it's real. I've written the listed email address for confirmation. No reply yet.

[Update 2/27: Now reported in the Commercial Appeal.]

In the interest of keeping Memphis readers well-informed about the important issues of our time, I will pass it along, fully formatted, hopefully before Thaddeus Matthews does. If it is fraudulent, may the perpetrator be brought to justice! Here it is: (All emphasis and punctuation identical to the original.)

Isaac Burton Tigrett
Prashanti Nilayam
India , 515134
February 25, 2008

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL APPEAL

Dear Sir,

I was informed by friends & fans world wide, that my good name as “founder” of the internationally beloved Hard Rock Cafe and House of Blues (and that of my late father, John Burton Tigrett) was once again used without my notification or permission to aggrandize the importance of my father’s third wife, Pat Kerr of Savannah Tennessee . You reported on the world-wide internet that a permanent accolade was placed on Beale Street, the “Historical Birthplace of American Music” in honor of the “important contribution” to Memphis Music; made by Pat Kerr? Her 26 year old son, Kerr? John Tigrett and myself? Is there any explainable earthly reason why my name and those of Pat Kerr and John Tigrett’s should be placed along side the true Masters and Heroes of American Music: WC Handy, Otis Redding, B.B. King, Isaac Hayes, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam and Dave and Elvis Presley!?! This is a travesty to Memphis Music and an insult to the great contribution of the men and women whose sweat, blood, and god-given talent made Memphis the epicenter of the world’s music culture!!! Has the Beale Street Commission lost its mind? Certainly they have lost their credibility with musicians and music fans around the world by succumbing to this absurd mockery of honoring socialites who have never sung a note and never played anything but a radio!

I wish to publicly apologize to the citizenry of Memphis and especially the Musicians, Writers and Fans to whom I have dedicated my life’s work.

I am hereby informing the Beale Street Commission, the Memphis Visitors Bureau, and the Mayor’s Office that I wish my name and that of my beloved father, and any records noting the Hard Rock Café or the House of Blues to be destroyed immediately, and that the ludicrous “Off-Key Note” be immediately removed from Beale Street, or I will sue all of them for Illegal & Unauthorized use of my name, The Hard Rock Café, and The House of Blues.

Pat Kerr’s continuous burlesque ride on the coat-tails of others’ accomplishments is an embarrassment to the Tigrett Name. As a sad example, she recently in Jackson Tennessee, the home place of the Tigrett Clan, of which she has absolutely no claim, created the ‘John Tigrett Award’ to honor a great citizen of Jackson. And who was this great citizen, the first honoree of the John Tigrett Award? Pat Kerr, of course. Many Jacksonians were outraged by this insulting egocentric attempt to walk in the great shadows of heralded generations of great Tigrett women, including my recently departed mother and great matriarch of the Jackson Culture, Francis Tomlin Tigrett.

Pat Kerr’s continuing shameless self-promotions, using the Tigrett’s Reputation spanning 2 centuries in West Tennessee, and the illegal and unauthorized use of my name, and that of the Hard Rock Café and The House of Blues, must come to an end.

ISAAC BURTON TIGRETT II
[email and phone redacted]

CC: Editors of The Jackson Sun, New York Times, London Times, Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times, New York