Swann often includes weapons in the hands of the figures in his oil paintings. "The hammers and knives represent tools used to build or destroy human relationships,"� he said. "These tools actually represent relationships, which you're either building or destroying."

He claimed to be 5,000 years old and a member of an Angel Race� from Saturn. Sun Ra landed on Earth in Bessemer, in 1914, and was named Herman Poole Blount. He changed his legal name to Le Sonyr Ra, which is inscribed on his tombstone at Elmwood Cemetery.

On August 22, at the age of 74, Birmingham concert promoter Tony Ruffino suffered a stroke and passed away. We asked Genie McElroy to gather some recollections from those who knew him best.