Christopher B. Stubblefield: The paradox of the cook who was so much more
Film and Photos from the Three Day Barbecue Beyond the Grave Event
Christopher B. Stubblefield seems to us a paradoxical Lubbock History Maker. In case you missed it, the TTU Presidential Lecture Series presented the 19th instalment of the Lubbock Lights. Entitled “Bar-B-Que Beyond the Grave”, the three-day series was dedicated to the memory of the larger-than-life cook who dreamed of feeding the world.
Dr. Jonny Verbeten and his team facilitated the series, which began on April 8th with a well-attended and wonderfully curated reception that showcased a large collection of artifacts related to the man and his restaurant.
Among the crowd we noted Ron Riley, and other local music legends. We were very impressed with the catered affair; it was filled with music, nostalgia-tinted photos, films and other pieces of the “Stubb” story.
We came away feeling intrigued and a bit awed by what we learned of the man, his bar-b-que, and his role near the center of a small but hungry group of West Texas boys and girls who were writing and playing some serious blues, rock and country music.
On April 9th, Lloyd Maines, Terry Allen, Jo Harvey Allen and Andy Wilkinson reclined on-stage at the Allen Theater and regaled probably a couple three hundred music and history buffs. We learned that Stubb was actually pushed into being a cook in the Army during the Korean War.
It seems that one day, at a training session focused on swimming, Stubb refused an order to jump into the pool (we imagine in full uniform.) Stubb wasn’t being insubordinate. He politely but firmly declined to jump in several times, explaining that he simply could not swim.
They never did make him get in the pool, but they did ship him off to being a cook as a form of punishment. The irony is Stubb relished the new role because he had always enjoyed cooking.
This is about the time we really began to notice the paradox that seemed to define the life of Christopher B. Stubblefield, the cook who was so much more. A black man, forced into being what he always wanted to be as a “punishment”, ends up opening a restaurant in a gritty-but-friendly city that eventually becomes the center of a nearly all-white music scene. It seems that all things do work out for the good when you let God handle it.
