Megan Rowe
I never had the pleasure of knowing Fenner before today. After hanging around the Fayetteville town square a while, I wandered into Block Street Records. I picked up a Cat Stevens album on a whim because my dad had told me about how much he loved one of his songs. Once I got it back home, I took the record out to play, and as I did so I noticed some writing on the outside of the album. It read "Fenner Upchurch" in small, neat cursive letters. I immediately sat down to investigate as to who once owned the album, and after a quick search online I came upon this page. I got to read about the wonderfully colorful life of Fenner, and even draw some connections with her as I, too, am Texas born and now live at and attend the University of Arkansas. Although I was never able to have a conversation with her, I feel honored to own a record that was once hers. I like to imagine that she grew up with this music and gave the album good use but also loved and cared for it dearly. I know that I'm only a stranger, but I really wanted to let anyone who was listening know that the memory of Fenner Upchurch is still alive a well, even outside of friends and family. I'm going to cherish this record for the rest of my life and I definitely will never forget about sweet Fenner. I hope all is well with the rest of the Upchurch and Russell family.