Not many have been with The Contributor as long as Shorty has, who joined in 2009 — only two years after the paper’s founding.
Born in Jefferson City, Tenn., Shorty moved to Texas with his family at a young age. Upon graduating from high school in the late 70s, he served for nearly four years with the Marine Corps in Korea and Japan. Arriving back to Texas, he’d heard about opportunities for work in Nashville and set off to see what the city had in store.
With nowhere to live and no money to afford a place when he arrived, Shorty described the paper as a lifeline.
“I came to this town with two quarters in my pocket, and I heard about the paper,” he said. “I paid my rent through this paper. I paid all my bills through this paper.”
Reflecting on how the paper has evolved over the past nearly two decades, Shorty maintains that though some of the staff have changed, the paper’s goals have not.
“It’s an opportunity: you can make it or break it,” he said. “It’s good that people can voice their opinion, and The Contributor is the way they can voice it. Every poem has got a story behind it. Every story has got a poem behind it.”
Shorty’s own story has been quite the ride, he said. He had to quit the paper for three years due to his ailing health and, in just the past month, he said he has visited the hospital a couple times per week. Whereas before he’d rack up over 150 papers, now he’s down to only a few per every few weeks. Despite this, he’s excited to be back because of the community he’s found through the paper.
And, for Shorty, that community is stronger than ever. If people don’t know him personally, they “know of him,” he said.
“It makes you feel good. It makes you feel like you impressed somebody along the way,” he said of being a role model for other vendors.
His advice for newer vendors: sit down with and listen to someone who has sold the paper for a while. When he was just getting started, he recalls having only made $8 in six hours — upon taking the advice of his “seniors,” he made over ten times that the next day.
“My advice is: take advice. Good or bad, it’s free. It don’t cost you nothing to hear it. You can use it to your advantage, and if it don’t help you, lose it,” he said.
He also encouraged vendors to use their earnings to invest in themselves. He would put some money back into the paper, some toward his bills and some toward his appearance.
“Dress to impress. Don’t overdress. But dress to show that you’re doing something meaningful with your money. You got to show people that you’re doing something for yourself and for them — but do it for yourself first,” he said.
Reflecting on his interactions with other Nashvillians over the years, he remembered with fondness those who got to know him and encouraged people to treat others with compassion and honesty.
“You treat people how you want to be treated. When people ask you how you feel, you need to let them know because if you’re sick, they feel it. They sense it. They feel for you. They will help you 110%,” he said, recalling a time that someone gifted him a coat in -40°F weather.
Indeed, what he loves most about the paper is the opportunity to meet new people — these interactions, even if just for a minute each night, add up over time, he said.
“People you don’t know get a chance to know who you are, not what you are,” Shorty said.
Beyond his love for selling the paper, Shorty is an avid chef. Breakfast foods are his favorite to make, but he puts his “heart and soul” into anything and everything he makes. He now lives with his “caring” partner and is most proud of her granddaughter, who is excelling in high school.
Speaking on what he hopes will define him, Shorty answered: his character. He’s honest, self-assured and will “tell it to you like it is.”
“I am who I am, and I know what I am,” he said. “If you don’t like what you’re doing, get out. Be content with it because, if you’re content, it turns into happiness.”