2 westword.com WESTWORD JUNE 27-JULY 3, 2024 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 5 THE NEXT BIG THING Love him or loathe him, Kyle Clark keeps making news. BY MICHAEL ROBERTS 10 THE NEXT CHAPTER Colorado authors on the plot twist of Barnes & Noble buying the Tattered Cover. BY TEAGUE BOHLEN 15 SMALL-TOWN CHARM Eat and drink your way around historic Littleton. BY HELEN XU 17 THE BIG BREAK Denver metal band Oak, Ash & Thorn has signed to Season of Mist. BY JUSTIN CRIADO 10 Culture 15 Cafe 17 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 18 28 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 28 ASK A STONER ......................................... 30 VOLUME 47 NUMBER 44 JUNE 27-JULY 3, 2024 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun Editorial Operations Manager Jane R. 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COVER ART BY LONNIE HANZON “THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!,” CATIE CHESHIRE, JUNE 13 H I T T H E H E I G H T S I hate that the buildings in Denver are either a glass polygon or a lazy concrete rectangle that looks like it was made by an eight- year-old playing Minecraft. Hopefully, more unique skyscrapers come around. Here is a photo of Denver as seen from my apartment. Grant Weimer Denver Catie Cheshire should have a cheshire cat grin. She wrote a detailed and interest- ing description of downtown Denver, which seems to overvalue the tall buildings and the old ideas that are poised to re-create what preceded the current bust. I can’t recall if she ever mentioned the current offi ce vacancy rate or the challenge of converting offi ce space to residential or the exodus of employees that cut 25 percent of RTD’s ridership. I hope she got paid. The future of downtown needs to rec- ognize why it is in trouble and whether re-creating the former downtown will ac- commodate our digital, car-free lives in a world in the midst of a mammoth re- evaluation and culture change. It reminds me of the Skyline Urban Re- newal project that was based on a Min- neapolis response to a dying downtown. They had included a second-story system of covered bridges to avoid the bitter Min- neapolis winter weather. We constructed a couple of such bridges in the brand-new downtown Denver. Turned out our winters are not the same winters as in Minneapolis, and the bridges were useless and a waste of money. They were torn down without a celebration and/ or limited media coverage. When I hear the planners reconsider- ing the normal twentieth-century down- town plans and begin creating a response to people working at home with a digital connection to work and a human connection to their neighbors, I will be eager to enter the discussion. Until then, I’m looking away from down- town’s redevelopment. Tom Morris Denver “FRANKS FOR THE MEMORIES,” JASON SHEEHAN, JUNE 20 D O G D A Y S O F S U M M E R Sad about this news, but weirdly also super glad to know the sad shell of Biker Jim’s that place became the last couple of years wasn’t Jim Pittenger’s doing. Shannis McEwen Littleton Miss the cart at Skyline! $5 dog, chips and canned soda was my “college days” lunch for a long time. Jeremy Johnson Denver This entire situation is heartbreaking and infuriating. Carolyn Toth Wheat Ridge How about reading Jason Sheehan again after all these years! Wow. Miss that guy. Love his writing. Kirpal Singh Denver Brutal, always loved this place. Lots of good memories here. All the best to Jim! Giovanni Camacho Denver Biker Jim’s is dead, long live Jim Pittenger... Gordon Mehterian Lakewood
