Friends and fans of the late Chef Ria Pell are calling for the boycott of a local music magazine, after that publication's editor wrote a piece her supporters say is tasteless and laced with hate.
In his editorial in Stomp and Stammer, Jeff Clark, the magazine's founder, wrote the outpouring of eulogies for Pell, who died from an undetected heart-related issue in November of 2013, is unwarranted:
Most Overdone Memorial: The ongoing posthumous deification of Ria Pell. She was a nice woman who opened a restaurant that helped revitalize a stretch of Memorial Drive. She was also unhealthy and met with an early death. Had she not been a lesbian, had she been a straight woman or man, we would not have seen but a fraction of the reaction. Instead, she was unrealistically elevated into something she wasn't: a symbolic figure.
Clark's post has drawn a whirlwind of backlash from her supporters, who feel Clark attacked Pell's legacy — which includes opening Ria's Bluebird Cafe in Grant Park — because she was a lesbian.
The Georgia Voice, which covers issues important to the gay community, reported those supporters created a Facebook page, Boycott Stamp and Stammer and its magazine advertisers, which had 1,198 members as of early Wednesday afternoon.
Clark did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment and calls to Stomp and Stammer's offices went unanswered Wednesday.
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