Tully: Indy needs a Kurt Vonnegut Street

Matthew Tully

Councilman John Barth was telling me about one of his latest ideas — an ordinance to rename Downtown's Senate Avenue after Kurt Vonnegut — when the question struck me: We don't already have a street named after Vonnegut?

What the heck?

Why, after all these decades of acclaim, both before and since the literary giant's death in 2007, hasn't Indianapolis seen fit to name a street, an avenue, a boulevard or even a court or a place after one of the most important figures it has ever produced? A man that Barth's council colleague, Kip Tew, accurately labeled, "One of the most iconic writers in the second half of the 20th Century" and "maybe the most recognized name internationally of someone from Indianapolis."

Rather than tout its ties to Vonnegut, Indianapolis has long seemed stumped at the connection, unsure of how to react to it. The affectionate though strained relationship the writer had with his home city was no secret, of course. But don't most people have a complicated view of the hometowns they left? I know I do.

Fortunately, the city has taken nice steps in recent years to better acknowledge Vonnegut. There's that wonderful mural on Massachusetts Avenue that went up four stories high three years ago, the one of a rumpled Vonnegut looking down at those passing by. And most important, there is the charming Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library that opened Downtown four years ago.

Still, it doesn't seem enough. And that reality goes beyond this one celebrity.

"I don't think in general we do nearly a good enough job of celebrating our culture or the successes of our citizens," Barth said. "We also need to do more in our neighborhoods to help define them, and part of that is about celebrating the great people who have come out of this city."

So, Barth is crafting a modest ordinance that, if approved, would rename as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Street the roughly mile-and-a-half stretch of Senate Avenue that goes from Washington Street to 16th Street. It's a street that, after cutting between the west side of the Statehouse and state government offices, is dotted with parking lots and garages, apartments, empty lots and a few businesses, including the Vonnegut Library at 340 North Senate Ave. If ever there was a street that wouldn't be disrupted much by a name change, this is it.

On a recent afternoon, a handful of tourists from Oregon milled about the library, looking at Vonnegut's art, typewriter, letters and other memorabilia from his life in and out of Indianapolis. Curator Chris Lafave talked with one of the tourists about a passage in Slaughterhouse-Five before walking me around the library and praising the push to rename the street outside its front door. It would, he said, be another important step toward fully embracing and championing the hometown author.

Yes, I understand that this isn't an issue on par with those of crime, neighborhood blight and education — issues that occupy the bulk of Barth's council agenda, and that dominated most of our chat the other day. But what's wrong with doing something that celebrates our city's greatness a little more often? Amid all the political fights, why not jump on something that just feels good, fun and right?

And long overdue.

Who knows if it will happen. It's hard to find anything that doesn't get bogged down in politics these days. Critics of some of Vonnegut's political positions might resist the idea, and others might suggest other locations with deeper ties to Vonnegut. State lawmakers might not appreciate a change of the name of a street that runs alongside the Statehouse, even though it doesn't have a Senate Avenue address.

Nonetheless, it should happen. On Senate Avenue or somewhere else. Why? Because Indianapolis needs to do more to celebrate the greatness it has helped produce. That list doesn't end with Vonnegut, but he's a good starting point. And, as Tew said, there's another important argument to be made.

At a time when freedom of speech is challenged far too often, including by the evil that terrorized Paris last week, it's a good time to celebrate a writer who faced censorship and who spent his life writing and speaking fearlessly.

You can reach me at matthew.tully@indystar.com or at Twitter.com/matthewltully.