The special stories of those born in 1945
I’m waiting to meet a friend one Sunday evening when a security guard ambles up. He asks if I need help. I say “No, thanks, I’m just an old guy who’s glad to be upright.” The guard glares at me and says I look pretty good for a Boomer. “Thanks, but I’m not a Boomer,” I say. “I was born in 1945. The Boomers began showing up in 1946.” Like every other living... READ MORE
Podcasts preserve elder contributions
Howard University professor Ruby Gourdine’s first job, in the 1960s, was as a probation officer in Richmond. Then 21, she juggled more than 100 clients at a time, while her white coworkers had fewer cases and plenty of free time. “The courts at that time were still segregated,” recalled Gourdine, senior professor at the university’s School of Social Work. “We just thought it... READ MORE
George Clooney on being an older lead
How did George Clooney handle our recent period of isolation? Aside from spending time with his wife, Amal Clooney, a human rights lawyer, and their 3-year-old twins, and editing his new film “The Midnight Sky,” he’s relied on, like many others, a text chain with pals and Zoom. He just got off one with Matt Damon and John Krasinski. “In some ways, we keep more in touch now than... READ MORE
Ellicott City band releases new album
The pandemic has been a struggle for millions since it began in March 2020. And that goes for Ellicott City musician Richard Walton as well. A singer, songwriter and performer, Walton wasn’t able to play in his normal venues, like Little Market Café in Ellicott City or Main Stage Grill in Woodstock. He couldn’t tour around Maryland or sell records in person. But he has been... READ MORE
Prolific children’s author now a novelist
Author Dawne Allette — born 70 years ago on the island of Grenada and a Baltimore resident for the past 33 years — became a writer to contribute stories she felt were missing. “I started writing because, when I was a little girl in the Caribbean, all the books were about little white girls like Cinderella and Goldilocks. One was nutty enough to wear shoes made of glass, and the... READ MORE
Choose these perennials for fall blooms
My sister who lives in planting zone 5, far north of Virginia, asked my advice about selecting blooming plants for the heat of summer. I’ll give you the same guidance I shared with her. For annual selections, I recommend looking at commercial plantings. What survives in a median, in front of an office complex, or on a shopping center hellstrip? For perennial plants, I plug natives.... READ MORE
Timeless fiction offered by older authors
The Bibliophile These three novels are set, respectively, in the past, present and future. Their characters confront crises that resonate with readers no matter the era. Jack: A Novel, by Marilynne Robinson, 320 pages, Farrar, Straus & Giroux hardcover, 2020, Picador paperback, 2021 This story unfolds with a sequence of incidents on the homefront during WWII as experienced by... READ MORE
It’s nice when a friend takes your advice
On his 77th birthday last spring, my boyhood pal George wrapped up 50 years of practicing medicine in New Jersey. He had imagined that watershed Friday evening for eons. No more haggling with insurance companies. No more payroll to meet. No more consultations in the middle of the night. It would be Him Time. George Time. But ever since he locked the office door one final time,... READ MORE
Historic violins tell stories of pain, hope
During the Holocaust, Nazis forced Jewish musicians to play while their family members, neighbors and friends were marched to death camps. At Auschwitz, Birkenau and other concentration camps, SS officers assembled orchestras and bands, ordering prisoners to play during executions. For some, the ability to play an instrument spared their lives. “The people that played, they saw... READ MORE
Area theaters resuming live productions
The play will be the real-life thing once again this coming season as local companies and theaters get ready to present three-dimensional actors performing before live audiences. While the pandemic curtailed much of last season to productions via computer or television, this season’s presentations are scheduled to return to theaters around town. The Kennedy Center The Kennedy Center, ... READ MORE
Arts 2024
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