Doctor composes symphony on the side
The stern portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven glares down from the wall over the computer screens set up in Dr. Arnold Kirshenbaum’s guest bedroom. Kirshenbaum was a promising musician in his school days, but he did “the responsible thing” and went to medical school after college. But that was then. Now, at the age of 66, he is making up for lost time even as he maintains his busy... READ MORE
A career reading five presidents’ letters
There aren’t many retirees who can boast of having the president of the United States stop by her desk to offer a helping hand. But Mary Lou Maddox can. Maddox, 90, of Clarksville, the former director of the office of mail analysis at the White House, recalled the day President George H. W. Bush visited her office for a tour. “He stopped at my desk, pulled up a chair and said,... READ MORE
Autobiographical poems lead to first book
“My poems are my autobiography in rhyme,” said Baltimore County resident Neil Noble, 73, whose first book of poetry was published recently. Each of his poems “conveys its own story, as well as a slice of my life,” Noble said in a recent interview. As he puts it in the book’s introduction, “My relief valve has been my writing. I win a battle when I can imprison ‘the... READ MORE
Repairing and restoring together
An Ellicott City house, badly damaged by the 2016 and 2018 floods, was in such rough shape that it was barely habitable. However, the Greene family, who had lived there for 30 years, didn’t want to abandon the house where their children grew up and didn’t have the means to bring the house up to code. A local group, Rebuilding Together Howard County (RTHC), which had repaired eight... READ MORE
Prepare now for “cole-d” weather crops
You may be in the midst of harvesting your zucchini, tomatoes and basil. However, August is also the ideal time to prepare your garden for its transition to cool-season plants like cole crops. Brassicas, or cole crops, are members of the cabbage family. “Cole” derives from the Latin meaning stem. Cole crops are part of the large genus Brassica, which come from herbs of the Old... READ MORE
Appreciating the Garden Club of Virginia
Virginia’s diverse natural geography ranges from the Atlantic Ocean to the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Piedmont in between. One group has worked for a century to preserve those natural resources: The Garden Club of Virginia (GCV). The club was the first conservation organization in Virginia, advocating for the state parks system, monitoring state roadways cluttered by signage, and... READ MORE
Taking steps to revive a historic district
Strolling the streets of Richmond’s historic Jackson Ward with a bounce in his step and a snazzy bowtie, Gary Flowers greets almost everyone, waving at drivers and (pre-pandemic) giving bear hugs to bank employees leaving work for the day. Flowers, who hosts a Richmond radio show, loves meeting people, which is partly why he leads “Walking the Ward” tours. “My purpose in life is... READ MORE
Finding comfort in a sentimental journey
Comfort food — bad for our bodies but good for our souls — seems to be all the rage during this pandemic. We are reverting to macaroni and cheese, chocolate chip cookies, gloppy pizza. Yes, even to the granddaddy of horrible, those peerless artery cloggers — French fries. But in my cocoon, I’ve been reverting to another kind of comfort. Comfort music. Once upon a time, I ... READ MORE
Suspenseful fiction for summer reading
The Bibliophile This summer, relax and enjoy these tales of crime detection, spycraft and murder as conjured by talented older authors. The Department of Sensitive Crimes: A Detective Varg Novel, by Alexander McCall Smith, 240 pages, Anchor paperback, 2020 Follow Detective Ulf Varg of the Malmo, Sweden, Criminal Investigation Authority as he solves quirky cases assigned to his... READ MORE
Old-time radio buffs celebrate its heyday
“Enter the theater of your own imagination,” beckons Murray Horwitz every Sunday evening. Listeners tune into shows like “Gunsmoke,” “Superman” and “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar” on WAMU/88.5 FM’s “The Big Broadcast.” Rapt listeners can ride along in a patrol car with detective Joe Friday as he tracks down a murder suspect on “Dragnet,” or follow U.S. Marshal Matt ... READ MORE
Arts 2024
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