Sophia Loren comes to town

By Margaret Foster
Posted on November 04, 2019

Take one look at Sophia Loren, who was born in 1934, and it’s clear she knows the secret of aging well. “There is a fountain of youth,” Loren once said. “It is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” Loren, 85, is still bringing her passionate... READ MORE

Jazz promoter opens new club

By Timothy Cox
Posted on October 21, 2019

Baltimore’s new jazz club, tucked between Fell’s Point and Harborplace, has been hopping since it opened last April. In its first week, Keystone Korner Baltimore featured legendary bassist Ron Carter. During the summer, lines snaked around the block as people waited to hear smooth-jazz-neosoul Godfather and vibraphonist Roy Ayers. The iconic Blood, Sweat and Tears keyboardist Larry... READ MORE

Women finally get their own monument

By Glenda C. Booth
Posted on October 11, 2019

Clementina Rind, mother of five, probably never heard of “breaking the glass ceiling,” “women’s liberation” or feminism, but in 1774 she became the Virginia colony’s public printer, elected by the Virginia General Assembly on a two-to-one vote. Rind, who had taken over the Virginia Gazette newspaper after her husband died, never missed putting out an issue. And she didn’t... READ MORE

Try stand-up for a second act

By Robert Friedman
Posted on September 17, 2019

A funny thing happened to Rich Madzel on the way home from Brooklyn one night: He decided to open a comedy club. The idea came to him about a year ago on the New Jersey Turnpike, as he and his wife were returning to Columbia, Maryland after visiting their daughter. “It occurred to me that I was bored and needed more to do,” said the now 81-year-old businessman and theater... READ MORE

Daphne Maxwell Reid enjoys the journey

By Catherine Brown
Posted on September 11, 2019

Though she recently turned 71, when actress Daphne Maxwell Reid appears at the Senior Connections’ Empty Plate Luncheon in Richmond on October 2, audience members shouldn’t expect the Richmond resident to talk about her quiet, peaceful retirement. “I don’t retire,” Reid said. “I’ll take my pension, but I’ll still be busy.” Reid has been busy for decades. After... READ MORE

Coming around to cannabis

By Margaret Foster
Posted on August 26, 2019

Dr. Matthew Mintz wasn’t an early proponent of medical uses for cannabis (the scientific name for the plant more commonly known as marijuana). In fact, he said, “I was a little skeptical.” Mintz, a board-certified internist and Washingtonian “Top Doctor,” attended George Washington University medical school and then practiced medicine while serving on GW’s faculty for the... READ MORE

Box, dance, sing and repeat

By Simone Ellin
Posted on August 19, 2019

Like many of today’s retirees, Marty Lefstein, a former computer programmer who lives in Parkville with his wife, Gita, leads a busy life. He practices yoga, takes dance and boxing classes, and belongs to a singing group. What’s surprising to many is that Lefstein, 67, has had Parkinson’s disease for the past 24 years. But far from slowing him down, that fact encourages the... READ MORE

It’s never too late to pursue lost passions

By Diane York
Posted on August 05, 2019

Think back to your school or college days, when you may have enjoyed playing a musical instrument, acting in plays, or simply were engrossed in a subject that particularly enticed you. It may even have been your major in college. If that love, or that major, didn’t translate into a paying job or career, you might have let it go for years or even decades. But if that interest lingers,... READ MORE

Women take to the air in races

By Glenda C. Booth
Posted on July 15, 2019

Their teams have names like “Flying Flashes,” “Estrogen Express,” “Dakota FlyGirls,” “Liberty Belles” and “White Lightning.” For a week in June, 109 women pilots grouped into 49 teams flew 2,538 miles across nine states and one Canadian province in a variety of planes. The women, who range in age from 21 to 90 years old, are members of an exclusive club. Only 7% of ... READ MORE

Carol Burnett’s Q&A roadshow

By Margaret Foster
Posted on June 17, 2019

Although beloved American comedian Carol Burnett grew up in poverty in the 1940s with two alcoholic parents, she never felt poor or unloved, thanks to her grandmother. With their scrounged pennies, the two would retreat to the cool darkness of movie theaters in California as often as possible. The optimism of the films, coupled with her grandmother’s love, left a lasting impression on... READ MORE