Granny nannies who love their jobs
Call it good timing. Seven years ago, Silver Spring resident Margaret McDermott was expecting her first grandchild. At the same time, her longtime job as an event planner fizzled out. When she realized she could spend her empty days with her baby grandson, McDermott jumped at the chance, much to her surprise. “I thought, ‘I’ll just try it for a day,’ and I was hooked,” said... READ MORE
Pickleball craze picks up speed in Baltimore
Pickleball — a game that early on attracted mostly older adults at senior centers — is now the fastest-growing sport in America and the country’s newest major league sport. It’s attracting the rich and famous: George Clooney, Stephen Colbert and author Brené Brown are avid picklers, along with other celebrities like Phil Mickelson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Larry David, Melinda Gates,... READ MORE
More than half his life at the Post
John Kelly, the intrepid writer of a daily column for the Washington Post for almost two decades, can’t quite believe he’s turning 60 this year. After all, he plays in a rock ‘n’ roll band and works as hard as ever. “I remember when I first started at the Post when I was 26, seeing the grizzled old newsroom people and thinking, ‘Oh man they’re just so out of... READ MORE
Join the club — so many options in Howard County
When Marge Ewertz was working full-time as a nurse at Johns Hopkins, she started taking Mondays and Fridays off so she could go on bike rides with an over-60 cycling group. “I had to retire because I was having way too much fun biking,” Ewertz said. Now 70, Ewertz bikes with three groups, including Cycle2Health, a peer-led club coordinated by Howard County’s Office on Aging and ... READ MORE
Join the club — so many options in Baltimore
When Marge Ewertz was working full-time as a nurse at Johns Hopkins, she started taking Mondays and Fridays off so she could bike with Cycling Seniors of Baltimore County, a group of about 150 bikers who are over age 60. “I had to retire because I was having way too much fun biking,” Ewertz said. Now 70, she rides 3,600 miles per year and leads fellow bikers on rides each... READ MORE
Join the club — so many options in DC
When Mano Malayanur first moved to America from India three decades ago, he struggled to meet people. Then he learned about a new club at the time, the Northern Virginia Hiking Club, which organized group hikes in the area. He joined one hike and has been a member of the club ever since. “It’s been fantastic. For me, as an immigrant to the U.S., when I joined the club, it helped me... READ MORE
Nonprofit helps clients succeed
While working as a fashion consultant two decades ago, Howard County resident Jeannette Kendall had a realization that transformed her life. Her clients had clothing they no longer wanted. At the same time, people in crisis were struggling because they lacked professional clothing and the skills needed to get a job. With that a-ha moment in 2001, Kendall launched the nonprofit Success ... READ MORE
From war coverage to thrillers
Baltimore-area spy novelist, Dan Fesperman, worked for 21 years at the Baltimore Sun as a reporter. During those years, he mostly covered Europe and the Middle East, traveling to 30 countries and covering three wars. He retired in 2005, after “I did all I wanted to do” in journalism, he told the Beacon, and turned his full-time attention to writing novels of intrigue and... READ MORE
Pianist not held back by stroke
Classical pianist, teacher and composer Haskell Small has an impish sense of humor. Visitors to his home in northwest D.C. may find what appears to be a small ice cream cone melting atop his piano’s keys, dripping off onto the floor. It’s a plastic party trick, but it frequently fools people. That sense of humor helped keep Small going through arduous physical therapy after a stroke... READ MORE
Survivor and self-taught painter
Al Biegel escaped the Nazis in Vienna, where he was born, joined the U.S. Army, rose to the rank of colonel while engaging in combat during the Vietnam War, retired from the military after 25 years, then went on to serve another quarter of a century in the national intelligence community. Now 84 and an artist-teacher, Biegel is displaying several works from his “plein air” (outdoor... READ MORE
