Memoir describes life on the reservation
Life doesn’t always go in the direction you think it will. Sometimes the journey is longer; other times it is accelerated. Even when life doesn’t take you where you want, it can sometimes place you exactly where you need to be. That is how it felt for Gene Gerber, DDS, MPH, a retired public health professional who this year published his memoir, Season of Healing: A Memoir of... READ MORE
Baltimore landmarks show up in new novel
Award-winning short story writer Louise Marburg was born and raised in Baltimore. Although she moved away after college, she returns to the city in her first novel, which was published in June. “It was fun to set it in Baltimore and revisit the neighborhoods — Roland Park and Guilford and Towson and Timonium, Fells Point,” said Marburg, 65, who grew up in Roland Park. In the... READ MORE
Frankenstein brings fact and fiction to life
In May of 1816, from a cauldron of circumstance and imagination, came forth a work some say represents the birth of science fiction as a literary form. The circumstance? A tremendous volcanic eruption that forced five friends to stay shuttered indoors in a gloomy, sunless summer, cold, idle and bored. The five friends happened to include the future Mary Shelley, whose imagination... READ MORE
Old coaches never die; they live in our minds
Sal died a few weeks ago, at the ripe old age of 96. Like many high school football coaches, he was a no-nonsense, no-excuses, scream-first taskmaster. But like no other coaches that I’ve ever met, he will be remembered for two words. The first was bip. The second was ballplayer. Sal divided his teenaged charges into two camps. Those who had not shown huge promise on the gridiron ... READ MORE
Former CIA officer publishes new spy novel
At the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, veteran case officer Artemis Procter has been called in for a meeting with her superiors. One of them asks, “What do you think of the Brits?” In her typical, no-nonsense manner, she replies, “They’re pickpockets.” Next thing she knows, Procter is shuttled off to the U.K. as the newly appointed chief of the... READ MORE
What’s onstage in October in our area
As fall rolls in, the beautiful foliage matches the impressive work now on view in theaters all across the DMV. If you want more local color, check out some of these multi-hued productions: The Donna Summer Musical Toby’s Dinner Theatre, now through Nov. 1 Born in Boston with a voice from heaven, Donna Summer rose from gospel choir to stardom, risking it all to break through... READ MORE
The Score scores big at Shakespeare Co.
Frederick II of Prussia was an Enlightenment king who composed music, invited the Age of Reason philosopher Voltaire to Potsdam, and guaranteed religious freedom for his subjects. Instead of Louis XIV’s declaration “I am the state,” Frederick the Great famously said, “I am the first servant of the state.” A rather different depiction of Frederick (portrayed with roguish... READ MORE
New center will keep MoCo’s past present
Just off Rockville Pike, the grave marker of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, bears a quote from The Great Gatsby: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Less than a mile away, a new portal to the past, the Montgomery History Center, will open early next year. The nonprofit Montgomery History purchased the historic Farmer’s... READ MORE
Author fought boredom by writing a book
If the grandkids are bored, don’t give them your iPad; give them a book. That’s the advice of new children’s author Chad Ritchey, who wrote I’m Sooo Bored! What Should I Do? after grappling with that very question himself. Ritchey, a 54-year-old resident of Columbia, Maryland, was an empty nester, missing his only child, Charlotte, after she’d left home for the University of ... READ MORE
Disco shines in Toby’s Donna Summer show
When I told a friend I was going to see Summer: The Donna Summer Musical at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, she said something like, “I have no desire to see a show where one person sings.” On the contrary, many people sing in this show, which is on stage through November 1. In fact, sometimes three actors, playing different versions of Summer at different ages, sing together. The... READ MORE
