Biographer revisits life of a rebel princess
The Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, was known to be a daily drinker, but no one has ever connected the dots from that habit to her daughter Princess Margaret’s troubled life. Until now. In her new book, Princess Margaret and the Curse, biographer Meryle Secrest suggests that the “Royal Rebel” may have been born with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Secrest draws on interviews... READ MORE
Three generations unite at Arena Stage
Perhaps Tolstoy’s famous line should have been that every happy family is complex in its own way. A joyfully complex family is front and center in playwright Reggie D. White’s play Fremont Ave., which runs at Arena Stage through November 23. The brand-new play introduces three generations of a decidedly loving, upper middle-class Black family who struggle to understand what they owe... READ MORE
New Love After 50: What price love?
Q: I’m 69 and have been divorced for 30 years — a few boyfriends here and there, but my last relationship was over a decade ago. I recently moved to support my family. While I’m loving the grands and being close to my daughter, I’m lonely. I’ve tried dating apps, but I’m not interested in the people who reach out to me, and I feel bad telling them that. And the ones I reach... READ MORE
Standard-shift cars are kryptonite for carjackers
It happened again. Exactly as it has happened before. Three teenagers tried to carjack a fancy foreign convertible in the Maryland suburbs. After demanding the keys, and getting them, they piled in. One teen took the wheel. And then… He couldn’t figure out how to handle the manual gearshift. Because it didn’t say Park-Reverse-Neutral-Drive-Low. It was four on the floor. ... READ MORE
Quilts of Valor honors Maryland veterans
On October 18, about a dozen veterans gathered at the American Legion in Sykesville, Maryland, to receive a handmade quilt — a gift of gratitude for their service, sacrifice and resilience. For Eldersburg resident Pam Adams, who leads the newly formed Eldersburg Quilts of Valor group, the moment marked a culmination of months of work, countless yards of fabric and a deep commitment to... READ MORE
McLean choral group marks 35th season
The Washington area has many choral groups, who perform in some of the grandest and most historic venues in the nation. With 150 members, the McLean, Virginia-based New Dominion Chorale is perhaps the area’s largest such group. Now in its 35th season, New Dominion Chorale will perform “Yizkor Requiem: A Quest for Spiritual Roots” at 4 p.m. on Nov. 2 at the National Presbyterian... READ MORE
‘Damn Yankees’ at Arena is a grand slam
“For such a pact…subscribe thy name with a drop of blood.” So says the demonic Mephistopheles to Faust, a character insatiable for knowledge in Goethe’s classic play in which the devil proposes that Faust sell his soul, placing temptations such as wealth, fame, power and luxurious food in his path. The 1955 musical Damn Yankees translated the Faustian plot to mid-20th-century... READ MORE
Writer brings fashion designer to light
How did Claire McCardell, a woman born in 1905 in Frederick, Maryland, grow up to be one of America’s most famous fashion designers? That’s the question Baltimore writer Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson, 52, tries to answer in her new biography, Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free. Published by Simon & Schuster in June, the book has already made a big splash: it’s... READ MORE
New nonfiction books to read this fall
The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze That Captured Turn-of-the Century America, by David Baron, Liveright, 2025, 336 pages Talk about fake news: In 1907 a New York Times banner headline declared, “There Is Life On the Planet Mars.” Upping the ante the next year, the stodgy Wall Street Journal claimed “proof” of “conscious, intelligent human life” on our red... READ MORE
Dance in the aisles to ‘Saturday Night Fever’
Most of us remember the opening scene of the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever. A young, slim John Travolta struts through the streets of New York City to the catchy beat of “Stayin’ Alive.” The year the movie was released, its soundtrack by the Bee Gees exploded, making it one of the bestselling albums of all time. The film grossed $237 million on a $3.5 million budget, and Travolta... READ MORE
