Devoted to raising, racing pigeons
When Beverly Gottlieb was growing up in Hanover, Maryland, other teenagers had to clean the house after school. She had to clean the pigeon coop. Her father taught her not only how to raise pigeons, but how to race them. “I was born into it,” said Gottlieb of the hobby. She still races pigeons today with the Greater Baltimore Pigeon Club. Pigeon racing is a sport — some say an... READ MORE
Documenting lost WWII stories
Many stories from World War II have been lost, many heroes forgotten. For instance, on a bombing raid in Japan, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Francis Stevenson took the seat of future U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson on the B-26 Wabash Cannonball when Johnson briefly deplaned. Johnson ended up on another bomber, while Stevenson’s bomber was hit, killing everyone on board. Johnson... READ MORE
The Bachelorettes of the DMV
The hope that lasting love can happen later in life recently got a huge boost, thanks to Joan Vassos of Rockville and Nancy Hulkower of Alexandria. Both appeared on the first season of the popular ABC program “The Golden Bachelor,” which premiered last fall. The show is a spinoff of the reality TV shows “The Bachelor,” which premiered in 2002, and the 2003 series “The... READ MORE
United by Birmingham childhoods
When Freeman Hrabowski was 12 years old, in 1963, he was so inspired by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that he not only marched in the Children’s Crusade for civil rights in Birmingham, Alabama, for three days, but he went to jail for five. When Hrabowski reached the steps of city hall, ardent segregationist and Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor spat in his face, picked him up and ... READ MORE
For Jayne Miller, the beat goes on
She “retired” last year after 40 years in front of the WBAL-TV cameras, but award-winning investigative reporter Jayne Miller says she’s continuing her “conversation with people involved in the news” via her weekly radio broadcasts. Being in front of the mike rather than the TV cameras “isn’t really reporting as much as it is informing through conversation,” said the... READ MORE
Finding joy again after a loss
Rebecca Gregory fell in love with ballroom dancing after she became a widow. It took her four years after her husband’s death to find a passion, but she’s glad she did. “I started the next chapter,” she said, and it has been “very therapeutic.” Gregory’s advice to others who have lost a partner: “Don’t get stuck. Try things you’ve never tried before that maybe you... READ MORE
Tutors help students succeed
Six years ago, retiree Marilyn Garcia moved to Columbia. Hoping to get more engaged with her new community, she heard about a local tutoring program called AOK Mentoring and Tutoring. “In my previous residence, I had been involved with a school and public library that paired volunteers with reluctant students,” Garcia said. “I absolutely loved working with the kids and seeing... READ MORE
Self-taught artist’s commission
Today, a former Baltimore mansion where enslaved people once toiled houses part of the Walters Art Museum. Inside, a huge mirror-and-ceramic mosaic honoring one of those workers has become part of the permanent collection. The Walters announced two major acquisitions last fall, one of which is this collaborative mosaic created by celebrated Baltimore artist Herbert Massie, 64. The... READ MORE
From circus to Broadway to jazz
In the beginning, at the age of 20, “The Big Broadcast” emcee Murray Horwitz spent three years as a circus clown. No, Horwitz didn’t run away from home to join the circus. During his senior year at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, while majoring in English and drama, Horwitz won a spot in a five-week Ringling Brothers circus course and convinced the school and his parents to... READ MORE
A second chance behind bars
Neil Roland’s students aren’t your average college kids. Instead of dorm rooms, they live in prison cells. Roland, 71, has tutored incarcerated people for eight years, starting at a maximum-security prison in Jessup, Maryland. Today, the Silver Spring resident teaches world affairs at the District of Columbia Jail through Georgetown University’s Prison Scholars, a program of its... READ MORE
