Tattooist helps cancer survivors
About 25 years ago, a cancer survivor visited Vinnie Myers’ tattoo studio outside Baltimore with a request that would spark a new branch of the art form. After her double mastectomy and breast reconstruction, the woman wanted tattoos of nipples to restore what cancer had taken away. “She came to me because I was known for realistic tattooing,” Myers told the Beacon. “We went... READ MORE
Nature photographer looks back
When Michael Oberman was 16 years old, he landed a weekend job as a copy boy at the Washington Star. It was a small footnote in a long career that would encompass journalism, music and photography, but in retrospect, the Columbia resident, now 78, says it feels like destiny. His older brother, Ron, was a music columnist at the paper at the time. When Ron got to interview the Beatles... READ MORE
Time travel with interpreters
Fairfax County resident Lynne Garvey-Hodge says she has learned to sit and get up from a chair like a Victorian lady, but the feisty characters she portrays likely did not live up to the stereotypical Victorian feminine ideal. Garvey-Hodge has portrayed Amelia Himes Walker, a 20th -century American suffragist, more than 100 times, wearing a white Edwardian dress and purple sash, like the ... READ MORE
Vincent Lancisi plans his exit
Vincent M. “Vinny” Lancisi has never been one for grand flourishes. For more than three decades, the founder and artistic director of Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre has preferred the steady rhythm of rehearsal rooms and the slow craft of building a talented ensemble. The recent announcement of Lancisi’s retirement at the end of the 2025-26 season, which is the 35th anniversary of... READ MORE
Caretaker protects the past
It’s often said that Amercians fear death: We rarely talk about it, and sometimes, we even abandon family burial sites, leaving them untended and unprotected. David Zinner, 75, of Columbia, is fighting that trend — and succeeding. He wants people to know that, as he put it in a recent interview with the Beacon, “talking about death won’t kill ya.” This fall, Maryland’s... READ MORE
Six-minute dates for older singles
If you keep telling yourself, “I’ve got to put myself out there if I’m going to meet someone,” speed dating may be for you. This unique dating format offers the chance to meet multiple singles in your age range in a single evening. Each event is held at a different bar, hotel or restaurant, typically in a private area. A host welcomes everyone and gives them a nametag — and... READ MORE
Gary Bartz’s Charm City roots
Music is the fountain of youth, according to Gary Bartz, one of Baltimore’s most famous jazz saxophonists. “Music does keep you young,” Bartz, 84, said in an interview with the Beacon. “Music is more powerful than anyone realizes.” Bartz has won two Grammy Awards and released 45 solo albums during his six-decade music career. Last year, the National Endowment for the Arts... READ MORE
Back to school with the Bard
It’s that time of year again, when one’s memories turn to school days — and perhaps to that singular teacher or professor who seemed to live and breathe their subject, passing on their enthusiasm to students. Howard County resident Lynne Johnson is such a teacher. Johnson leads a Shakespeare reading group at the East Columbia 50+ Center, one of several free classes and clubs... READ MORE
Elders of DC JazzFest pass it on
Jazz singer Vanessa Rubin, 68, learned her craft from icons like Sarah Vaughn. Although she couldn’t afford a ticket to every show, she would watch through the window of the club. “Sometimes they would let you in because they knew you were trying to learn,” she said. “I’d go to gigs and sit down with pencil and paper. I’d study them; study what they do in the... READ MORE
Chef Cindy Wolf cooks with heart
“To know how to eat is to know how to live.” — Georges Auguste Escoffier There are those who cook and those who understand the art of cooking. Not merely the alchemy of heat and ingredients, the delicate balance of salt and fat, but the unspoken language of hunger itself — the yearning for comfort, for memory, for a communion that transcends the mere act of eating. Chef Cindy... READ MORE
