Features

A life filled with shooting stars

By: Connie George
A life filled with shooting stars

Bill Kobrin spent several hours snapping pictures of Marilyn Monroe in her underwear one steamy summer night, but had no idea it was going to make him famous.

A space for artists to flourish

By: Robert Friedman
A space for artists to flourish

Nearly every day at her studio at the Howard County Center for the Arts in Ellicott City, Mary Jo Tydlacka works on her vivid canvases and charcoal drawings, some of which depict outdoor performances of Shakespeare. She is one of 14 artists who rent space at the center. More than half of them are over 50. “I do what I love,” said the 67-year-old Woodstock resident. “Art can be isolating, but here at the studios, it’s almost like we’re a protected species.”

Accidental innkeepers' success

By: Carol Sorgen
Accidental innkeepers' success

For those who have harbored a secret fantasy of opening a quaint bed and breakfast (does the TV show “Newhart” ring a bell?), innkeeper Anne Pomykala gently offers these words of advice: “It’s alot of work. It’s not as romantic as you think.”

Appraiser brings history to life

By: Carol Sorgen
Appraiser brings history to life

Talk to Ross Kelbaugh for even a few minutes and you’ll see why he was a successful history teacher for 30 years. Kelbaugh’s passion for bringing the past to life is contagious, a fact that did not escape the producers of the MPT-produced television program “Chesapeake Collectibles,” a local version of the internationally popular series, “Antiques Roadshow.”

Area athletes shoot for the gold

By: Carol Sorgen
Area athletes shoot for the gold

Baltimoreans were justifiably proud of Michael Phelps’s historic medal count in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. But there are other Olympic-level athletes in town who prove that added years don’t necessarily mean their medal-winning days are behind them.

Ben Vereen dances into town

By: Carol Sorgen
Ben Vereen dances into town

Entertainer Ben Vereen has a schedule that other performers would envy — and probably have trouble keeping up with (other than maybe Betty White!).

Broom sweeps across stages

By: Carol Sorgen

One might call Maria Broom a Jill-of-all-trades, at least when it comes to the performing arts. The native Baltimorean — who saw her first ballet at the age of 6 and thought to herself, ”This is it” — has made a life, and a living, as a dancer, actress and storyteller.

Buying into a 2nd (or 3rd) career

By: Barbara Ruben
Buying into a 2nd (or 3rd) career

Earl Reed’s wide-ranging career took him from flying fighter planes in Vietnam, to setting up a chain of drug stores in Moscow, to advising the Department of Homeland Security on how to prevent nuclear weapon components from entering the country.

Centenarians club growing fast

By: Barbara Ruben
Centenarians club growing fast

Lois Leyda turns 108 next month, and yet she is only the second-oldest person living in the District of Columbia.

Concerts give amateurs an outlet

By: Charles Downey
Concerts give amateurs an outlet

In years past, before the Internet or even television, people used to play musical instruments at home to entertain themselves and their friends. Today, few play chamber music together as a family, and even the piano that used to have a place of honor in the salon or living room of most homes has largely disappeared — perhaps replaced by an electronic keyboard or Guitar Hero.