Charles Village author Michael Kimball turned U.S. rejection into U.K. success.
Michael Kimball chuckles good-naturedly as he recounts the excruciating process that preceded the publication of his unconventional first novel, The Way the Family Got Away. Turned down by approximately two dozen literary agents, he finally decided to pitch his book directly to publishers. "In the span of about a year," he recalls as he sits in the living room of the capacious Charles...
The lead singer of Celebration on alarming tattoos and marrying the guitarist.
She's been compared to Mick Jagger and Iggy Pop (we'd throw in a little Siouxsie Sioux) and her cabaret-punk band Celebration is having its moment, touring with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and TV On the Radio. As the band tours to support its latest album, The Modern Tribe, we caught up with Katrina Ford.
Who is your favorite Baltimorean, living or dead?David Byrne.
What are your...
Even pacemakers and bad knees can't bench the die-hard players in Baltimore's adult hockey leagues.
With 10 seconds left in the shift, Tim Fowler, 52, controls the bouncing puck near his own net, wheels around, and sprints toward the other end of the rink. As the clock ticks down, he zooms past two defenders, floats to his right, and fires a perfect wrist shot into the far left side of the goal. No horn blares, no sirens flash, and the only sound of adulation comes from his teammates on...
This rookie can run.
With the 2007 Baltimore Ravens' offense stuck in a rut, and the normally stout defense looking surprisingly mortal, rookie return man/wide receiver Yamon Figurs has quickly made kickoff and punt returns two of the most anticipated moments at Ravens games this year. But then again, Figurs does everything quickly—his 4.3-second 40-yard-dash time made him the fastest man at the NFL draft in...
Forget trick-or-treating--local artist Molly Ross has made Halloween a community performance.
It is dark and chilly and there's a steady huffing of autumn wind that keeps the dry leaves skittering along the walkways of Patterson Park. Ghosts and Halloween goblins lurk behind every tree. But then, suddenly, 4,000 people have sprung up around you, with handmade paper lanterns casting enough light to banish the ghouls from your mind. There is music—alternately moody and cheerful—and there...
The restauranteur on his historic past, being George Clooney, and why he is so over foams.
It was 20 years ago that Linwood Dame opened his eponymous restaurant in Owings Mills. With its upscale, new American menu and sleek interiors, Linwoods certainly stuck out amid the chain restaurants and Chinese takeouts. "Some people did wonder why I decided on opening in Owings Mills," Dame notes. "[But] I did my homework and knew there was a strong need for fine dining in the...
First-time restauranteurs divulge the joys and tribulations of owning their own establishments.
When Sam Curreri opened Sammy's Trattoria in Mount Vernon in June 2006, he thought he was well prepared to own his own restaurant. After all, he'd spent a dozen years as general manager at one of Baltimore's busiest restaurants, Chiapparelli's. Curreri figured he had seen it all.
Then his sprinkler system failed. And flooded the restaurant. The day he had a big political dinner booked.
"It almost...
For George Hastings, shucking oysters is all about creating pillows on the half shell and kissing the sea.
"Eating an oyster without a fork is kinda like kissing," says George Hastings. He's evaluating the denuded and glistening mollusk now lolling in the half shell he holds in his hand.
"A lot of people will take the shell and jam it in their mouth—" he demonstrates, tipping the shell to his lips like a teacup and stopping just short of scraping the muddy underside across his bottom teeth. "No, no,...
Now in its fifth decade and second generation, a Baltimore bakery is going strong.
It's a dessert lover's dream, a Fort Knox of foodstuffs. Stacked on racks inside a refrigerated corridor in a warehouse in Pikesville are hundreds upon hundreds of sweet slabs of cheesecake, each sealed inside an individually sized plastic container like Snow White in her glass coffin. Some slices are marbled with flamingo swirls of strawberry or smoky streaks of chocolate, while other unadorned...
Part of our "100 Years: The Twelve Events That Shaped Baltimore" series
In the midst of the red-brick canyons of UMBC's suburban Baltimore campus stands an elegant sculptural tableau consisting of three polished granite benches and a life-sized bronze statue, all arranged in a tight circle. The statue depicts Baltimore businessman/public servant extraordinaire Walter Sondheim Jr. wearing a suit, a bow tie, and a smile, while each of the benches has been...
