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Local Life
From saving lives to saving Irish bagpipe music by LEN LEAR Long-time Chestnut Hill resident Jeff Meade knows all about the imbalance of payments that tends to characterize the economy of the heart. “You have to do some things (like make bagpipe band music and work as an emergency medical technician, in his case) purely out of love, not money,” explained Jeff, who started playing music as a drum major at Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster in the late 1960s. “Whatever money you may get as a bagpipe band member would barely pay for the beer you have after a performance. And you have to put a lot of money out of your own pocket before you can even perform this music. “For example, a good kilt costs about $500, and a tunic is another $500. Then a ‘sporran’ (looks like a purse) costs $250, and a (bag)pipe band uniform, which ladies in Scotland make by hand, is between $1,250 and $1,500. . . We need bass drummers... Hill area musician: a lifetime in the spotlight by STEVEN STANEK On a simple tree-lined street where all houses look the same, there is one address that hides a unique history, a musical past that reaches far beyond the CD catalogues and piano lessons we all had. The home belongs to 65-year-old Jeffrey Marlowe, a renowned pianist, and his wife Judith, a violinist of some acclaim, but you wouldn’t know by walking through the door the years spent in the spotlight, in the glare of national television cameras and concert hall audiences. Nothing there tells of a famous life, a national concert circuit, the accompaniment of fine orchestras and an appearance on Johnny Carson. Marlowe may not look the music master today, as he spends his days on a hushed block in Lafayette Hill teaching his students the basics. But there was a time when his fingers danced along the keys for jam-packed crowds, when people tossed words like “prodigy” and “genius,” when he gave interviews in studios, and it started when he was much younger. Jeffrey Marlowe became a musician at the age of four, when he first... From Australia to Mt. Airy, with love (and ‘potential’) by PAM ROGOW Sitting in her Mt. Airy aerie of a home, Peg Thatcher readily answers an initial question. “I’m 57. If I looked like an old hag, I’d care about telling you that. But I’m fine with it,” she says, laughing. She will be heading off to a yoga class in an hour. And then her remarkable story starts unfolding — an astonishing tale of an Australian girl who from her earliest years was determined to find her own way. Peg has led a remarkable, productive life. Growing up on the outskirts of Sydney, she raised three children in Australia and Fiji. She was a successful entrepreneur, an early organizer of Landmark Forum (an educational/management program that now offers courses and workshops on five continents and 140 cities, including Philadelphia; www.landmarkforum.com) and a legendary fundraiser for the New York-based international Hunger Project. This year, she moved to Philadelphia to be the fundraiser for a nonprofit that supports projects in 17 African countries, OICI. Peg will lead a workshop in Human Potential 101, upstairs at the Moving Arts Studio of... You think English is hard: try learning Arabic by BETSY O’NEIL (Chestnut Hill resident Betsy O’Neil, 36, is a 1985 graduate of Springside School. Now a teacher at Penn Charter Middle School, she is on a leave of absence and living in Damascus, Syria, where she is teaching English and studying Arabic. Her reports home appear here periodically.) Things here can be very strange. As I sat down to type up a new journal piece in the Internet café, an American guy, over 6’5” and mildly tattooed, came in. I have seen him here many times (this café is a daily stop for me here in Damascus), and from a quick eavesdropping session knew he was an American. He towers over most men here in his tank tops and gym shorts, which brings up the leg thing again. Even Syrian men seldom walk around in shorts; the only exceptions are the more westernized teenage boys. I decided, the moment he walked in today, that I would talk to him. But I’ll get back to him, Eddie, later. Today I have been here for exactly five weeks. The cultural, sleep and food adjustments are tapering off, and routine has set in. I appreciate my life here and am busy... Hill author to speak of Cuban childhood at signing By Carole Verona Even though it’s her first day at school, Amelia leaps up the steps, enters the classroom and sits in the very first row. Olive-skinned and curly-haired Amelia, wearing jeans, sneakers and carrying a back-pack, looks like thousands of other kids in classrooms all across America. She’s enthusiastic, curious, innocent and trusting. What’s different about Amelia? A child of the islands, her command of English is still a little shaky. So when the students are told to bring in something special for show-and-tell, Amelia decides to wear her brightly colored fiesta dress, the one that reminds her of home. The other kids, who’ve participated in show-and-tell many times before, bring unusual, smaller items representing their various cultures. The other kids don’t laugh at Amelia’s gaffe, as she makes her way to the front of the room to talk about her beautiful dress. And then … well, you’ll have to read the book and see for yourself! Amelia is the heroine of Chestnut Hill writer Mimi Chapra’s first picture book, Amelia’s Show-and-Tell Fiesta, recently published by Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of Harper Collins. You can meet the author at a book... |