May 3, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local Life

Wyndmoor resident makes medical history
First U.S.-trained black female pediatric surgeon
by MARY PRICE LEE

Dr. Ala Stanford Frey holds an eight-month-old patient, Nina Ferrell. (Photo by Amanda M. Haines)

For Dr. Ala Stanford Frey, it has been a long and most rewarding climb to a pinnacle of medicine, pediatric surgery. Dr. Frey discovered her passion for medicine early in life growing up in North Philadelphia and Mount Airy.

“I’ve wanted to be a surgeon ever since sixth grade at the Fitler School, Seymour and Knox Streets,” she says. “My parents always said, ‘You can do it.’” Her eighth grade yearbook finds her looking to a future full of challenges. In fact, her principal was sure of her calling and happily attended her graduation from Penn State Medical School! Her mother inspires Ala’s efforts today, even though her proud mom now lives in Detroit. And the Wyndmoor resident has her father and “tons of cousins” in Philadelphia who are proud of her accomplishments.

Walker running towards a brighter future
Ex-civil rights activist now ‘healing racial divide’
by LEN LEAR
and SARAH KLEM

RegE Walker and his daughter, Rana, have both contributed significantly to making the city a better place in which to live. (Photo by Len Lear)

Germantown resident RegE Walker may not have a Ph.D. In African-American History, but his R.le.D. (Doctor of Real-life Experience), among other things, certainly qualifies him to teach “The Journey to Freedom: Healing the Racial Divide,” a course currently being offered by Mt. Airy Learning Tree (MALT).

Walker, 65, grew up in Nicetown, attended Simon Gratz High School, followed by La Salle College for two years and then graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1971 with a degree in economics and a specialty in international business. This was at a time when an African-American student was as rare a sight at the Wharton School as a kosher deli in Saudi Arabia.

When the Katz away, the ‘M’ sous chef will shine
by LEN LEAR

Sous chef, Chad Jenkins (right), a graduate of the Restaurant School of Philadelphia, and a line cook, Jonathan Petruce, prepare a delicate quail dish at “M.” (Photo by Len Lear)

I was planning to interview and take photos of executive chef David Katz on Tuesday, April 17, when we visited M Restaurant, which has been getting lots of buzz since it opened last year at 225 S. 8th St. behind a wrought iron gate in the rear of the Reynolds-Morris House, a superb example of Georgian architecture that dates back to 1787. (The building, now called the Morris House Hotel, offers 15 guest rooms and extended-stay suites. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.)

A friend who lives in the Washington Square neighborhood had fallen in love with M Restaurant, which is across the street from Pennsylvania Hospital. They offer a contemporary, eclectic menu. (Needless to say, parking spaces are as easy to find on nearby streets as diamond rings.) “The food is wonderful,” said my friend, who lives one block from the restaurant and does not have to look for a parking space. “My favorite restaurant in this area used to be Washington Square, but now it’s Restaurant M.”

To get back to David Katz, the 30-year-old veteran of such restaurants as Salt, Lula, Avenue B and Pollo Rosso in Chestnut Hill already has more than 16 years of professional cooking experience despite his youth. Last October the Inquirer’s Craig LaBan, who can be brutal with young chefs (and old ones), wrote, “Chef David Katz is impressive, with a minimalist New American menu that focuses on great ingredients and vividly framed flavors.”

Author, 90, volunteers love at hospice
by MARILYN STEEG

Sitting on Keystone House’s comfortable porch, Mary Rose Nuse takes a break from the comfort she offers residents of Keystone Hospice. Caring for the beautiful gardens and grounds at Keystone House are among the many services volunteers contribute. (Photo by Paula M. Riley)

One of the 95 volunteers at Keystone House (at Keystone Hospice in Wyndmoor) is a dynamic woman with Paul Newman-blue eyes, silver hair, a flawless complexion and engaging smile. Mary Rose Nuse just celebrated her 90th birthday but is not a typical nonagenarian.

Co-volunteers and Keystone staff helped her celebrate in a room that she knew very well – in 1939. At that time Keystone House was an apartment building where she and her husband, Jack Eagleson, lived as newly-weds. What was once their bedroom is now the hospice’s living room.

“Our fireplace burned cannel coal but it still was very cold in the house. I developed pleurisy, and so we moved to Oreland, where we raised our children.” (Cannel coal is a bituminous coal containing much volatile matter that burns very brightly.)

Should green tea replace Rosie O’Donnell on ‘The View?’
by JENNIFER NAGEL

If you want to lose weight, drink green tea. If you want to prevent cancer, drink green tea. If you want stronger nails, less smelly armpits, softer skin, cuter children, better-behaved pets, a nicer car or polite neighbors, drink green tea. Apparently.