News & Politics

Jeff Malet • October 27, 2011

Thousands of Americans led by the Rev. Al Sharpton rallied Saturday against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, calling for easier job access and decrying the gulf between rich and poor before marching to the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. (Saturday, October 15, 2011). Click on the icons below for our photo slideshow. (All photos by Jeff Malet)
View additional photos by clicking here.
[gallery ids="109112,109042,109037,109032,109027,109022,109017,109012,109007,109002,108997,109047,109052,109057,109107,109102,109097,109092,109087,109082,109077,109072,109067,109062,108992,108987,108917,108912,109116,108907,109120,108902,109124,108897,109128,108892,108922,108927,108932,108982,108977,108972,108967,108962,108957,108952,108947,108942,108937,100344" nav="thumbs"]

Gary Tischler •

They roped off the street in front of the Verizon Center as thousands of Washington Capitals fans streaked into the building to see Ovie, Semin and other Russians at a hockey game. But for some people—hundreds in fact—that wasn’t the big deal on the street.

Captain Jean Luc Picard was in the house. Like, “make it so.”

That would be Patrick Hewes Stewart, Shakespearean actor of considerable renown, movie star, and knight of the realm. Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart to you.

Stewart was at Harman Hall across the street for the first installment of this year’s Classic Conversation series with Shakespeare Theatre Artistic Director Michael Kahn. To the folks here for the dialogue, which surely must have included more than a few Trekkies, this was the main event. Think about it—a full, lively, laughing, into-it crowd at Harman Hall to hear a couple of middle-aged bald guys exchanging theater stories.

“I know they have lots of people across the street,” Kahn said, “but as far as I’m concerned, this is the best bunch of people to be with.”

Stewart was one of a large number of theater and movie stars in town for a gala honoring Kahn’s 25th anniversary with the Shakespeare Theatre the previous night.

As first, as Kahn and Stewart walk on stage, you thought: they could be brothers. Both were instantly recognizable by their hairless domes, with a cut of grey and white on the side. Both were blessed with story-telling abilities. Both were now legends in the world they shared. Finally, both had been doing this long enough to have accumulated more than enough stories to dine out on.

When Kahn asked Stewart what, if any, difference his knighthood had made in his life, Stewart allowed that it was “very easy to get a table in a good restaurant in London. And the people at British Airways treat me very well.”

Stewart has straddled both a life-long theater career and the kind of iconic fame among fans of science fiction and comic books—he is also the mind-bending Charles Xavier in the X-Men movie series. He turned out to be a charming, low-key, quite modest and serious man, who’s accepted his fame—money, lots of it, knighthood and that Star Trek thing—with grace.

“There is nothing to complain about,” he said. “I mean, my goodness, its remarkable when you think about it. The Star Trek and Enterprise thing has been long done, but it’s still going on all over the world. I can go thru customs in Taiwan, and they look at me, and somebody whispers: ‘Picard’ or ‘Enterprise’ or some such thing. It’s rewarding but unnerving.”

After a difficult upbringing in a small town near Yorkshire, Stewart’s career began when an English teacher named Cecil Dormand gave him a copy of Shakespeare’s plays. “He told me to read it, so I opened the book and started reading, and he said ‘no, no, OUT LOUD, read it out loud. Perform it.”

In 1966, he made it to the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in many plays, including Peter Brooks’ famous “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” “I wanted to be in films, too, of course,” he said. “And when I came to Hollywood, I decided I wanted to marry Doris Day and failing that, Debbie Reynolds. I’m sure that says something.”

In the 1980s, he auditioned for Picard “wearing a toupee and speaking in a French accent.” He claims it’s in the vaults somewhere at Paramount Studios. Nevertheless, he got the job in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Seven years and a number of films later, he was forever famous.

“Gene Roddenbery had made it clear he didn’t want me for the part,” he said. “But there you are.”

He continued to work in theater, including a part in a Mamet play, in which “every other word was a curse word and my aunt saw it, and I swear, I could hear her in the audience, saying ‘that’s not our Patrick, he wouldn’t say things like that.'”

In somewhat muted terms, he talked about his childhood, living in a house with a quiet mother and a violent Sergeant Major father. “He never physically abused us kids, but always my mother took the brunt on weekends when he would drink.”

Today, Stewart is a patron of Refuge, a British charity for abused women.

Stewart came to the Shakespeare Theatre several years ago to play the title role in a “photo negative” version of “Othello.” “We were very proud of that production, and it was so stirring especially here in Washington,” Kahn said. All the characters except Othello were played by black actors. “It was very tense at times,” he said. “I remember Othello talking about his race, and you could hear people hiss in the audience.” And when it came time to take our bows, Ron Canada, a very fine actor who played Iago, came out and some people shouted ‘you the man, you the man.’ I hesitated but I came out and the actors said ‘YOU the man.’ And here I am, and I have to say, Michael, that, well, YOU the man.”

It went like that—talking about touring in “Waiting for Godot” with Sir Ian McKellen, starring in “Virginia Woolf”, his days in Hollywood, and performing as Shylock recently in a “Merchant of Venice,” set in Las Vegas.

Listening to Stewart and Kahn, you realized once again that all theater lives in stories (and the retelling of stories) like Stewart meeting Eva Marie Saint, whom he had admired since seeing “On The Waterfront.”

He sounded then like a star-struck young man remembering his own icons.

The Caps won, 3-0. And Stewart and Kahn swept all before them.

Zachariah Weaver •

When a LOFT store opens a new location they host a party called the “LOFT Warming Event,” according to Georgetown’s LOFT manager, Khalilah Branch.

“It’s much like you would have a house warming. We’re all moved in and we got our beautiful product on the floor to showcase,” said Branch.

This is exactly what’s happening on Saturday, Oct. 22 in Georgetown. The store opened its doors on Sept. 30 but is designating this weekend to showcasing their product to the community and their friends.

LOFT is a women’s clothing retail store that features casual dresses, blouses, sweaters, pants and more. The Georgetown store’s current location on Wisconsin Ave. NW, is the newest spot its had since its last location closed down a couple years ago off M Street. It has had some great success since last month’s opening, according to Branch.

“The feedback on the store from the community has been awesome so far,” she said. ” We’re seeing a lot of our Georgetown clients returning to this location.”

Meghan Gallery, a returning customer since the new location opened, explained that she is a regular LOFT client.

“I’ve been here three or four times since it opened,” she said. “The location is very convenient and the sizing of their product is consistent so I can buy what I want without too much trouble.”

The event on Saturday will have a DJ, some style specialists, sponsored treats from Georgetown Cupcake, and the serving of prosecco (sparkling wine) from Better Events Catering. There will also be a photographer from Lucky Magazine taking pictures of guests in their LOFT looks during the event’s 1 to 4 p.m. window.

Lacey Maffettone, the blog host of a D.C. fashion blog called A Lacey Perspective, has partnered with Lucky Magazine to host the LOFT “welcoming event.”

“One of our goals is to get all of my readers and Lucky Magazine’s readers to come on site at LOFT on Saturday,” Maffettone said. “We want to show that the city of Washington, D.C. has a fashion side to it just as much as it has a political and business side.”

Maffettone explained that Lucky Magazine reached out to her and asked her to co-host with them for the LOFT event. She also explained that the store is expressing a new winter collection to its customers. They are encouraging a new color-block, or matching scheme, with brighter colors and fabrics for their products.

“Lucky and myself are hoping to continue to bring this style into focus for D.C. by partnering with LOFT,” Meffettone said.

According to the Facebook event invite page created by A Lacey Perspective, there are 76 expected attendees so far for Saturday. Khalilah Branch, the store’s manager, said that the event isn’t just for the Facebook invites but that it’s open to the rest of Georgetown and the public.

Kyle Lundberg •

As part of a broader effort to educate students about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, Washington, D.C. public schools will get a chance to serve some unfamiliar foods as they participate in Nordic Food Day.

“Food is universal,” said Paul Reichel, program coordinator for the Office of Food and Nutrition Services for D.C. Public Schools. “It’s a great way to get the students and the community interested in different kinds of food, food that they might not try otherwise.”

The day, the first of its kind in the District, is co-sponsored by the Embassies of Nordic Countries, which include Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland and Denmark. On Oct. 26, cafeterias in all 122 full-service public schools will serve up famous dishes from these countries, including Icelandic yogurt, Swedish meatballs, Norwegian salmon and lingonberry juice boxes.

Nordic Food Day is the first of a series of International Food Program food days, which will continue with Indonesian Food Day in January and Panamanian Food Day in March. The food days are part of a broader Embassy Adoption Program, in which an embassy adopts a school and then spends the school year creating programs that give students the opportunity to learn more about international communities and their adopted culture.

“We think D.C is a wealth of resources, especially international resources with all of the embassies being close by” Reichel said. “We need to use these resources to educate students about other cultures.”

The embassies adopt different schools every year. This year, the Swedish Embassy in Georgetown has adopted Miner Elementary School in ward 6. According to Gabriella Augustsson, head of diplomacy and press at the Swedish Embassy, putting the kids first is the key to collaboration with the schools.

“It’s very important to be in tune with what [the schools] want and need,” Augustsson said, “to not come in saying ‘Hey, this is what we want,’ but ask ‘How do we do this together?’ It’s very much about the kids.”

In addition to serving food, seven “Nordic food experts” from different countries will come through the schools in the days leading up to the event to educate students about Nordic food and culture, Reichel said. Chefs have also come to instruct cafeteria workers on how to properly prepare Nordic dishes.

The Swedish Embassy has some special events planned for their adopted students at Miner Elementary, including a tasting booth, a booth featuring “fun facts” about Nordic countries, and a photo booth where students can don Pippi Longstocking wigs and Viking hats to take home as souvenirs.

Augustsson hopes that students will come to gain an appreciation for Nordic food comparable to the food of other European nations.

“In the last 15 years,” she said, “there’s been an upsurge in famous Nordic chefs, which has brought this awareness of ‘wow, Nordic food,’ not just French and Italian.” Augustsson cited the Danish restaurant Noma, which has been awarded the title of “best restaurant in the world” by Restaurant magazine the last two years, as an example of the expanding global recognition of Nordic food.

The International Food Program is part of a broader campaign to improve health awareness among students in D.C. Public Schools.

The Healthy Schools Act, which went into effect in the District on August 1, 2010, is an attempt to promote physical activity and healthy eating habits along with other provisions such as increased health education and stronger social wellness policies.

According to the Act, “schools must meet enhanced nutrition standards to improve the quality of meals,” and “schools are encouraged to serve fresh, locally grown produce.” The school district may penalize schools that do not comply by “withholding funds or levying fines.”

According to Augustsson, Nordic food provides an avenue for broader education about student health and well-being.

“We want to talk about healthier eating habits,” she said, “and Nordic food is a good way to do that, with its emphasis on fresh, local ingredients. It’s really a continued discussion about health that has already been going on in the public schools.”

Jeff Malet •

Georgetown defeated Colgate in a 40-17 Homecoming Football Victory on Saturday October 22 at Multi-Sport Field. The Hoyas have now won 6 games against only 2 losses and clinched a winning season record. The Colgate Red Raiders went to 4 and 4, but had won its previous 3 games. One of the stars was junior linebacker Robert McCabe of Newtown Square, Pa. who ran back an intercepted pass 50 yards for a touchdown and had a game high 15 tackles. Cornerback Jeremy Moore from New Haven, Conn. had seven tackles and two interceptions and blocked a punt. Senior placekicker Brett Weiss (Phoenix MD) made four field goals. The Hoyas, who came into the game with the nation’s tenth best rush defense, held the nation’s eighth best rushing offense to under half of its season average, while outrushing Colgate 162-121. Senior running back Wilburn Logan (Kingston, RI) led five Hoyas’ runners with 73 yards on 11 carries. Georgetown’s next home game will be against Fordham on Nov. 5 at Multi-Sport Field for Senior Day.

Click on the icons below for our slideshow. (All photos by Jeff Malet)

View additional photos by clicking here.
[gallery ids="109397,109342,109337,109332,109327,109322,109317,109312,109307,109347,109352,109392,109387,109382,109377,109372,109367,109362,109357,109302,109297,109292,109401,109237,109405,109232,109409,109227,109413,109222,109242,109247,109287,109282,109277,109272,109267,109262,109257,109252,100346" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • October 20, 2011

Thousands gathered in West Patomac Park under clear skies on Sunday October 16 to help dedicate the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The event was originally scheduled for August but had to be postponed due to Hurricane Irene. Click on the thumbnails below for our slideshow. (All photos by Jeff Malet).
View additional photos by clicking here.
[gallery ids="108887,108827,108822,108817,108812,108807,108802,108797,108792,108787,108832,108837,108882,108877,108872,108867,108862,108857,108852,108847,108842,108782,108777,108717,108712,108707,108891,108895,108702,108899,108903,108697,108722,108727,108772,108767,108762,108757,108752,108747,108742,108737,108732,100343" nav="thumbs"]

Gary Tischler • October 19, 2011

Former Senator Charles Percy died Saturday at the age of 91, succumbing to the effects of Alzheimer’s disease at a local hospice.

In the media much was made of the fact that Percy, who was elected to the Senate from Illinois in 1966 and served three terms, was once seen as a man of enough gravitas and appeal to be a presidential candidate, and that he was a rare breed amongt politicians today, almost invisible to the naked eye, a moderate-bordering-on-liberal Republican.

Even after he was defeated in a grueling bid for a fourth term in 1985 by Democrat Paul Simon, Percy was always referred to as Senator in greetings, meetings and walkabouts in Georgetown, where he and his wife settled happily when he first came to Washington.

Senator Percy had several careers and achievements outside the Senate. In addition to heading up a Washington-based trade and technology investment-consulting firm after his departure from the Senate, he also took on another role, one in which he took great pride. Percy became the good citizen of Georgetown, a role which he embraced with ardor, decency, and a commitment to the idea of community—an ideal that permeated all his efforts, whether working with the nation, a major business, or a self-described village in Washington, D.C.

For Georgetown, Percy provided leadership for the drive to create a livable, viable, ecologically sound and beautiful Waterfront Park. The $24 million, 9.5 acre park, a joint project of the National Park Service, the Friends of the Georgetown Waterfront Park and the District of Columbia, opened officially September 23, even as Senator Percy lay dying, giving the occasion an atmosphere of deep and mixed emotions amidst the celebration.

The occasion showed that a man’s life—even a Senator and presidential candidate—is not lived in one arena, one place and with one heart. Percy’s life was a classic story: he was a World War II veteran as an ensign in the U.S. Navy, he had a newspaper route, and he was a lifelong Republican who believed in the American success story and the virtues of American entrepreneurship that existed in his youth. Small wonder—in 1947 at the age of 29, he had risen to the president’s chair of Bell & Howell, one of America’s largest firms.

He first entered politics in a failed but close attempt to unseat Democrat Otto Kerner, Jr. for the governorship of Illinois. He defeated the venerable Paul Douglas for the Illinois Senate seat in 1966 and won two more terms, before being defeated his fourth term run.

As a Senator, he became what was then called a Rockefeller GOP liberal: pro-business, but moderate-to-liberal on social issues and, unlike many fellow Republicans, skeptical about the war in Vietnam. He called for an independent investigation of the Watergate scandal, going against a Republican president. For this, he had the honor of making Nixon’s Enemies List.

Time Magazine put him on their cover and, as a handsome, articulate and appealing bipartisan spokesman, he was often talked about as a presidential candidate. In an interview with the Georgetowner over a decade ago, he admitted that he had thought about it seriously but refused to challenge Gerald Ford for the nomination. In this, as in many things, he was different from future president Ronald Reagan. He was proud of having created legislation that created NPR, and even more proud of his daughter Sharon, who not only married a Rockefeller, but became president of WETA.
However, tragedy struck at the height of Percy’s success when, during his first Senate campaign, his 21-year-old daughter Valerie, twin to Sharon, was found murdered in her bed at the family home in Kenilworth. The murder was never solved.

“No one would have loved more to be here front and center [than my father],” said Percy’s daughter Sharon at the park dedication. “He would have been thrilled to see this magnificent setting. It is his fondest and last best work.”

A plaque in his honor at the park reads, in part: “Senator Charles H. Percy was pivotal in the creation of the Georgetown Waterfront Park. Senator Percy—a Georgetown resident, lover of the waterfront, and supporter of local high school rowing—chaired the Georgetown Waterfront Park Commission that was so instrumental in the park’s creation.”

Georgetown architect Outerbridge Horsey remembered going to Percy downtown with the late architect Bill Cochran to ask Percy to take on the leadership role in the waterfront project. “He was very amenable and agreeable,” Horsey said. “And he wasn’t just a figurehead with a famous name. He chaired every meeting in the early years until he resigned, and he had that voice and bearing of authority which got people to work together. He was very much a good citizen and member of the Georgetown community.”

He was also a regular and often vocal presence at CAG meetings, once famously calling a meeting to order with an ear-piercing whistle, which, like Percy’s moderation, is a disappearing skill. Sometimes, he would set himself down and start playing the church piano before meetings.

If Alzheimer’s is a disease that robs its victims of memory, then let us remember now Charles Harting Percy, father, husband, Senator, businessman, moderate Republican, philanthropist, and good citizen of Georgetown.

Robert Devaney •

Four days in New Orleans to work the exhibitor booth, to attend some seminars and speeches, to take in the sights and sounds of this city along the Mighty Mississippi and to meet clients and a great, old friend, David Roffman, retired editor and publisher of The Georgetowner. Too much? Hey, it’s N’awlins, baby. “Laissez les bon temps roulez,” and let’s find the time to greet and to eat.

It was Mitchell Davis of Broadcast Interview Source, Inc. and the Yearbook of Experts, who invited Roffman to the combined journalists’ convention – the Radio, Television and Digital News Association and the Society of Professional Journalists – at the Sheraton on Canal Street. A Georgetown University alum, Davis worked for The Georgetowner more than 30 years ago as a photographer and was delighted that Roffman had given him a darkroom back then.

On Sept. 25, while others stopped to speak with us, Roffman drove into the city from the Gulf shores of Alabama, got his convention badge and met us in the hall, ready to work. But this was more a learning rather than selling show, packed with speakers, sessions, book signing, critiques and receptions. Our retired publisher could simply relax, enjoy the show and explore the city.

We listened to Soledad O’Brien of CNN explain her work in documentaries, balancing family life, while admonishing newbie journalists to solve problems for themselves and their bosses, creatively and without complaint. Jeff Fager, CBS News chairman, proudly showed off “60 Minutes,” advising writers and producers not to cover too much but to focus and tell a story.

During the RTDNA awards ceremony for Lara Logan of “60 Minutes” and Linda Ellerbee of Nickelodeon’s Nick News, the room fell silent after the video introduction for Logan showed a base in Afghanistan and then Tahrir Square in Cairo, site of her brutal rape. She looked away from the screen and then spoke about how the attack seemed easier to live with then than now. “I am the model of imperfection,” said Logan, who lightened the mood and talked about the New York office. “If you are looking to go corporate, this is not the place for you,” the chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News said. “The same old offices have housed ‘60 Minutes’ for years. The diligent Logan said she strove for a good story at the end of the day and would ask herself: “How can I not f–k this up?”

On her recovery, Logan said she had felt “broken into one thousand pieces” but was “grateful for letters from people across America” and had expected more push back about the assault. “What we stand for as a Western society and America is free speech,” Logan said. “There is a war around the world against free speech. We are fighting for the survival of our civilization.”

Longtime TV news reporter and anchor Linda Ellerbee, now reporting the news to children with Nick News, showed she was a seasoned keynoter, tossing out such punch lines as “A journalist is an out-of-work reporter.” After double knee replacement on Sept. 15, she stood at the podium with her signature red Converse sneakers and admitted she could “get lost following a river.” Before she moved to her first TV reporting job, she was asked, “Have you ever done TV?” Ellerbee replied: “No, I’ve seen it.” Any job advice? “Don’t confuse change with motion.” “If you shove a microphone in someone’s face to convey tragedy, you’re a moral dwarf.” Her writing, she said, is the same for kids as when she wrote for the networks.  “I’ve morphed into some kind of raggedy-assed big bird,” Ellerbee said. “I love it. It’s good to laugh any time you can.”

Also available were training sessions on freelancing, videotaping, backpack journalism, Google, social media ethics, Facebook and journalism, transformational newspapers and narrative form in the age of tweets — not to mention the tour of post-Katrina levees or volunteering at the Second Harvest Food Bank. Was it too much? Of course, it was. And perfect to be in New Orleans, where print and electronic journalists and other media types were getting a handle on the changes all around them.