One look was enough
My column about Leon Kagarise, the late Towson hoarder whose photos of country music stars have just been published in a book, prompted Roy Langhans of Cockeysville to recall a visit to the collector's overstuffed house.
"About a dozen years ago, Leon was recommended to me when I was seeking a record player for my few 78 rpm records," Langhans e-mailed me. "When I telephoned him, he said he had just reconditioned a portable player that would meet my needs, 'but I won't let it go for less than $20!'
"I initially thought it strange that he insisted on meeting me on his porch and not letting me inside his house, but, then, you know the rest of that story.
"I'll never forget the sight when I glanced inside his open door."
Connect the dots
Attention anyone out there following the story of the Buckles family or Matt Jablow's career as a "Webumentarian"- the next installment is out on www.rmhbaltimore.com. That's the Web site for Baltimore's Ronald McDonald House. Jablow, a former WBAL newsman, Baltimore police spokesman and America's Most Wanted producer, is making a Web documentary on a Northern Virginia couple, Kevin and Melissa Buckles, who stay at the Ronald McDonald House when their children come to Baltimore for treatment. (The Buckles are parents of conjoined twins who were separated in 2004; the surgery left one of the girls paralyzed. They have another little girl who has a spinal tumor that threatens to paralyze her.) The first installment of Jablow's documentary went up in late November. ... Bob and Kendel Ehrlich's Christmas card is the grammar lesson that keeps on giving. I wrote the other day about a reader from Towson who wasn't convinced that "The Ehrlich's" had erred. She'd suggested I consult a grammarian at Hopkins. "[Y]our kindly 88 year-old Towson correspondent delivers 'the most unkindest cut of all' to her neighbor, Towson University, by suggesting that you check the 'English Department at Hopkins' for early grammatical usage of the possessive," writes Towson political rhetoric professor Richard Vatz, who regularly invites Bob Ehrlich to address his students. "I suggest that you use Towson University's English Department, which possesses all of the expertise you could use. In fact I have a secret grammatical aide there who helps me when I am grammatically challenged, and that source has never steered me wrong."
