Baltimore Magazine

The tumultuous reign of Susan Souders Obrecht as president of Baltimore magazine ended yesterday as Stephen A. Geppi, the comic book king from Little Italy, bought the publication for an undisclosed sum.The sale to Mr. Geppi, who founded Diamond Comic Distributors in Timonium and built it into the largest company in the business, lTC followed negotiations that have been continuing for at least four months, said Ms. Souders Obrecht, chief executive of...

Howard Gary Bass, whose career as a Baltimore District Court judge spanned nearly three decades and who was known as something of a judicial free spirit for his application of humor to the law, died Tuesday afternoon at Good Samaritan Hospital after being stricken with a heart attack at his Homeland residence. Judge Bass was 70. On the day of his death, lawyers, judges and colleagues from across the state were preparing to honor him at a retirement dinner that evening at Sammy's Trattoria in downtown Baltimore.

Comic-book tycoon and Baltimore Orioles part-owner Steve Geppi has been negotiating to buy Baltimore magazine from the investment group that acquired it two years ago, Mr. Geppi said yesterday.In response to a reporter's question, Mr. Geppi said he has been discussing a possible deal since April with ESS Ventures Inc., the Greenbelt-based investment group that bought the magazine in mid-1992.The parties have "a wide bridge to cross yet" before agreeing to terms, said Mr. Geppi, head of Timonium-based Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. "It's definitely something that I personally want to do," he said.

Christopher C. Hartman, known as Baltimore's P.T. Barnum when he staged flamboyant media events as press spokesman for Mayor William Donald Schaefer, died of heart failure Thursday at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 67 and lived in Cockeysville. A founder and first chairman of the 1970 Baltimore City Fair, he was recalled as a promoter of city neighborhoods, sports teams and businesses. His best-known stunt was dressing the mayor in an old-style swimming suit and posing him in a pool with a rubber duck alongside a comely mermaid outside the National Aquarium in 1981.

The former managing editor of Mid-Atlantic Country magazine has been named executive editor of Baltimore magazine in one of a number of hirings announced yesterday by Jonathan Witty, the magazine's editor and associate publisher.Ramsey Flynn, a former senior writer for Baltimore magazine and a former writer at Washingtonian magazine, is expected to assume his new position next week, Mr. Witty said.L In other staff announcements made by the magazine yesterday:* Lois W. Perschetz, a former senior editor at Women's Wear Daily and W in New York, was appointed style editor.

CLARIFICATIONAn article published in the Business section of Tuesday's editions of The Sun may have given the incorrect impression that the level of advertising in Baltimore magazine has fallen.In fact, advertising at the magazine has increased in recent years. Overall advertising pages were up 18.4 percent at the magazine through June, according to Baltimore publisher Jonathan Witty.The editor of Baltimore magazine told members of the staff yesterday that there were strong rumors that the owners of the 50,000 circulation publication could agree to sell the magazine to Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. owner Steven Geppi by the end of this week.

Havre de Grace. -- In theory, the recent sale of Baltimore Magazine to an odd collection of deep-pockets investors could be good news for readers. In publishing, the shake-ups that go with a change of ownership are often stimulating -- when they're not disasters.The last shake-up at Baltimore Magazine was a good one. When Annapolis publisher Phil Merrill bought the monthly from the Chamber of Commerce 16 years ago, it was a pretty dowdy old thing. Then Mr. Merrill made Stan Heuisler the editor and turned him loose, and soon there was steady and sometimes spectacular progress.

A local investor group headed by Susan Souders Obrecht is negotiating to buy Baltimore Magazine.Ms. Obrecht owns Mid-Atlantic Country magazine, a monthly based in Greenbelt. She once owned Times Publishing Group Inc., which published four weeklies: the Towson Times, the Owings Mills Times, the Baltimore Messenger and the Jeffersonian.Included in Ms. Obrecht's investor group are Reg Murphy, former publisher of The Baltimore Sun; Robert Garrett, a New York investment manager and member of the board of trustees of the Abell Foundation Inc.; and Frank A. Bonsal Jr., a local venture capitalist.

An article in Friday's Sun about the sale of Baltimore Magazine said that David Whitmore would be the magazine's new art director. Mr. Whitmore is be art director of the magazine's parent company.* The Sun regrets the error.A group led by Susan Souders Obrecht, the publisher of Mid-Atlantic Country magazine, has purchased Baltimore Magazine, a 50,000-circulation monthly, from Capital-Gazette Communications Inc. of Annapolis.Jonathan Witty, former editor of the Towson Times, previously owned by Ms. Obrecht, has been named the magazine's editor and associate publisher.

'Urbanite,' a free monthly magazine focused on urban affairs in the Baltimore area, will go out of business at the end of September, publisher Tracy Ward said Friday.   She said the print magazine now on the street is the last, and that the website will most likely go dark as of Oct. 1 "for the foreseeable future," even though she herself will probably keep working through the end of the year to tie up loose ends. Ward has owned the publication for almost a decade.   "A lot of people rallied around it," she said in telephone interview Friday afternoon.

'Urbanite,' a free monthly magazine focused on urban affairs in the Baltimore area, will go out of business at the end of September, publisher Tracy Ward said Friday.   She said the print magazine now on the street is the last, and that the website will most likely go dark as of Oct. 1 "for the foreseeable future," even though she herself will probably keep working through the end of the year to tie up loose ends. Ward has owned the publication for almost a decade.   "A lot of people rallied around it," she said in telephone interview Friday afternoon.

Brian Lawrence confirmed that he has been fired as editor-in-chief at Baltimore's STYLE magazine after 10 years in that job. His relationship with the publication actually extended back 20 years, since he served as creative director for Blue Sky Design for a decade while Style was one of its clients. In that capacity, he was essentially the creative director of the magazine before he was named editor. Lawrence declined comment on his departure from the magazine last week. But he said he hoped to stay in the Baltimore-Washington area and was looking for a new position.

It's true: Michael Phelps' Fells Point condo has sold, and the most decorated Olympian of all time took a significant loss. TMZ originally reported a sale last week without attribution. Now the property, 967 Fell Street, is listed under the "Sold" category on real estate agent Heidi Krauss' website. A source at the office confirmed that the property, listed for $1.42 million, sold for $1.25 million. Phelps purchased the home in October 2007 for $1.69 million. Though Phelps declined to disclose where he'd be moving, he did tell The Sun that he always plans to have a home in Baltimore.

A new top editor has taken the reins of Baltimore City Paper, the 35-year-old free weekly newspaper announced Monday. Evan Serpick, a former senior editor at Baltimore magazine, took over June 13, according to a statement from the paper. Serpick replaces Lee Gardner, who resigned last month after serving as the paper's editor for a decade. Serpick, who grew up in the Baltimore suburbs, has also worked as an associate editor of Rolling Stone magazine and as a correspondent for Entertainment Weekly.

Check out this video interview with Bridget Sampson, co-owner of The Dogwood , on the website of University of Baltimore magazine. Sampson talks about the apprenticeship program at the Hampden restaurant she runs with her husband, chef Galen Samspson. In the interview, Sampson says that business classes at the university helped her and Galen Sampson to re-tool Dogwood's business model, which she refers to as a "social business. " The magazine also has a piece on alumnus Allesandro Vitale (B.A.

"Mad Men's" love of Baltimore is no surprise. Creator Matthew Weiner is a native and multiple members cast and crew have Baltimore roots (the series notably took a trip to our city in Season 3). And now you can add last night's hilarious LSD trip to the list of Baltimore shout-outs. Sure, it's likely a coincidence, but both Peyton List (who plays Jane Sterling) and Bess Armstrong (who played Jane's psychedelic psychologist, Catherine Orcutt) went to high school in Baltimore.

WHO IS the most powerful political leader in the Baltimore region? Not Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., according to the most recent issue of Baltimore magazine. The magazine ranked the 50 most powerful people in the metropolitan area, and Arbutus' own Governor Bobby scored a middling 21. Ten spots on the list were claimed by elected and appointed office-holders, and Ehrlich ranked only seventh out of those 10. Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley scored the highest in that group, at fifth overall.

Thomas Robert Lindos, a retired First Home Mortgage loan officer and a continuing education teacher for the Harford County Association of Realtors, died of cancer Dec. 25 at Gilchrist Hospice Care. He was 64 and lived in the Village of Cross Keys. Born in Baltimore and raised in Towson, he was a 1965 City College graduate. He earned a business degree from the University of Baltimore. As a young man, he worked in sales and marketing and became a mortgage banker at First Home on York Road in Towson.

Whew. 2011's Hampdenfest is all over but the healing. And by healing, I'm talking my own personal recovery from a vicious mix of hangover, sunburn and what I like to call festival chafe. The rains paused while Hampden's annual neighborhood festival took its weirdness to the people. And weirdness it was - Hampden Idol, macaroni and cheese, carneys , metal sculptures, heavy metal, punk rock, experimental music, even rap, skateboarding, a kids area, toilet races, and so much more.