Ebony

Tamara Dobson, the Baltimore-born model-turned-actress best known for her leading role in two films as kung fu-fighting government super-agent Cleopatra Jones, died Monday at Keswick Multi-Care Center from complications of pneumonia and multiple sclerosis. She was 59. One of four children of a beauty shop operator and railroad clerk, Miss Dobson was a graduate of Western High School.

Myranda Stephens, a reporter for WBFF-TV (Fox 45), has been named one of EBONY Magazine's 10 Sexiest Singles. The local reporter is part of the annual feature that appears in the October issue of magazine. Stephens, 33, said she entered the contest on a "whim" and can't believe she was chosen. "I remember as a child, flipping through my mother's EBONY magazines, gazing at all of the African-American celebrities. Now, I'm featured in EBONY! What an honor, and what an amazing experience," she said in a statement.

CHICAGO -- I'm putting my sanity on the line here, virtually rolling the dice with my peace of mind as the stakes.I'm in the Windy City for the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists. I went to my first one last year in Nashville, when one Louis Farrakhan gave an opening-day address which is infamous now. He excoriated the assembled journalists, implying they were Uncle Toms afraid to stand up to their white bosses. When he was done, the crowd -- obviously afflicted with a deep streak of masochism -- gave the man a standing ovation.

Gerry Garvin struts down the aisle with a black chef's smock, sunglasses, knee-length khaki shorts and clogs to deliver a cooking presentation at a health fair at a local church. As he prepares to make four dishes featuring cherry tomatoes, including ones with clams, mussels, and Chilean sea bass, a woman in the audience begins walking toward the back of the church. "Where you going?" he asks as he prepares the pan with oil. "Don't walk out when I'm trying to do my thing!" Garvin, who is in his late 30s and lives in Los Angeles, does his thing most days on TV One's Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin.

At the post-show party for the 51st Annual Ebony Fashion Fair , held at Morgan State University's Murphy Fine Arts Center, it became apparent that it wasn't just the show that has a proud history. When the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. began hosting the touring fashion show more than 50 years ago, the chapter already had a 44-year jump on it. And for many of the party's guests, the history of both was a personal one. "It's awesome. I've been coming since I was in the fifth grade.

SPIRITS WERE AS HIGH AS SOME OF THE hemlines at the 50th Annual Ebony Fashion Fair. A crowd of 2,000, mostly women, converged on Morgan State University's Murphy Fine Arts Center for the traveling fashion show. This was a time to celebrate 50 years in business, and for the same 50 years, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. has been the show's host here, using its part of the proceeds to benefit its scholarship program. In its first few years, "a lot of the models couldn't stay in the hotels in town, so they stayed at the [sorority members']

A new seafood recipe book by Annapolis waterman Vincent O. Leggett captures more than the flavor of the Chesapeake Bay between its covers. It also offers a look at the lives and images of the bay's African-American captains, fishermen, crab pickers, oyster shuckers and boat builders framing a sampling of recipes taken from more than a dozen ports. "The Chesapeake Bay Through Ebony Eyes," released in December through the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation, is Leggett's latest effort to weave African-American maritime experiences into bay legacy.

EVERY FALL, the Ebony Fashion Fair sweeps into town, bringing with it gowns, jewels, furs and play clothes from top European and American designers -- clothes most often seen only by the rich and famous and in the pages of the glossiest magazines.The world-class lineup includes names such as Versace, Blass, Valentino, Dior, Ungaro, Cardin, De la Renta.It is only fitting that proceeds from this showcase of fabulous, unaffordable clothes affords an opportunity for deserving students to continue their educational goals.

AT 16, ANDREA CARTER didn't consider herself attractive She thought she was too tall, her eyes were too small and her hair wasn't thick enough."In school I was taller than everybody, especially the guys," she said. "I always had a complex about not dating guys who were shorter, so I wouldn't date. I was just into my school work."But as mothers have pleaded for generations with their teen-age daughters who sit at home alone on Saturday nights: just give it time.Today, at age 22 the Baltimore native is a model with the Ebony Fashion Fair tour, which comes to Baltimore Sunday, Oct. 14, at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

They say this is not a fashion town. They should get out more often. Style is alive and well here, but it takes special events like last Sunday's Ebony Fashion Fair to make it perk. Quality is a given 36-year tradition for the all-out international designer lineup. It's the audience that proves fashion has a place in women's lives. We're talking women, not trendies. The guests and alumnae of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, sponsors of the show, understand polish. There were no sneakers, no grunge, no message T-shirts.