Enoch

Gerald W. Johnson: from Southern Liberal to National Conscience, by Vincent Fitzpatrick (Louisiana State University, 310 pages, $39.95). Johnson was a towering figure in American journalism and political and literary culture for as astonishing portion of his 90 years on earth, which ended in 1980. His many years writing for The Baltimore Evening Sun distinguished this city and newspaper, but that work was overshadowed by his more than 40 books -- biographies, histories, novels, a children's series.

On March 23, 2003 ELIZABETH (nee Slack), died of cancer at Gilcrest Hospice, age 69. She grew up on Bishops Road in Guilford. She is the daughter of the late Dr. Harry R. Slack and Betsy Randall Slack. She attended Calvert School and St. Timothy's School. After some nursing studies at Boston Children's Hospital, she returned to Baltimore and worked at the Peabody Library and later worked at the Central Library of Enoch Pratt Free Library. She a avid reader and writer of poetry. She is survived by her loving husband Charles Tibbits, a retired architect and a brother, four nephews and a niece.

QUEENSTOWN, South Africa -- On May 24, 1921, the men of an obscure black Christian sect called the Israelites put on their Old Testament white robes, strapped crude swords to their hips and followed their prophet into battle.On a field of thorn bushes and red dust at Bulhoek, near this colonial outpost, the Israelites confronted the largest peacetime police contingent that had ever assembled in this country: 800 men armed with rifles, machine guns and artillery.When the slaughter was over, few doubted that one of the more unusual experiments in African Christianity had ended.

While your 2009 calendar is still fresh, start saving the dates for the area's top literary events. A yearlong celebration of the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's birth kicks off in Baltimore next weekend, and there are many other events for book lovers. Here's a sampling: Poe bicentennial : Start the party at 7 p.m. Saturday at Westminster Hall in Baltimore, where Poe is buried. The event features a tribute by John Astin of The Addams Family, music and a theatrical performance. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door.

Fantasy and fact about Ireland's St. Pat This Sunday, millions of Americans will don their best green gear, brush up on their Celtic brogue and become Irish for a day in celebration of the Emerald Isle's patron saint, Patrick. This you already knew. And, of course, you are acquainted with tales of temperamental leprechauns and the luck-delivering capacity of a four-leaf clover. But did you know St. Patrick wasn't even Irish? Born sometime in the late fourth century, St. Patrick (originally named Maewyn Succat, historians think)

The city zoning board approved yesterday a $400,000 expansion of Eddie's of Roland Park, a gourmet grocery store in the 5100 block of Roland Ave., over the objections of the Roland Park Civic League. Eddie's will build a 15-by-68-foot glass-and-metal pavilion in front of the neighborhood mainstay for a cafM-i and coffee bar that will seat nearly 50 people. There will be no table service staff. City planner Susan Williams told the board that the cafe will "create a public gathering space" rather than more retail space.

HOW OFTEN do people offer to donate money to Baltimore's beloved Enoch Pratt Free Library? More often than you'd think -- gifts and grants now account for 11 percent of the library's budget. But the donation received three weeks ago by Pratt Director Carla D. Hayden turned out to be a million-dollar jackpot, only the second such gift in the library's 122-year history. Lucky Carla. Lucky Pratt. Lucky Baltimore. Now, through the generosity of this mysterious donor, Ms. Hayden will be able to check off a few items on a too long to-do list of improvements to the Pratt's 21 branches.

Unidentified man found fatally shot in Curtis Bay A man was shot and killed yesterday in Curtis Bay, city police said. His body was found in the 4500 block of Pennington Ave. about 5:39 a.m., said Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman. Authorities did not release the man's identity or any other details of the incident last night. Annie Linskey Baltimore: Schools Board to meet at Digital Harbor The Baltimore school board will hold its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday at Digital Harbor High School, rather than at school system headquarters.

Eat your hearts out, Mr. and Ms. T-Rex. When young students refer to a World Book encyclopedia, they go to the "Dog."An on-going research project conducted by World Book Encyclopedia shows that canines hold an abiding fascination for children. For 10 years, the subject "dog" has inspired more encyclopedic look-ups than "snake," "President of the United States," "cat", "fish" or "dinosaur" -- in that order, thank you.This is vital information for the folks at World Book, who depend on reader feedback to make annual revisions to the encyclopedia.