Greta

Sarcoidosis is defined by the dictionary as ``a chronic disease of unknown cause, characterized by the formation of nodules resembling true tubercles in the lymph nodes, lungs, bones, skin and other organs.''It primarily afflicts African-Americans. It hit John Anderson last fall and affected his brain. Almost overnight, an active 41-year-old letter carrier known to his customers along Liberty Road as the ``singing mailman'' lost the ability to walk, to speak clearly, to drive a car and to write.

Lise Van Susteren, the only woman running for Maryland's open U.S. Senate seat, bowed out of the race yesterday, pointing to concern that she would not be able to raise enough money to emerge from the crowded Democratic primary field. A forensic psychiatrist and political neophyte, Van Susteren said in a statement that she would not yet endorse one of her Democratic opponents but promised to help the eventual nominee to victory in November. "We need to elect people from diverse occupational backgrounds, who bring skills honed from success in other areas, and whose life experiences sharpen their passion to consider the lives of real people when making policy," she said.

Psychiatrist Lise Van Susteren, a political novice and sister of Fox News television personality Greta Van Susteren, announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate yesterday, saying she wants to fix the nation's fractured health care system and doesn't think current officeholders are up to the task. "I am not a career politician. I am a citizen fed up with the way the country is headed," Van Susteren, 54, said during a kickoff speech at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. "While they may be well meaning, I have lost confidence that the professional politicians can turn things around," she said.

Nicole Stall boarded the first plane to Maryland she could catch when she heard of Benjamin Boniface's death last June. She was there to grieve the death of a boy she had known since his birth. But also to work. In the days after the 20-year-old's death in an early-morning car accident on the farm, she went to the barns where she had fallen in love with horses as a teenager. “I was completely out of it,” said William K. Boniface, known to most as Billy. “She just went out to the stallion barn, kept it running.

Suddeny on July 22, 2006, GRETAbeloved mother of Gary Jr. On view Thursday from 1 to 7 P. M at the Joseph G. Locks Jr., Funeral Home, 1304 N. Central Avenue. Wake from 10 to 11 A. M Friday at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Mass to follow. Interment King Memorial Park. Inquiries 410-685-7555.

It's not always in the Preakness Stakes, but every year, John Carroll graduate Nicole Stall urges her husband, trainer Al Stall Jr., to find a race for one of his horses on the third Saturday in May. This year, Departing gave Al Stall his second Preakness mount, finishing sixth in the nine-horse race while his wife and her family were treated to another memorable Preakness Day. “I used to always come growing up, and we try and run horses on...

The Muse in Exile: Emigres and Divas series continues Thursday with Ninotchka, a 1939 romance named for a lovely Bolshevik in Paris played by Greta Garbo. The picture weds the understated virtuosity of Ernst Lubitsch's direction to the unabashed wisecracking of a script by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch. The movie is full of cynical jokes in what became the established Wilder manner: Ninotchka defends Stalin's purges with the declaration, "There are going to be fewer but better Russians!"

The wind whipped against my skirt as I hurried to the restaurant. This week had been grueling.I craved the peacefulness of a solitary lunch. I could relate to Greta Garbo's famous line, "I want to be alone." Perhaps that's why I ordered the Greta Garbo sandwich ($3.75) from the menu.Or perhaps I ordered it because it sounded so enticing: chicken salad, bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo. I specified pumpernickel bread.The day was so brisk I had to have something warm, like soup.

Elizabeth Taylor, who died early Wednesday morning of congestive heart failure at age 79, did something no other actor ever did. At every stage of her career she became a superstar all over again. As a magical little girl, a pristine ingénue and a voluptuous woman, she created characters and images that enraptured or fascinated international audiences. In the second half of the 20th century, no other Hollywood-bred celebrity was as frequently photographed, celebrated or vilified.

On October 30, 2004 THE REV. ROBERT F. II (St. James Church, Parkton), beloved husband of Erika Miller (nee Orfield), devoted father of Greta and Brittany Miller. Memorial services will be held Wednesday, November 3 at 2 P.M. at St. John's Church, Western Run Parish, Glyndon. Please omit flowers. Interment private. Arrangements by Eckhardt Funeral Chapel, Manchester, MD.