Ishmael

On December 24, 2004 RADICA ISHMAEL passed surrounded by her beloved family and friends. She leaves behind her husband Rodger and her children Christopher, Catherine and Joshua. She will never be forgotten by her 3 sisters and 3 brothers. The love of her parents will guide her. She leaves with love many nieces, nephews and dear friends. Arrangements by Bruzdzinski Funeral Home P.A., 410-686-4888.

As I noted on Read Street, the reclusive J.D. Salinger recently emerged from his self-imposed exile to try to stop publication of an unauthorized "sequel" to The Catcher in the Rye. Don't expect to see the 90-year-old Salinger in a New York federal courtroom as the literary fight develops over 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, a book that has been published in Great Britain and is headed here. Years ago, Salinger battled an unauthorized biographer and the author of a fictitious interview, using lawyers as his proxy each time.

"Still Life with Volkswagens," by Geoff Nicholson. Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press. 233 pages. $21.95Volkswagen Beetles (I had 11 of them) were smelly, slow, noisy, slow, hot in summer, cold in winter, and not only did the heaters rust out at 5,000 miles, but no defrosting capability remained. For several years, I depended on a spray can defroster, made largely of ethyl alcohol, which one sprayed on the inner windshield, repeatedly. I arrived at work stewed and developed a pounding headache by 10 o'clock.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah Sarah Crichton Books / Farrar, Straus & Giroux / 229 pages / $22 New York --Ishmael Beah thought he'd seen enough miracles in one lifetime when U.N. officials helped him move at age 17 to America, far from the African civil war where he'd been a 13-year-old soldier. Settled with an adoptive mother in New York City, he did well in high school and graduated from Oberlin College. But his good fortune was only beginning: Not only did Beah find a publisher for his subsequent book about his childhood, A Long Way Gone, but the memoir attracted enormous media attention, including an excerpt that became a New York Times Magazine cover article.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah Sarah Crichton Books / Farrar, Straus & Giroux / 229 pages / $22 New York --Ishmael Beah thought he'd seen enough miracles in one lifetime when U.N. officials helped him move at age 17 to America, far from the African civil war where he'd been a 13-year-old soldier. Settled with an adoptive mother in New York City, he did well in high school and graduated from Oberlin College. But his good fortune was only beginning: Not only did Beah find a publisher for his subsequent book about his childhood, A Long Way Gone, but the memoir attracted enormous media attention, including an excerpt that became a New York Times Magazine cover article.

Ishmael Cason stood under the arch between his family's Forest Park living room and dining room yesterday, shifting his weight, lightly jabbing at air. The 16-year-old was like this in Sunday's wee morning hours, but then his eyes were riveted on the 55-inch television screen and the image of his cousin, Hasim "The Rock" Rahman, fighting unsuccessfully in Las Vegas to retain his two heavyweight boxing titles. "When it first came on, I got pumped," the 16-year old recalled. As his cousin, the only heavyweight champion ever to emerge from Baltimore, boxed on the wide screen, Ishmael bounced around - a poke, a jab, a murmur of "Oh, please" as he clenched a fist.

Head coach: Jerry Gray (15th season).Assistant coaches: John Welsh, Ray Fino, Mike Daly, George Drummey, Terry Brant.1991 record: 5-5.Returnees: Seniors David Booth (C); Scott Bocek (OT); Brian Currey (WR); Myron Cole (RB); David Ishmael (QB). Juniors Ron Mincy (LB); Tom Slovick (MG); Tim Mostouf (FB-TE-LB); Obie Sims (FB-DE).Newcomers: Seniors David Davis (OE-DE), Matt Hopkins (OE-DB); Seth Rigler (OT-LB). Juniors Jason Binert (OG-LB); Rice McElroy (OG-DE); Nick Jenkins (OE-DE); Mike Boyle (RB-DB)

On Sunday, January 18, 2004 LEE MACE WILLEY, JR., 70, of Garnite; loving husband of Lennie Smith; devoted father of Lee Mace Willey, III, Michael and wife Mary Willey and the late Julia Kim Willey; dearest brother of Ishmael Willey and the late Betty Lee Mattha. Also survived by five grandchildren, Casey, Debbie, Zach, Zeke and Eli Willey; predeceased in death by wife Lois Ellen Dennis Willey. Friends may call Tuesday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. at the BURRIER-QUEEN FUNERAL DIRECTORS, P.A., 1212 W. Old Liberty Road, Winfield, MD 21784.

TODAY'S soap summaries:"Moby Dick": Ishmael finally persuades Captain Ahab's widow to go to the beach with him. His courtship suffers a setback, however, when they come upon Starbuck's distraught nephew Sunbuck building a sand castle. Sunbuck accuses Ishmael of inventing the story of the Pequod's destruction-by-whale out of the whole cloth for sinister purposes. Ahab and Stubb, still at the bottom of the well where Ishmael put them, make up after Stubb promises to quit telling peg-leg jokes.

"The Woody," by Peter Lefcourt. Simon and Schuster. 318 pages. $23. From the misbegotten use of the definite article in the title, it seems that "The Woody" is a novel that suffers, like its protagonist, Senator Woodrow "Woody" Wilson White, from needless performance anxiety.Luckily enough, it's actually terrific. The very funny Peter Lefcourt (a man whose book "The Dreyfus Affair," about two gay major leaguers, taught me everything I know about baseball) has crafted a hilarious narrative about the Job-like trials of the erratically tumescent, completely unprincipled, borderline-vacuous, and ultimately strangely likable senator from Vermont, seeking re-election.

On December 24, 2004 RADICA ISHMAEL passed surrounded by her beloved family and friends. She leaves behind her husband Rodger and her children Christopher, Catherine and Joshua. She will never be forgotten by her 3 sisters and 3 brothers. The love of her parents will guide her. She leaves with love many nieces, nephews and dear friends. Arrangements by Bruzdzinski Funeral Home P.A., 410-686-4888.

WE HAVE HEARD a good deal of talk in recent days about the time-tested truths of the Bible in which the life of this country is purportedly grounded. I would not want to shake the faith of those who hold that belief. But as someone who has spent the last few years contending with the original text of the Hebrew Bible word by weighted word, my own conclusion is that biblical truths are more various, more complex and more interesting than our popular preconceptions of them. Translating the Bible has been a compelling activity for me, one that has made me see the boldness and the power of the ancient Hebrew with fresh eyes.

Lee Mace Willey, a retired electrician and woodworker, died of cancer Sunday at Westminster Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. He was 70 and lived in Granite. Mr. Willey was born and raised in Dundalk, and was a graduate of Dundalk High School. He served as an Army cook in Korea from 1953 to 1956. He worked for more than 40 years as an electrician at the Sparrows Point plant of Bethlehem Steel Corp., retiring in 1997. Mr. Willey enjoyed making furniture and carving miniature scenes featuring buildings, interiors and people inspired by the Old West.

On Sunday, January 18, 2004 LEE MACE WILLEY, JR., 70, of Garnite; loving husband of Lennie Smith; devoted father of Lee Mace Willey, III, Michael and wife Mary Willey and the late Julia Kim Willey; dearest brother of Ishmael Willey and the late Betty Lee Mattha. Also survived by five grandchildren, Casey, Debbie, Zach, Zeke and Eli Willey; predeceased in death by wife Lois Ellen Dennis Willey. Friends may call Tuesday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. at the BURRIER-QUEEN FUNERAL DIRECTORS, P.A., 1212 W. Old Liberty Road, Winfield, MD 21784.

Ishmael Cason stood under the arch between his family's Forest Park living room and dining room yesterday, shifting his weight, lightly jabbing at air. The 16-year-old was like this in Sunday's wee morning hours, but then his eyes were riveted on the 55-inch television screen and the image of his cousin, Hasim "The Rock" Rahman, fighting unsuccessfully in Las Vegas to retain his two heavyweight boxing titles. "When it first came on, I got pumped," the 16-year old recalled. As his cousin, the only heavyweight champion ever to emerge from Baltimore, boxed on the wide screen, Ishmael bounced around - a poke, a jab, a murmur of "Oh, please" as he clenched a fist.

"The Woody," by Peter Lefcourt. Simon and Schuster. 318 pages. $23. From the misbegotten use of the definite article in the title, it seems that "The Woody" is a novel that suffers, like its protagonist, Senator Woodrow "Woody" Wilson White, from needless performance anxiety.Luckily enough, it's actually terrific. The very funny Peter Lefcourt (a man whose book "The Dreyfus Affair," about two gay major leaguers, taught me everything I know about baseball) has crafted a hilarious narrative about the Job-like trials of the erratically tumescent, completely unprincipled, borderline-vacuous, and ultimately strangely likable senator from Vermont, seeking re-election.

Samuel Streett Bevard, 95, owned hauling contractorSamuel Streett Bevard, a Baltimore native and former owner of a hauling contracting company, died of a heart attack %J Thursday at his Bethesda home. He was 95.In 1938, Mr. Bevard founded the Silver Hill Sand, Gravel and Concrete Co. in Prince George's County and operated the sand and gravel mining and processing business until 1975.A native of the Walbrook section of West Baltimore, Mr. Bevard married the former Mary Rose Duvall in 1928; she died in 1971.

Lee Mace Willey, a retired electrician and woodworker, died of cancer Sunday at Westminster Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. He was 70 and lived in Granite. Mr. Willey was born and raised in Dundalk, and was a graduate of Dundalk High School. He served as an Army cook in Korea from 1953 to 1956. He worked for more than 40 years as an electrician at the Sparrows Point plant of Bethlehem Steel Corp., retiring in 1997. Mr. Willey enjoyed making furniture and carving miniature scenes featuring buildings, interiors and people inspired by the Old West.

Too bad they couldn't cast a real whale.Determined to become a serious player in the TV movie biz, the USA cable network (in partnership with Hallmark Entertainment) sank some $20 million into a two-part adaptation of "Moby Dick." For their trouble, they got dynamic performances from Patrick Stewart as Ahab and Ted Levine as Starbuck, some fine shipboard atmosphere, and a giant rubber whale tail that looks as realistic and as menacing as a giant rubber whale tail.The filmmakers certainly had plenty to work with when it came to source material.

Samuel Streett Bevard, 95, owned hauling contractorSamuel Streett Bevard, a Baltimore native and former owner of a hauling contracting company, died of a heart attack %J Thursday at his Bethesda home. He was 95.In 1938, Mr. Bevard founded the Silver Hill Sand, Gravel and Concrete Co. in Prince George's County and operated the sand and gravel mining and processing business until 1975.A native of the Walbrook section of West Baltimore, Mr. Bevard married the former Mary Rose Duvall in 1928; she died in 1971.