John Adams

"John Adams," by David McCullough. Simon & Schuster. 749 pages. $35. Bracketed by those Mount Rushmore colossi, Washington and Jefferson, President John Adams finally gets the laudatory and accessible biography he deserves. For two centuries, he has been criticized, disparaged and often ignored by generations of historians and scribblers -- this despite his prodigious labors in the creation of this republic, No other of our foundation fathers, not a one, can match the breadth of his record as the driving force behind the Declaration of Independence, as chairman of the Board of War in organizing the great rebellion, as a top negotiator in securing Britain's recognition of American freedom and as a president who avoided what could have been a disastrous all-out conflict with France.

Congress' inability to agree on matters of import isn't exactly a new phenomenon, but the Colonial Players' current production of the musical "1776" reminds us that fiery debate has been a part of our nation from the outset. Sherman Edwards' 1969 Tony Award winner for best musical, with book by Peter Stone, chronicles the vote for independence by the Continental Congress in the summer of 1776. Director Beth Terranova says the musical reveals "the enormity of the task our founding fathers set out for themselves.

Robert John Adams, an expert on radar antennas who worked for more than three decades at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, died of Parkinson's disease Dec. 5 at his Hamilton home. He was 88. Dr. Adams was born and raised in Solon, Iowa, and earned his bachelor's degree in physics in 1936 from the State University of Iowa. In 1941, he earned a doctorate in physics from the University of Wisconsin. After working two years in the physics laboratory at Corning Glass Works in Corning, N.Y., Dr. Adams joined the naval research facility's radar branch as head of the antenna section.

Martin Van Buren was not the only sitting vice president elected president during the 19th century ("President Biden? History says no," Feb. 2). Thomas Jefferson achieved the same distinction when, as vice president at the start of the century, he defeated and succeeded the incumbent president John Adams - even though that election was ultimately decided by the U.S. House of Representatives due to a tied electoral vote between Jefferson and Aaron...

John Adams Boyd Sr., a retired Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. technician, died of kidney failure Thursday at his home in Englewood, Fla., where he moved 12 years ago. The former Linthicum resident was 81. Born in Baltimore and raised in Linthicum Heights, Mr. Boyd was a 1940 graduate of Glen Burnie High School. He was a Navy chief petty officer and served during World War II and the Korean War. For more than 41 years, he was an electrical technician with BGE at its Front Street operation.

The leading man is a short, bald, pot-bellied lawyer with a passion for reading Latin and a habit of making enemies. The leading lady quotes Shakespeare, dresses modestly and seldom looks like she's having fun. The opening hour unfolds against a backdrop of mud, snow and the endless gray of a New England winter. And all seven hours are filled with talk in historically accurate English accents about big ideas from the 18th century like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is not exactly the stuff of which TV miniseries are usually made.

History was made on several fronts at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards last night. The HBO miniseries John Adams surpassed the 2003 HBO production Angels in America to become the most honored long form program in TV history. Meanwhile, AMC's Mad Men, a stylish series about life on Madison Avenue in the 1960s, became the first basic cable program to win as best drama. And then came writer-actress Tina Fey and the series she created, NBC's 30 Rock, dominating the comedy category like no other sitcom in years as it took home awards for best writing, best actress, best actor and best comedy.

During a "Composers in Conversation" appearance last week before an attentive audience at Theatre Project, John Adams offered revealing glimpses into his life, his music and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra program he will conduct this week. He also dropped a little verbal incendiary. "There are a lot of composers today," Adams said, "just not a lot of original ones. You could count the number of great composers today on half a hand." Ouch. That declaration may have seemed a little surprising coming from the soft-spoken, gray-haired Adams, dressed in the earth-tone casual you'd expect from a man long and happily based in Berkeley, Calif.

One hundred and seventy-five years after his death, John Adams, that short, stout, irascible and talkative "Colossus of Independence," has suddenly popped up as America's hottest president. Adams died on the Fourth of July 1826, 50 years after he signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. Traditionally, his last words were: "Jefferson still survives." But Thomas Jefferson had already died a few hours earlier at Monticello, his Virginia home. For 200 years, Adams has been overshadowed by Jefferson - and most of the rest of the Founding Fathers.

On August 27, 2003 ROBERT JOHN ADAMS of Severna Park; beloved husband of Marion Hulse Adams; devoted father of Thomas John Adams, Barbara M. Wood, Robert Jeffery Adams and Janet Lee Bartlett; loving son of Edward and Estelle Adams; dear brother of Donald Adams and Lawrence Ned Adams. Also survived by 11 grandchildren and one late grand daughter. Friends may call at the BARRANCO & SONS, P.A., SEVERNA PARK FUNERAL HOME, Ritchie Highway at Robinson Rd. on Firday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Service Saturday 10 A.M. at the Church of Jeues Christ L.D.S.

Dr. John E. Adams, a pathologist who chaired the department of pathology at Greater Baltimore Medical Center for more than two decades after its founding and was a leading expert in bioethics, died July 9 of heart failure at Gilchrist Hospice in Towson. The longtime Timonium resident was 82. "He influenced a lot of people, myself included. He was a seminal figure in my life and a role model for so many people," said Dr. Ronald L. Sirota, who worked with Dr. Adams at GBMC from 1979 to 1983.

In April, after the Senate, buckling under the threat of a presidential veto, failed to pass a law that would close a loophole and allow women to sue for equal pay, an outraged Sen. Barbara Mikulski took the floor to speak. "Many people have been mesmerized by the John Adams miniseries," said the Maryland Democrat. "I like John Adams, but I really like Abigail. "While John Adams was down in Philadelphia writing the Declaration of Independence and laying the groundwork for the Constitution and inventing America, Abigail Adams wrote her husband from the farm - while raising the four children and keeping the family going.

Pasadena Theatre Company, showing a good sense of timing or a little bit of luck, scheduled in the middle of an election season a musical chronicling the vote for independence by the Continental Congress in the summer of 1776. The theater group knew about the historical parallels between the 1969 Broadway opening when Americans were divided over the Vietnam War and the present political divisions over Iraq, but it is unlikely to have anticipated the wrangling in Congress over the financial crisis during this musical's opening week.

History was made on several fronts at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards last night. The HBO miniseries John Adams surpassed the 2003 HBO production Angels in America to become the most honored long form program in TV history. Meanwhile, AMC's Mad Men, a stylish series about life on Madison Avenue in the 1960s, became the first basic cable program to win as best drama. And then came writer-actress Tina Fey and the series she created, NBC's 30 Rock, dominating the comedy category like no other sitcom in years as it took home awards for best writing, best actress, best actor and best comedy.

History might be made on two fronts tonight at the Emmys. While much has been written about either AMC's Mad Men or FX's Damages having a chance to become the first basic cable series to win as best drama, even more compelling is the possibility that HBO's John Adams could be the most honored program in TV history before the night ends. The historically sound and dramatically dazzling miniseries about the life of America's second president won eight Emmys last week at the Creative Arts portion of the competition and needs only three more tonight to tie Angels in America, the 2003 HBO miniseries based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about AIDS, and the 1976 ABC production Eleanor and Franklin, a made-for-TV movie about the life of President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor.

The leading man is a short, bald, pot-bellied lawyer with a passion for reading Latin and a habit of making enemies. The leading lady quotes Shakespeare, dresses modestly and seldom looks like she's having fun. The opening hour unfolds against a backdrop of mud, snow and the endless gray of a New England winter. And all seven hours are filled with talk in historically accurate English accents about big ideas from the 18th century like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is not exactly the stuff of which TV miniseries are usually made.

Murphy and Dan are carrying on a shameless flirtation in public. They ought to keep it in the closet.Thanks to Murphy, Dan has the best name recognition of any vice president since John Adams.George promised the U.N. that the U.S. now fully supports its activities, short of actually paying for them.A draft-dodger vs. an economic mismanager, choose one of the above.Cheer up. Of 569 murder victims in Maryland in 1991, only 8 percent were juveniles (that's 45.52 juveniles).

MISSING ... Such a simple, straightforward word, but almost unbearably heavy, with layer upon layer of meaning, when intoned and repeated by a boy's voice during the opening moments of John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls, his Pulitzer Prize-winning composition, premiered a year after the attacks of 9 / 11. OF MUSIC AND MEMORY: ON THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS / / BSO / / 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 3 p.m. April 30 / / Meyerhoff Symphony Hall /...

Every now and then you'll find composers in a concert hall, ready to bound up to the stage for a bow after someone else leads a performance of their work. That happened just last week, when John Adams was on hand to hear Baltimore Symphony Orchestra music director Marin Alsop conduct his kinetic Fearful Symmetries. But Adams is back this week, and he's not confined to a listening role. Alsop had the welcome idea of inviting several prominent composers to conduct programs that combined their own music with something from older repertoire, chiefly by Beethoven, whose nine symphonies are scattered throughout the season.

During a "Composers in Conversation" appearance last week before an attentive audience at Theatre Project, John Adams offered revealing glimpses into his life, his music and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra program he will conduct this week. He also dropped a little verbal incendiary. "There are a lot of composers today," Adams said, "just not a lot of original ones. You could count the number of great composers today on half a hand." Ouch. That declaration may have seemed a little surprising coming from the soft-spoken, gray-haired Adams, dressed in the earth-tone casual you'd expect from a man long and happily based in Berkeley, Calif.