Memories

John Johansen died on October 25. His name is virtually unknown in Baltimore, but his legacy is not. He was the architect of our Morris Mechanic Theater. Johansen was one of the Harvard Five, a group of young post World War II architects that included such giants as Philip Johnson and Marcel Brewer. To add further to his professional creditability, he married Walter Gropius' daughter. (Gropius was the founder of Germany's Bauthaus School of Architecture.) The Morris Mechanic is a wonderful rendition of the style known as Brutalism.

As the Ravens prepare for Sunday's AFC North showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the latest chapter of what many consider the NFL's best rivalry, The Sun caught up this week with several participants from the series to get some of their memories from past meetings. Not long after he was selected in the first round by the Ravens in 1997, linebacker Peter Boulware starting hearing about a burgeoning rivalry with the Steelers and how much Ravens' fans disliked that team from Pittsburgh.

When Gilman and Calvert Hall kick off in Saturday's MIAA A Conference football championship, they will play for more than the title and the No. 1 ranking. They will play for The Mike Whittles Trophy. The trophy was created to honor the late Archbishop Spalding football coach who mounted a courageous 16-month battle with Stage Four pancreatic cancer before his death in June. Whittles put the Cavaliers on the football map, taking them to the A Conference semifinals last season in their first year after moving up from the B Conference, where they won four of the previous six titles.

A slimmed-down Edna Turnblad shared the stage with her creator, John Waters, last night, much to the delight of scores of star-crazed fans. Well, it wasn't exactly Edna, the zaftig stage mom from Waters' "Hairspray," who took to the stage at the Maryland Institute College of Art . Rather, it was actor John Travolta, who brought Edna to the big screen in the 2007 musical version of Waters' film, up there on the stage. But the crowd embraced him like one of their own. "You've always been my favorite actor," one fan said from the audience, noting that she spent her teen years with pictures of Travolta plastered to her wall.

Since the Towson Times' story last week about the closure of Harry Little Submarines in Anneslie, we've received comments from residents and former residents who wanted to share their memories of the shop. For those starving for a little local nostalgia, here's a lunchtime special - some of those comments. You can join the feast by responding in the comments section below, or by sending your own recollections to jmeoli@tribune.com. Bon appetit. An icon of my childhood Growing up in Anneslie, Harry Little's was an icon of my childhood.

Most people will say that no matter how big the home, or how many levels and rooms inside, family and guests always seem to gather in the kitchen. Amy Askew, who has lived with her husband and children in their very large, Craftsman-style version of a Dutch Colonial in Roland Park, certainly agrees. "This is where everything happens - where we prepare the food, where we eat almost all of our meals and where we have the really important conversations," she said, sitting at the 8-foot-long by 3-foot-deep kitchen table with an old barn door for a top. "I can see out the back deck and see the tree line, and the dogs are always at our feet.

Returning to Cleveland may be a bittersweet memory for Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome and several other employees who worked for the franchise under its previous incarnation as the Browns. For Morgan Cox, the trip is memorable for a different reason. On Dec. 26, 2010, the long snapper tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while blocking on Billy Cundiff's 27-yard field goal in the second quarter en route to an eventual Ravens' 20-10 win. Fortunately for Cox, he hasn't allowed the memory of that injury to seep into his consciousness when returning to Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The fourth annual Will Barrow Memorial Flag Football Tournament will be held Saturday at Virginia's historic Lambeth Field with proceeds going to the UVa HELP Line, a nonprofit, student-run crisis hotline. Play is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Established in memory of Barrow, a former Cavaliers defensive midfielder who was found dead of an apparent suicide in November 2008, the UVa HELP Line is an anonymous, confidential telephone service for residents of Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the University of Virginia.

He was a gritty 6-foot-3 guard from the Bronx with boundless energy and a long, sweet jumper that seemed to kiss the Civic Center's ceiling before finding its mark. "Bullseye!" Baltimore Bullets broadcaster Jim Karvellas would exclaim as Kevin Loughery scored again. For eight years, Loughery starred for the Bullets, averaging 16.6 points and helping the club to five playoff appearances and the NBA finals in 1971. Only forward Gus Johnson (nine years) spent more time here before the Bullets, after a decade, moved to Landover in 1973 and eventually become the Washington Wizards.

Forty-one years. Until now, that's how long it had been since Baltimore's baseball and football teams thrilled fans by making their respective playoffs in the same year. In January, the Ravens played New England for the AFC championship, and lost to the Patriots. Earlier this month, the Orioles advanced to the American League Division Series, bowing to the New York Yankees. For the first time in decades, Baltimoreans can wear the colors of two teams with equal pride. Orange one day, purple the next.