Mink

Several years ago, I was a committee chair for a local charity function at M&T Bank Stadium to benefit Baltimore's homeless. Midway through the evening, Sheila Dixon graced us with her presence, making an appearance in one of those now infamous full-length mink coats. I remember thinking at the time there could be no greater example of brazen temerity. But having just read that Ms. Dixon is considering a run for mayor in 2015, I stand corrected. Richard Crystal, Baltimore

Sallie P. Mink, a registered nurse who for 20 years had been educational director for depression and related affective disorders at Johns Hopkins Hospital, died Saturday of brain cancer at Keswick Multi-Care Center. The one-time Ruxton resident who later lived in Mays Chapel was 65. "Sallie was a very passionate and extraordinarily effective person," said Dr. J. Raymond DePaulo Jr., director of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Hopkins School of Medicine, and a friend of nearly 40 years.

Emily Province Mink, daughter of Thomas Mink of Ruxton, MD and Sallie Mink, of Ruxton, and David Jerome Frank, son of Jerome John Frank and the late Mary Jane Spigelmire Frank, were married at Old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore, MD on September 20, 2003. Father Michael Wallens officiated and a reception followed at The Maryland Club. The maid of honor was Lindsay Walker. Bridesmaids were Anne Chemers, Eleanor Cordi, Cameron Proctor, Rachel Reily Della-Croce, Elizabeth Frank Kohart, sister of the groom, Maggie Shoemaker and Liza Shoemaker, stepsisters of the bride.

John-John Williams' recent article on "refashioned" mink coats neglected to tell about the dark side of fur - animals imprisoned for their entire lives, then electrocuted or skinned before they are even dead. Maybe the fashion industry claims there is a renewed interest in fur, but mainstream America is starting to think differently. More and more big name retailers are refusing to sell fur because of the unnecessary cruelty and life of misery to the animals. Ann Roberts, Lutherville

After spending the night baking cookies, the morning putting a giant snowflake on her front door and a tabletop tree in her window, Mink Stole is very much in the mood to talk about her Christmas show at the Creative Alliance this weekend. And there's one thing she wants to make clear right away: This show is all about Mink Stole, cabaret singer and storyteller. It will have little, if anything, to do with another incarnation of Mink Stole, the one who has appeared in every John Waters film but one, playing everything from Edie the Egg Lady's wicked stepsister to a ruthless contender for the title of filthiest person alive.

I tried on Sheila Dixon 's mink, and it felt, well, dirty. The fur itself was perfectly clean, but both pockets contained a strange, pebbly something. Like sand. Or tiny seeds. Or the remains of a tattered soul. Whatever it is, Dixon's grit goes to the highest bidder, along with the burnt umber coat, the Mano Swartz hanger and - best of all - the red evidence tag. State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh put the mink on eBay Wednesday along with a sporty, worn-looking Persian lamb jacket that also contributed to the mayor's undoing.

Washington -- If George Bush has his way with the Congress, the nation's mink will get no squawfish and $46,000 will be saved. Hallelujah! Our free-spending president has been born again.As the Heritage Foundation recently has noted, federal domestic spending under the Bush administration has soared out of sight. The president has stemmed no tides. The money rolls out. The debt goes up. Mr. Bush and the Congress make up a happy twosome.But the president has good intentions. Besides, he's running for re-election.

You know how you get a song stuck in your head? Ever since the fur started flying in the state prosecutor's investigation of Mayor Sheila Dixon, I keep hearing that song from Guys and Dolls , the one sung by a doll who was shocked, just shocked, at what a guy expected in return for his gifts: Take back your mink, Take back your pearls. What made you think That I was one of those girls? Ever since that first caveman bonked a furry beast and gave its pelt to his best cavelady, that has been the question: Just what does a guy get for giving a doll a mink?

WASHINGTON -- These folks from Arkansas are just so excited, so breathless and happy and yappy about the inauguration of William Jefferson Clinton, they're bustin' out of their Razorback sweat shirts."

Ralph Lawrence Mink Sr., a retired supervisor for Black & Decker Corp. who was active in Masonic affairs, died of respiratory failure Tuesday at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. The Forest Hill resident was 76. The lifelong Harford County resident was born and raised in Bel Air and attended county public schools. He went to work for Black & Decker in 1949 and spent most of his 37-year career at the company's manufacturing plant in Towson. After he retired, he continued to work part time for the company at its plant in Hampstead, Carroll County.

Doris Randall hadn't worn her brown bomber mink coat in ages. Her full-length shearling coat got even less use - she wore it about twice in the 15 years since her husband gave it to her. She considered giving the garments to charity before discovering Seleh's De Federal Hill, a tailor and furrier specializing in remodeling leathers and furs. A few months later, Randall had a new three-quarter-length coat for herself and a contemporary-looking mink vest with black sweater sleeves that she gave to her daughter.

Several years ago, I was a committee chair for a local charity function at M&T Bank Stadium to benefit Baltimore's homeless. Midway through the evening, Sheila Dixon graced us with her presence, making an appearance in one of those now infamous full-length mink coats. I remember thinking at the time there could be no greater example of brazen temerity. But having just read that Ms. Dixon is considering a run for mayor in 2015, I stand corrected. Richard Crystal, Baltimore

Laura Vozzella joined The Sun in 2000 after working as a reporter for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Hartford Courant and The Associated Press in Boston. While at The Sun, she has written stories and columns on a wide range of topics, including Mayor Sheila Dixon's ill-gotten mink and the theft of towels from Columbia Association gyms. She currently writes about food and does a weekly column on Maryland politics and other local oddities.

When Joshua Grannell, 36, was growing up in Annapolis, he didn't realize how supportive his parents were when he was being "a little creative dictator. " Most wouldn't have encouraged his creation of extravagant haunted houses, much less dress up in costume and sell tickets (as his mother did) or pursue a little-girl actor with a chainsaw (as his father did, after removing the chain). Now they have the satisfaction of seeing Grannell's drag alter-ego, Peaches Christ, become a cultural hero in San Francisco and beyond.

The Persian lamb coat that helped bring Sheila Dixon to political slaughter could keep other public servants from going astray. A University of Maryland lawyer bought the former mayor's fur on eBay this week and plans to use it to teach ethical do's and don'ts. "I just thought a fur coat with an evidence tag on it would be a lovely prop," said Susan Gillette, senior university counsel at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Gillette had the winning $1,700 bid for Dixon's Persian lamb jacket, which prosecutors auctioned this week along with a mink and other evidence seized in criminal cases that led to Dixon's resignation.

I tried on Sheila Dixon 's mink, and it felt, well, dirty. The fur itself was perfectly clean, but both pockets contained a strange, pebbly something. Like sand. Or tiny seeds. Or the remains of a tattered soul. Whatever it is, Dixon's grit goes to the highest bidder, along with the burnt umber coat, the Mano Swartz hanger and - best of all - the red evidence tag. State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh put the mink on eBay Wednesday along with a sporty, worn-looking Persian lamb jacket that also contributed to the mayor's undoing.

N o matter how much snow lands on Maryland, one thing's for sure: Katie O'Malley will face it furless. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals surveyed the nation's first ladies on their outerwear habits and trumpeted the results in a news release Wednesday. "[A]fter mentioning that first ladies Michelle Obama of the U.S. and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy of France had issued statements that they are fur-free" - no pressure! - "[PETA] simply asked, 'Do you wear fur?

After spending the night baking cookies, the morning putting a giant snowflake on her front door and a tabletop tree in her window, Mink Stole is very much in the mood to talk about her Christmas show at the Creative Alliance this weekend. And there's one thing she wants to make clear right away: This show is all about Mink Stole, cabaret singer and storyteller. It will have little, if anything, to do with another incarnation of Mink Stole, the one who has appeared in every John Waters film but one, playing everything from Edie the Egg Lady's wicked stepsister to a ruthless contender for the title of filthiest person alive.