Stories from the Stoop: Justin O'Donnell

Travel is a luxury - perhaps even more dear living with the holiday restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of Covid-19. But listening to stories of adventure can soothe the sorry traveler’s soul. So today we offer a full itinerary of Stoop Stories to slake your thirst for the road. Kevin Griffin Moreno talks about chasing songs into the deep south. Mike Ricigliano tells about a hike in the Adirondacks that he’ll never forget. And Nikki Gamer explains why travel provides her with more than just a stamp in her passport.

If you can see it, you can be it. That could be the mantra for each program designed by two Open Society Institute fellows we’ll meet today. Atiyah Wells has created an urban nature center and educational programs to encourage Black and Brown families to explore more. And Monica Lapenta’s project makes elementary and middle school students a chef for a day. It requires more than following recipes and wearing a tall white hat!

Adam Schwartz has observed hundreds of kids in 22 years teaching in Baltimore public schools. He’s watched them fall in love, make crazy decisions, grapple with moral dilemmas, worry about where they fit in life. Schwartz distilled some of what he’s seen into eight short stories for his new book The Rest of the World. And we discuss whether Schwartz, a white man, is the right one to tell the stories of black and brown teen-agers and young adults. And whether a book that describes acts of violence … is a violent book.

Schwartz will speak about his writing at the end of January--Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021, in the Reston Reading Series. And he’s doing an author talk with the Howard County Public Library the evening of Thursday, Feb. 11.