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A Modern Apothecary, 'World Class' Poetry, Artist Lynne Parks, and Violet Levoit at The Stoop

Herbalist Olivia Fite' s modern-day apothecary; Jane Elkin's poetry book, 'World Class'; artist Lynne Parks; and a Stoop story from VioletLevoit

  Before the modern-day pharmacy, there was the bygone era of the herbal apothecary.  Herbalists used their encyclopedic botanical knowledge to create and dispense hand-crafted remedies to their customers.  Well, what’s old is new again.  Herbalist Olivia Fite, proprietor of Oherbals, tours producer Aaron Henkin through her modern-day apothecary and talks about the surprising medicinal properties of everyday herbs, roots, and flowers.

 

  When Jane Elkin began teaching English as a Second Language classes, she knew her students would learn a lot from her. What she didn’t realize was just how much her students would teach her in return. Jane Elkin has written, World Class, a collection of poems inspired by the stories of students in her English-as-a-Second-Language classroom, and she visits with producer Lisa Morgan.

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Jane Elkin shares from her poetry book, "World Class"

 

"Common Yellowthroat," from Lynne Parks' photo series, "Lights Out Baltimore"

  Artist Lynn Parks identifies with broken things.  She says she’s drawn to the discarded, the forgotten, and the obsolete.  Aaron Henkin paid a recent visit to the artist’s third-floor home studio, where he learned that her artwork challenges traditional notions of beauty.

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Lynne Parks discusses her photography and assemblage art.

 

  Modern Love was the theme at a recent Stoopevent where seven women took turns sharing tales about twenty-first-century romance in front of a live audience at Center Stage.  One of those storytellers was Violet Levoit.  Until a few years ago, the film critic, arts journalist and fiction writer was better known to the world as Violet Glaze.

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Violet Levoit at The Stoop Storytelling Series

Aaron creates and produces original radio programs and podcasts for WYPR. His current project is The Maryland Curiosity Bureau. Aaron's neighborhood documentary series, Out of the Blocks, earned the 2018 national Edward R Murrow Award. His past work includes the long-running weekly cultural program, The Signal, and the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings series, Tapestry of the Times. Aaron's stories have aired nationally on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.