Historical November–December 2018 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Talent is our theme…….
As the seasons change (in St. Louis from extreme heat to cold), and I write this column, I am reminded of the seasons of our lives.
They are filled with exciting news and accomplishments, and some seasons are shorter than others. Let’s start with some happy news today. Congratulations and best wishes go to our 28th Ward Alderwoman, Heather Navarro, and Johnny Zokovitch on their engagement!
They will be married on December 28th. Big news for Lucy HG Solomon, daughter of Margaret Hermes and sister of Sarah Griesbach, grew up on the 6100 block of Kingsbury (where her mother and sister reside on opposite sides of the street!) and now teaches art, media, and design at Cal State University at San Marcos. Lucy collaborated on a work that received the international Lumen Prize for Artificial Intelligence, necessitating two trips to London in September.
In the interactive installation, fungi cover the pages of a book, destroying text.
The AI component analyzes the fungal growth and searches the internet for similar patterns. Readouts from the consumption of the book and the digital database are visible in the twitter feed of @HelloFungus and printed out on-site on a thermal printer! Kingsbury Square resident Dr. Rodney Wead was recently honored with a commemorative street naming, at the intersection of 52nd and Ames St. in Omaha, Nebraska.
In the late 60’s and 70’s, Dr. Wead was a major activist in the establishment of a Black owned and operated bank, the first such credit union, as well as the first Black owned and operated radio station.
He is known for his civil rights activism and speaking for the poor and disenfranchised. Dr. Wead has taught Sociology at the St. Louis Community College at Forest Park for the last 17 years. Michael Noble, Junior, a freelance photographer, covered the Youth Olympic Games in Bueno Aires, selected by the International Olympic Committee’s young reporters program.
He is the son of Michael Noble, Sr. of the 5700 block of McPherson and a 2012 graduate of Clayton High School. Terry Barber, The Countertenor, moved to Parkview (on Waterman) a few months ago.
His USA/Canada tour season included one “home” St. Louis performance in 2018, on October 13th at the Kirkwood Community Center Theater.
It was so well received there may be a local Christmas performance in the works. Congratulations to Terry.
If you would like to learn more about this talented neighbor you can do so at https://terrybarber.com.
The cancellation of Loufest this year was certainly a disappointment to St. Louis music fans but was also a loss to the comedy community as this year there was going to be a comedy stage. One of those funny entertainers who was going to be performing at Loufest was Kenny Kinds. Kinds, who grew up on the 5900 block of DeGiverville, the son of Rogerine and the late Willie Kinds, began his comedy career in 2008 after a job contract as a computer programmer for AT&T fell through and Kenny signed up for an improv class. Kinds is now a regular on the St. Louis comedy scene performing at venues including the Pageant, Helium Comedy Club, the Duck Room at Blueberry Hill and the Funny Bone. Longtime neighbor and friend to many, Georgi Fox passed away peacefully September 5, following complications from a series of prolonged illnesses.
Her dedication as a single mother, staunch neighbor and community advocate, dog lover (and stray collector), Support Dog volunteer, loyal friend, and lover of all things Christmas will be her legacy.
A 1957 Visitation Academy graduate, Georgi was an early and outspoken member of the Skinker-DeBalivere Community Council, one of the first to sign up for a newly launched Operation Brightside, and active in many aspects of parish life at St Roch for decades. Our condolences go to her son, Alex; grandchildren, Hannah, Noah and Kate of Denver, CO; her daughter, Gen and her husband James, and their children Luke, Clare, Grace and Ian, who live in the UK and Tokyo.
Another loss as time passes on has come with the passing of Ronald “Rocco” DiLorenzo, Ph. D. on Friday, October 5 at the age of 86. Rocco was a professor emeritus in the Department of English at Saint Louis University.
But for many in the neighborhood he is remembered more for his broad smile and for being a loving husband to Bernadette and father to his nine children. Rocco was involved in the neighborhood “back in the day” especially the dinner theater where he delighted neighbors with his talented performances.
We probably need to feature a story again about those memorable performances! Our sympathies to the entire Dilorenzo family.
In the last issue I noted the passing of Al Nerviani. Sadly, the Nerviani family has suffered another loss since then. Vicki Nerviani passed away in August. Our condolences go to the Nerviani family who lived on the 6100 block of Kingsbury for a very long time and have suffered too many losses in recent years. Rest in peace Vicki. And with a very heavy heart I also hate to announce the passing on October 14th of Josh Kohn, talented guitarist and illustrator. Josh is the son of Pat Kohn and the late Bill Kohn, and brother of Sophie Kohn. Josh grew up on the 6100 block of Kingsbury and is among my first memories of friendship and life on Kingsbury. Josh played guitar throughout his life with many bands and incarnations of bands and performed on many albums for a wide range of artists.
His music touched and made an impression on many lives, as did he.
The world lost a great talent and our hearts go out to Pat and Sophie, his son, and all his friends and family for their loss. Here’s to lives well lived and enjoying the moment as the seasons continue to change. Thank you to our neighbors who share their talent and news. Enjoy the ride and we’ll share more news soon. Do you have news to share?
Please send your submissions via email with the subject line News of Neighbors to rachelb@sdtimes.org or drop off a note to the attention of Rachel Boxdorfer at the Skinker DeBaliviere office. Be sure to mark it “News of Neighbors”.
We love to hear about neighbors accomplishments, awards, travels, weddings, anniversaries, births, and more!
Original photograph caption
Lucy HG Solomon.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, November–December 2018.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2018_11.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
