In many respects Ann Petry is a study in contrast. She came from a tiny town in New England to Harlem in 1938. She spent some years in Harlem learning of its people and transmitting their yearnings, feelings, and fears to the printed page. Her experience...

Byline: Rebecca Vandermeulen Feb. 27--Born: 1819 or 1820 in Dorchester County, Md., as Araminta Ross. She later changed her name to Harriet, after her mother. Childhood: Worked as a house servant and field hand. At age 12, she blocked a doorway...

DIA (Dis' Is Awful) baggage system was DOA (10 years ago) With an unanticipated (and unexplained) ground delay, all I could imagine that might mitigate the tension was an announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, it's my understanding that the problem is with the machine...