All in People of Swarthmore
A local father-son duo is a big part of People Light’s World Premiere retelling of Charles’ Dickens A Christmas Carol. Swarthmore resident Zak Berkman, People’s Light’s Producing Director, has adapted this yuletide ghost story into a music infused tale that captures the magic, joy, and generosity of the beloved classic in a whole new light. Berkman’s 16-year-old son, Eliot Berkman-Lamm plays guitar as well as several characters.
If you have had young kids involved in sports activities with the Swarthmore Recreation Association (SRA), chances are you too have seen Coach Terry in action. Terry Lynch has long been a fixture on our local soccer- and tee-ball fields. With an infectious energy, Terry has dedicated his Saturdays to teaching kids the basics of soccer and baseball, emphasizing the importance of having fun. Greg Hoy chatted with Terry this past week after learning he was planning to (mostly) hang up his black cleats after 27 years on the field. Free to read and share
Last Saturday, the Swarthmorean was contacted by former 2006 Strath Haven High School graduate, Wellington Kiiru, to let us know about SHHS English teacher and coach Kevin Haney’s heroic gesture in getting his friend, 2006 SHHS graduate Amir Sidiqi, out of Afghanistan. Wellington and Amir were both students of Mr. Haney. It also appears that another graduate of SHHS piloted the plane that brought Amir to the U.S. Free to read and share
The Swarthmore Recreation Association, which started as a limited summer program for young children in 1940, has a new leader. Sara Kelly has been named the organization’s fourth Executive Director, taking over for Colleen Murphy. Free to read and share
Swarthmore’s own Gretchen Walker (née Iversen), also known as Gretchen Elise, is an educator and musician on a mission. Over her more than 20-year career, she’s forged her own path through jazz, soul, and folk, to make music that is at once sophisticated and accessible to audiences of all ages. Free to read and share
Kaycee Conallen is celebrating a decade as the proprietor of Kaycee Conallen Design. This profile explores the roots of her business and of her personal approach to working with clients. Free to read and share
In this portrait of a solo cellist, revered teacher, and Swarthmore resident, Amy Barston talks about how her musical family didn’t think she was cut out to be a professional; how she responds to students’ individual needs; and why performing is like story telling. Free to read and share
Swarthmore resident Gregory Milbourne and some friends challenged themselves to run a 4-mile circuit every 4 hours for 2 days. Here’s his story of how it went. Free to read and share
A profile of Sarah Matthews, the new Swarthmore Town Center coordinator, who started work as the nonprofit’s sole paid employee on February 1. Free to read and share
A profile of novelist Kyle McCarthy, who grew up in Swarthmore. Her new novel, “Everyone Knows How Much I Love You,” focuses on a dangerous friendship between Rose and Lacie, two women in their early thirties, partly in the present and partly when they were teenagers. The story is set mostly in New York City, but crucial parts take place in the borough. Free to read and share
A profile of Aissata Kone, a tenth grader at Strath Haven High School and a serial entrepreneur who credits her family for her drive and work ethic. Free to read and share
I’ve had a wonderful life. Sometimes I just sit and think about how lucky I am.
Swarthmore resident Sharon Lee discusses her life and her new book, “Public Gardens and Livable Cities,” which focuses on the essential role public gardens can play in improving urban life. Free to read and share
Rereading articles from this past January and February is like peering through the wrong end of a telescope into a lost world. Here’s a review of what we were doing and thinking about in 2020, as it showed up in the pages (and website) of this newspaper — both BC (Before COVID) and AD (After Distancing). Free to read and share
Linton Stables, President of the Swarthmore Senior Citizens Association, was awarded the 2020 Swarthmore Lions Club Citizen of the Year Award. He got involved in community work when he was living in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood in the 1990s, but his is involvement in Swarthmore came about more accidentally. This is a story of how his community contributions evolved, and his affinity for fundraising, which he calls “telling a story that shows you what the opportunities are for you to be generous.” Free to read and share
I’ve lived here for 20 years but I felt like I belonged here and was welcome within a year of moving here. It’s such an open community. The only thing that turned me off was the lack of diversity. But as I got to know people in the town, I realized that that was just the surface. It was just what I was seeing with my eyes.
My family moved here in 1989. I’ve grown up in Swarthmore since I was five, and had a wonderful, really an idyllic childhood, running around the woods. And I feel so lucky that we have the college here, and I was able to attend so many amazing concerts and dance programs, terrific pieces of theatre.
Jeannine Osayande was born in Swarthmore in 1960 to Betty Ann (née Coleman) and Donald Lee. Her mother taught at Nether Providence Elementary School, and her father was Swarthmore’s first Black policeman. In time, he would become the town’s chief of police. Little Jeannine and her two older sisters, Annette and Donna, lived with their parents in the Historically Black Neighborhood of Swarthmore, in the same house Osayande lives in now. Growing up, she was surrounded by family, and by neighbors who were family, too. Osayande likes to tell the story of how African dance found her on a street corner in Harvard Square. “The drums were playing, and a dancer suddenly pushed me into the circle,” she recalls. “And I knew what I wanted to do with my life.” Free to read and share
Humans of Swarthmore is an effort to help us get better acquainted with the people who make up this place we call home. What actually makes us a community and not just people who all happen to live in the same place? What is it that binds us together? This week, we feature Ptah Osayande.
Issues around eating and body image are complicated. But the evidence is clear. Charlotte Markey, a psychology professor at Rutgers University-Camden who lives in Swarthmore says, that people with a poor body image are particularly vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and eating disorders — including anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder. Markey had recently received advance copies of her book “The Body Image Book for Girls: Love Yourself and Grow Up Fearless” when she visited my porch one afternoon last month for a conversation with another visitor, Emma Borgstrom, a 21-year-old Temple University student and Strath Haven High School graduate, who struggled with an eating disorder for years. Free to read and share
