Nobody asked me, but some of Baltimore’s old murals need “a little touch-up and a little paint,” as Bruce Springsteen put it in song. The elaborate mural that Wayne Cambern painted in Little Italy nearly 50 years ago, depicting neighborhood residents, including Nancy Pelosi’s father and brother, has faded badly.
But the Frumans are going to do something about that.
The Fruman family, owners of National Lumber Co., are going to commission an artist to refresh the mural. The company, now in its fifth generation, owns the Albemarle Street property, including an adjacent parking lot. The Frumans decided recently that it was time to bring the mural back to life.
Little Italy neighbors got the news the other night and approved.
There’s a good bit of history in the faded paint: The late D’Alessandros — Old Tommy and Young Tommy, both Baltimore mayors, and the father and brother, respectively, of Pelosi — appear. So does Joe Bertorelli, the late state senator, and Vincent Palmisano, who served in Congress a century ago. All those pols were from Little Italy. The only non-Little Italian to appear in the mural is the late William Donald Schaefer, mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland. He was granted a special exception.
Cambern’s mural, created in 1976, shows the front of St. Leo’s Church, the neighborhood’s Catholic parish a few blocks away.
People have just come from Mass and they fill the street. The mural depicts a long procession, with clergy and altar boys, at both the annual St. Anthony and St. Gabriel festivals.
The saint depicted in the three-story, block-long mural could be Anthony, could be Gabriel. It’s intentionally hard to tell. The artist went neutral to avoid a fight over which saint would be granted immortality.
In other business …
Nobody asked me, but it’s hard to look at the U.S. Capitol without seeing the idiots who attacked the place and the heroic police who had to defend it on Jan. 6, 2021.
During a visit there the other day, I found it hard to walk a beautiful hallway or gaze up at a grand staircase without images of Donald Trump’s invading mob coming instantly to mind.
Nobody asked me, but Trump’s cabinet choices are a vulgar insult to all the men and women, Republicans and Democrats, who have served various administrations with integrity, honor and a sincere sense of obligation to the country. His choices mock public service. They result either from Trump’s twisted desire to “own the libs” or from a diminished brain.
Nobody asked me, but the state’s $58.5 million settlement with the spurned developer of the State Center project underscores Larry Hogan’s punitive approach to Baltimore. It’s not a pretty history.
In 2015, just six weeks after the uprising that followed the death of Freddie Gray, Hogan killed the Red Line light rail project.
The next year, he axed State Center, a sprawling redevelopment project that, like the Red Line, had been 10 years in the making.
All of that was a loss of time, money and economic potential, damaging to the ongoing recovery of the state’s largest city.
Noted: Rep. Kweisi Mfume, his successor in the House of Representatives, is pushing Congress to name a southwest Baltimore post office after the late Elijah Cummings. If Mfume’s bill passes, the post office on Loudon Avenue in Irvington would bear the name of the man who, among his many causes, pushed colleagues to ensure the Postal Service’s financial solvency.
Notable Book I: “Finding Home: How the Holocaust Shaped My Family,” by longtime educator Elana Klausner Vikan, with her husband Gary Vikan, former director of the Walters Art Museum.
Notable Book II: “In-Law Country: How Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash and Their Circle Fashioned a New Kind of Country Music: 1968-1985,” by longtime Baltimore-based critic Geoffrey Himes. The book, being published next month by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, covers musicians married to other performers or their producers who wrote “songs about relationships based on male/female equality rather than hierarchy.”
Nobody asked me, but “Human Touch” is one of Bruce Springsteen’s best songs, and underappreciated.
Also underappreciated: The Coen brothers’ film, “The Hudsucker Proxy.” Among its many fine points is one of the greatest kisses in movie history (Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tim Robbins, 1994).
Recommended: The Greek salad wrap or Skinny Breakfast Burrito at the Towson Diner; the carnitas taco at Cocina Luchadores on Broadway; the fried oysters at Nick’s Grandstand Grille and Crab House in Timonium. The latter is a great place to watch a Ravens game, too.
Nobody asked me, and I’m no wine expert — hardly ever spend more than $12 for a bottle — but the Ronco Di Sassi, Primitivo-Malbec, 2021 would be good with Thanksgiving turkey.
Otherwise, I stick with La Vieille Ferme, the “chicken wine” we’ve been drinking for years and now having an unfortunate viral moment that raises concerns about supply and price.
Nobody asked me, but Ravens kicker Justin Tucker will come back strong. Have faith. My only advice: Lay off the Royal Farms coffee for a while.
Speaking of Tucker, here’s a second hit of some keen perspective from a recent column about Yvon Labre, one of the original Washington Capitals.
Remember what he called the team’s first seasons of famously hapless hockey: “Seven of the best years of my life.” So, yeah … If you get to follow your bliss, even for a relatively short time, you’ve caught the golden ring.
Have a tip? Contact Dan Rodricks at drodricks@baltsun.com, 443-600-6719, or on X @DanRodricks.