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Gloria Thomas

The same week Gloria Thomas’s boss told her that the U-M Center for the Education of Women was going to lose funding for a popular program, she also learned that a former prof, Elizabeth Dusseau, who had recently died at...

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Tigermania

As a young girl, Kerrie Ferrell dreamed of becoming the first female major league baseball player. But her local Little League banned her–even though, she says, in neighborhood ball games, “I was better than the...

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The Boson Bet

We asked Lois Kane, sometime Ann Arbor Observer writer, if she could/would write a piece about her husband, Gordy Kane, U-M professor of physics, winning a bet with Stephen Hawking. The bet concerned the existence (Kane) or...

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Earhart Manor

“Lovely,” comments Judy Avery. “How nice of you to provide us with a chance to check out that barn none of us got last month.” The house is known as “The Meadows,” writes Michael Brueger,...

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Orrenson’s Paint Store

We received 105 entries correctly identifying the 50 Shades of Grey-themed ad for Orrenson’s Paint Store on page 70 of the August Observer. The entries included several from first-time Fake Adders, including Allison...

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Giving Boys a Voice

Nine-year-old Alden Rohwer loves to sing. “He sings all day long, on car trips—­everywhere!” says his mother, Aileen. She says since joining the Boychoir of Ann Arbor about a year ago, Alden’s been inspired not...

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Prairie Dock and Poison Ivy

It’s with a feeling of awe and gratefulness that I’m looking at my first prairie dock, a tall wildflower that could pass for a sunflower’s skinny sibling. Prior to this, I had only encountered prairie dock...

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Sober Housing

It’s been said that getting sober is easy; staying sober is the hard part. Dawn Farm and the Home of New Vision (see Substance Abuse Support Groups) offer their newly sober clients a way to increase their odds for...

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Disc Golf Generations

It’s no surprise that Michigan ranks third nationally in the number of disc golf courses. Compared to conventional courses, disc golf—where players toss Frisbees and other flying discs into basket-like goals—is easy on...

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A Week on the West Side

Bemoaning the decline of the city’s live music scene has been a favorite pastime for music-loving Ann Arborites for at least a generation, going back to the demise of legendary nightspots like Joe’s Star Lounge, Mr....

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Welcome to the Reptile Zoo

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and see the world’s longest lizard species! Witness Lawan, the deadly eighteen-foot reticulated python!Both are on display at the World of Discovery and Reptile Zoo on Jackson Rd. But...

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Gofer to Editor

In May, Hearst Magazines announced that Road & Track was moving to Ann Arbor–and that Larry Webster, a forty-two-year-old Ann Arborite, would be the magazine’s new editor. The promotion capped a swift rise....

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Street-side gardens

Studying Ann Arborites’ relationship to their “urban forest” after the emerald ash borer outbreak, U-M natural resources prof MaryCarol Hunter became captivated by the gardens people planted in the easement...

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The Willow

One beautiful afternoon last summer I decided to ride my bike down a shady lane.In truth it’s just a street, but Shady Lane is also a remarkable neighborhood. The entrance off Packard is guarded by a towering, lush,...

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Need Hips. Will Travel.

“I started having trouble with my hips eighteen months ago,” says pastor and blues guitarist Mike Brooks. “First I walked with a limp, then with a cane, then with two canes, then I couldn’t walk at all....

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Home Brewers Multiply

Voluble crowds grip beer bottles and tasting glasses as they spill out from the dining room to the kitchen to the front porch at a recent Ann Arbor Brewers’ Guild meeting. But these drinkers aren’t sharing...

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Saving Orphan Kittens

On a ninety-degree day in July, a party at Gallup Park honored Sasha, Sophia, Tucker, Dara, and Prima–all motherless kittens in need of new homes. The hosts, Shari Wilcox, Debbie Phillips, and local radio personality Dean...

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Multicultural Musician

John Churchville knew he was a drummer before he ever touched the instrument.Growing up in Marquette, in the Upper Peninsula, Churchville attended Northern Michigan University basketball games with his parents. But it...

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The Wild Blue Yonder

A child of the fifties, I grew up on World War II movies like Twelve O’Clock High and Thirty Seconds over Tokyo. Before I wanted to be John Lennon and Keith Richards, I wanted to be Gregory Peck or Spencer Tracy. And I...

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Barn at Geddes and Earhart

Perhaps it was the broad scope of the clue—”within city limits”—that stumped our audience in July. Or, the fact that the photo—cropped too far out of context—was of little help. Whatever the reason, for the first...

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