Photograph © 2022 Larry F. Levenson.
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My subjects are newsmakers: Actors who have starred in Academy Award-winning movies, Olympic gold medalists, book authors, runway fashion models, titans of business, U.S. Surgeon General, and two astronauts. I am an active member of the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS).
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The arts give meaning to our lives.
Photograph © 2012 Larry F. Levenson.
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Plaza Shoe Shine was founded in 1959.
Four different people have owned it, all African American, and for decades it was the only African-American-owned business on the Plaza.
William Harris, pictured, began shining shoes as a teenager in Mississippi.
Just over 30 years ago, he moved to Kansas City to be near family, and a gentleman at his church hired him to repair and shine shoes at this store.
William describes himself as a connoisseur of fine leather.
Photograph © 2020 Larry F. Levenson.
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He has been nominated multiple times for Grammy® awards.
Bobby is from Lawerence, Kansas. He trained at the University of Miami, then spent 25 years living in New York and playing alto saxophone around the world with numerous jazz icons.
He re-settled in Kansas City, where he was named Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.
Bobby has released more than 40 recordings under his name, and appeared on over 100 additional titles.
Photograph © Larry F. Levenson.
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I stood in disbelief in April, 2020, as Parkway Social Kitchen vacated its popular restaurant.
One of the principals of the business told me it was predicted 65% of restaurants would no longer be solvent due to the pandemic.
Two years later, lockdowns and restrictions have been lifted. The restaurant industry is recovering, however returning to pre-pandemic business life is tough.
Products have doubled and tripled in cost, hourly labor costs are up, there are supply-chain issues, and inflation is increasing.
Visit a restaurant. Be generous with your gratuity. Be nice.
Photograph © 2020 Larry F. Levenson.
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Actress Cameron Richardson was the guest star on "House, MD" (FOX). I loved her performance.
She portrayed Alexandria, a very feminine teenaged supermodel who was hospitalized.
In the story, an MRI revealed undescended testicles.
This does actually happen. We begin life as female. If a Y chromosome is present, male characteristics develop. In rare cases, the body does not respond to androgens associated with the Y chromosome. The result is ordinary external female characteristics, undescended testicles, and no uterus.
Unless there has been genetic testing, this is often not discovered until the concerned teenager consults a physician because menstruation has not begun.
Sexual diversity involves more than genitalia; it involves the brain. Genitalia at birth can be ambiguous, and the brain can also develop on a path divergent from the genitalia.
In the "House" episode, Alexandria became distressed and agitated when told of the discovery. Gender dysphoria can lead to severe emotional issues.
Being different is not wrong.
Here is a six-minute clip of the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ry6hn9twow
Photograph © Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.
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Data taken out of context can be misleading.
COVID-19 cases are increasing in the majority of states.
Here is why the data is understated, and the pandemic worse than it appears.
Remember around the holidays when people were lined up, waiting in their cars for hours to be tested?
That is no longer happening. If testing is down dramatically, then reports of infection are down dramatically. People who would have tested positive simply are not being tested.
Also, data you see does not include home testing.
To further confound the data, some state and local government officials have reduced or eliminated case-reporting of the virus.
Looking at hospitalizations is also misleading, however these numbers may overstate reality.
When you see the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19, you assume that is the reason they were admitted.
Not true. They may have been hospitalized because of trauma, and coincidentally tested positive upon arrival. They were not severely ill and hospitalized because of the virus.
Photograph © 2021 Larry F. Levenson.
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Christina Burton performing at Quality Hill Playhouse.
Photograph © 2018 Larry F. Levenson.
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Discord regarding COVID-19 persists two years after I made this photograph.
Photograph © 2020 Larry F. Levenson.
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Alvin Brooks was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, to a 14-year-old mother and 17-year-old father. It was 1932.
His mother had been living with an older sister, however it was not working well. The Brooks family lived across the road, and they let her and Alvin stay with them.
Eventually, they adopted Alvin.
His adoptive father killed a white man in 1933, and although he was arrested, no charges were filed. The order from the sheriff was to leave town.
Alvin and his adoptive parents moved to a racially-segregated Kansas City, Missouri.
His career in Kansas City: Police officer, Chief of Police, Police Commissioner, community activist, founder of Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, civil rights advocate.
In meetings with Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, Alvin communicated the correlation of poverty to crime and violence.
President George H.W. Bush appointed Alvin advisor to the National Drug Advisory Council in 1989, and named him one of, "America's 1000 Points Of Light."
May 3 is Alvin L. Brooks Day in Kansas City.
Photograph © 2017 Larry F. Levenson.
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Television news personality Kacie McDonnell Hosmer, and former Kansas City Royals All-Star Eric Hosmer, are expecting a baby boy in September.
They met in 2015, when Eric left a ticket for Kacie on opening day.
Photograph © 2016 Larry F. Levenson.
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Black Maternal Health Week is April 11 - 17, during National Minority Health Month.
Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.
Photograph © 2021 Larry F. Levenson.
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Two more contestants were eliminated on, "The Masked Singer" (FOX, Season 7, Episode 6), including Jennifer Holliday as Miss Teddy.
Ken Jeong, panelist: "This may be the biggest upset in 'Masked Singer' history", referring to Miss Teddy's departure.
Photograph © Larry F. Levenson.
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Singer Ashley Barron has just been named Celebrity Ambassador for National Scleroderma Foundation.
More common in women, scleroderma is a rare, chronic autoimmune disease, which affects skin, connective tissue, and internal organs.
There is no cure.
Ashley was diagnosed with scleroderma when she was 5 years old.
"The Wind", her most-recent single, is about staying strong and enduring tough times.
Photograph © 2021 Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.
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The Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park in Kansas City, is one of 25 similar parks in the United States and Canada thanks to the Bloch Foundation.
Funds were provided for construction, and for perpetual maintenance.
Photograph © 2020 Larry F. Levenson.
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I made this photograph in April, 2020.
These empty cigarette packs were left on an outdoor table of a Plaza bar, the last evening before businesses temporarily closed because of the pandemic.
They may have been left by patrons enjoying one last night out, or by employees of the bar who learned they were being laid off.
Photograph © 2020 Larry F. Levenson.
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During its nine-season run, One Tree Hill was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina's River District, and the adjacent island beaches of Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, and Kure Beach.
The front entrance of the Joe and Barbara Schwartz Center on Front Street was used as the exterior of the high school; the back of the building was used for the gym's exterior scenes.
James Lafferty, pictured, portrayed Nathan Scott. He also directed four episodes, and received four Teen Choice Award nominations for his work on the series.
Photograph © 2019 Larry F. Levenson.
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