Profiles

Los Angeles is famously teeming with great guitarists of every stripe, but when you separate out those who are also master songwriters and compelling performers, the pool gets much less congested. Among these rare few are Rick Shea and Tony Gilkyson, veteran singer-songwriters and guitarists who have teamed up for what amounts to an artistry rich “two-fer” show at the Folk Music Center, 220 Yale Ave., Claremont, on Saturday, March 23. Photo/courtesy of Rick Shea

When Kendall Johnson got a phone call from the Chancellor’s office of New York City’s Department of Education just before 7 a.m. on September 11, 2001, he didn’t yet know the twin towers had been hit. But that’s exactly why the head of student services was reaching out. “We don’t know what to do,” she said, describing the huge plume of smoke she could see over lower Manhattan while telling him to turn on his TV.

When Carmen Flores and Tatiana Guerrero learned the City of Claremont aimed to name the couple its 2023 honored group and wanted them to be part of next week’s Fourth of July parade, their first reaction was puzzlement.

On the Fourth of July, Indian Hill Boulevard will be center stage for Claremont’s celebration of American independence. Look for Courier columnist John Neiuber leading the pack as the parade’s grand marshal.

Claremont resident Raul Rodriguez is the city’s 2023 honored citizen and will be celebrated as he makes his way through the Fourth of July parade route, which begins at Memorial Park at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Like many good things in life, Sara Sawyer’s “yoga in the garden” class was born out of necessity.

What is it about music, particularly the songs we heard when we were young, that gives it the power to remind us so vividly of time, place, emotion? Tom Waldman, playwright, television host, and author, taps into this question in his highly entertaining new personal, historical, and political musical memoir, “Countdown: A Life in 20 Songs.”