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Alsop, Marin

(Encyclopedia)Alsop, Marin ôlˈsəp [key], 1956–, American conductor, b. New York City. The daughter of professional musicians, she began playing the piano at two and the violin at five. Alsop started conducting...

Szell, George

(Encyclopedia)Szell, George sĕl [key], 1897–1970, American conductor and pianist, b. Budapest. He moved with his family to Vienna during his childhood and started his piano training at an early age studying at t...

Caesar, Sid

(Encyclopedia)Caesar, Sid (Isaac Sidney Caesar), 1922–2014, American comedian, one of the stars of the “golden age of live television,” b. Yonkers, N.Y. While performing in a World War II military show he met...

southern tick-associated rash illness

(Encyclopedia)southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) or Masters disease, illness characterized by a Lyme disease–like rash that is associated with bite from the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum) rather...

LL Cool J

(Encyclopedia) LL Cool J , 1968- , African-American rapper and actor, b. Queens, N.Y., as James Todd Smith. Smith had a tragic upbringing, with his father shooting bo...

Howe, Samuel Gridley

(Encyclopedia)Howe, Samuel Gridley, 1801–76, American reformer and philanthropist, b. Boston, Mass., grad. Brown, 1821, M.D. Harvard, 1824. He began his life-long service to others by going to Greece to aid in it...

hostage

(Encyclopedia)hostage, person held by another as a guarantee that certain actions or promises will or will not be carried out. During periods of internal turmoil, insurgents often seize hostages; recent examples in...

Beattie, Ann

(Encyclopedia)Beattie, Ann bēˈtē, bāˈ– [key], 1947–, American writer, b. Washington, D.C. She gained attention in the early 1970s with short stories in the New Yorker; the 48 stories she published (1974–...

Macready, William Charles

(Encyclopedia)Macready, William Charles məkrēˈdē [key], 1793–1873, English actor and manager. The son of a provincial manager, he first appeared as Romeo in his father's company in 1810. His London debut (181...

Anderson, Lennart

(Encyclopedia)Anderson, Lennart (Anders Lennart Anderson), 1928–2015, American artist, b. Detroit. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago (B.F.A., 1950) and Cranbrook Academy of Art (M.F.A., 1952) and at New ...

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