The van of my dreams
by Ann Brooke Raynal illustration by Emily Brooks In the fog of my second pregnancy I decided that a minivan would make my life complete. I was devoting my life to these children, and a van would tell the world: Mother on…
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For Alex: A family’s climb to honor a lost son
by J. Andrew Curliss photographs by Patrick Davison Chuck Stuber is standing halfway up Mount Fuji at a place where climbers begin their slogging treks to the summit of Japan’s tallest mountain. There is a pay toilet here and a…
Sunday supper in the park
by Liza Roberts photographs by Juli Leonard When Raleigh resident Katherine Poole, 45, co-launched a table linen company in 2009, she knew it would be a good outlet for her creative talents and abundant energy. But she didn’t know Hen…
Labels need not apply
by Samantha Thompson Hatem photographs by Nick Pironio It’s fitting that even Karen Strittmatter Galvin can’t quite characterize New Music Raleigh’s most recent performance, All Souls. A one-woman opera? A cinematic drama? It was, after all, partly her brainchild. But…
Under a Sunday sky: WALTER’s book club with Frances Mayes
photographs by Jillian Clark The ballroom at the Umstead Hotel & Spa was filled with the colors, flavors, and stories of Tuscany on a Sunday in April, when Under the Tuscan Sun author Frances Mayes joined 125 Walter readers for a…
A Collector’s Haven: Sterling Boyd’s home reflects a lifetime in the arts
by P. Gaye Tapp photographs by Catherine Nguyen An afternoon spent in Sterling Boyd’s company is a return to days of great elegance. The erudite octogenarian is ever gracious, schooled in the day when a gentleman took a lady’s wrap and…
The dance in the middle air: Poet David Rigsbee explores the space between memory and possibility
by Karen Lewis Taylor There’s no such thing as a casual conversation with David Rigsbee. His affinity for the complexities of human experience pushes against the limits of the everyday exchange. He speaks with an intensity that’s deepened by adept…
Deck of Oaks
by Emma Powell “I wanted to do something that was locally organized and gave back to the community,” says Raleigh graphic designer Ladye Jane Vickers. The result is the Deck of Oaks, a set of playing cards created to raise…
Bring Your Kids in Tow and Explore the Best that North Carolina has to Offer
by Samantha Thompson Hatem We love a spontaneous weekend road trip. At least, we used to. Before we had kids. George and Salma Kate arrived, and we decided they would not stop us from traveling. We got on planes with them….
Spotlight: Ducking cannonfire
by Anna Long photograph by Michael McCloone On most days, Darrell Markijohn practices law in Canton, Ohio. He goes home at night to his wife Hillary and their four children, and spends his leisure time training horses on their historic farm. But…
Blood, sweat and jeers
by Billy Warden photographs by Travis Long “Is dad having an affair?” The teenager, finding her father absent on yet another weekday evening, plaintively put this question to her mom. And, yes. The father in question, Adam Cohen, was and…
Straight up: Connor Champion skates new terrain
by Andrew Kenney photographs by Geoff Wood Raleigh skateboard pro Connor Champion, like most skaters, is an urban cartographer. He knows the lines that connect downtown’s slopes and edges maybe as well as anyone. He’ll show me, he says. As…
A little spot of her own
by Jesma Reynolds photographs by Catherine Nguyen A Cameron Park homeowner with a gypsy spirit and eastern North Carolina roots lives an artful and enchanted bungalow life If it’s true that the supreme art is the art of living, then Cameron Park is…
Spotlight: Audubon’s lights out
by Jessie Ammons photographs by Jillian Clark In the early morning hours of spring, pairs of walkers take to the streets of downtown Raleigh. They meet at the Wells Fargo building at 6:30 a.m. sharp, rain or shine, to gather supplies –…