Arts and Culture

These days, a “Cooper” might refer to a brand of cheese or a compact car. But a hundred years ago, a cooper was commonly known as person who built wooden casks to store wine, whiskey or other consumables — and the craft is still alive.

Lois Lowry has written more than 40 books for kids and young adults, won a bevy of awards for her work and had one of her books, “The Giver,” made into a 2014 film starring Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep.

There’s an old joke: “What do you call a viola player with a beeper? An optimist.” The idea is that classically trained musicians may have a harder time getting gigs than rock or folk artists. But there’s a project in Maine that’s designed to put young orchestra musicians on a live stage to give them a sense of what it’s like, and for some young players, it’s renewing their interest in music.

When Chandra Oppenheim’s debut album, “Transportation,” came out in 1980, it was quickly embraced by the tastemakers of the day. She played gigs at CBGB in New York and sold out shows in Berkeley, California, and she was only 12 years old.

Echoes, a quarterly magazine published in - and about - Aroostook County, has put out its last issue. 

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, back in 2013, Editor Kathy Olmstead, a retired journalism professor from the University of Maine, told Maine Public's Morning Edition host Irwin Gratz that Echoes was the creation of two people "from away" with "compatible dreams."

For disclosure, Kathy Olmstead serves on Maine Public's board of trustees.

Summertime is camp time, and it’s not just for kids anymore. Adults are signing up for camps that focus on everything from wine tasting to bird watching and playing the horn — what’s often called the French horn.

Americans of a certain age will remember Slim Goodbody, a man in a unitard painted with internal organs who appeared on Captain Kangaroo and other programs as an advocate for good nutrition.

The man in the costume is John Burstein, who now lives in Lincolnville and still takes the character on tour promoting good health. Burstein has also created a new musical comedy currently running at Portland Stage.

In “The Night Kitchen,” the pots and pans, wine and cheese, and knives and spatulas come alive after the chefs have left for the evening.