Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes

Category: Arts & Culture

Richard H. Glanton, longtime lawyer, business entrepreneur, and innovative former president of the Barnes Foundation, has died at 79

Richard H. Glanton, 79, formerly of Philadelphia, longtime lawyer, onetime executive deputy counsel to former Gov. Dick Thornburgh, business entrepreneur, former Lincoln University trustee, and innovative former president of the Barnes Foundation, died Sunday, June 21, of a heart attack at his home in Princeton.

Born and reared in rural Georgia and one of the first Black graduates of what is now the University of West Georgia, Mr. Glanton went on to become a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, state government policy and administration expert, corporate vice president, and indefatigable president of the Barnes Foundation’s collection of Impressionist, post-Impressionist, and modern art.

He was elected president of the Barnes Foundation in 1990, served until 1998, and championed a series of controversial initiatives to finance extensive gallery renovations and the operation of its art collection and related educational programs. To raise the money, he suggested, among other things, selling 15 of the collection’s hundreds of paintings, charging million-dollar fees for a worldwide lending tour of 83 paintings, extending visiting hours, increasing admission, building a new parking lot, selling a coffee-table catalog, and renting out its art studios.

All of his ideas, several of which did not take place, drew supporters and critics, and Mr. Glanton, also a Barnes trustee, spoke often of his policy discussions with other Barnes officials, art experts around the world, politicians, and neighbors of the foundation building in Lower Merion Township. In 1990, he told The Inquirer. “I never purported to know anything about art. But I can lead.”

His most successful project turned out to be a two-year world lending tour of 83 foundation paintings that raised about $20 million and drew raves from museum leaders in Washington, Paris, Tokyo, Fort Worth, Toronto, and Philadelphia. The exhibition in Paris drew a then-record 1.5 million visitors, and Mr. Glanton was feted at every stop.

“Richard is somebody who started out by wanting to do something good and important and substantial, and persevered to do it despite a great deal of criticism,” Glenn D. Lowry, then director of the Art Gallery of Ontario, told The Inquirer in 1995.

Some critics said Mr. Glanton and others valued the foundation’s commercial success over its original educational role and what The Inquirer’s Edward J. Sozanski called “the Barnes mystique.” When the lending tour ended at the Philadelphia Art Museum in 1995, Mr. Glanton told The Inquirer: “I never realized or understood that it could be controversial to make available to the public a collection that is a public trust.

“But I think if you think something’s right, you should do it, whether or not people disagree, and whether it is popular or not. … You have to think not only in terms of your lifetime, but in 100 years, 1,000 years. And when you do, these little slings and arrows don’t really matter that much.”

A story and this photo of Mr. Glanton appeared in The Inquirer in 1995.

Mr. Glanton was executive deputy counsel to Gov. Thornburgh from 1979 to 1983, and he met often with constituents and helped fill judicial vacancies. “Richard is a political animal,” Ted Pillsbury, then director of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, told The Inquirer in 1995. “He understands politics. He understands what makes politics work, and he understands people. And he does not take certain things personally.”

Mr. Glanton earned his law degree at the University of Virginia School of Law in 1972 and spent several years with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, United Airlines, and other companies. In Philadelphia, he represented politicians and other notable clients, and specialized in energy, insurance, and real estate cases for firms known now as WolfBlock, and Reed Smith.

He was also senior vice president of corporate development at Exelon Corp., founder of a local TV station, social media company, and consulting firm, and board member at Aqua America, the Morris Arboretum, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and other groups. He ended a workplace sexual harassment suit with a private settlement in the early 1990s and had public policy spats with local government officials and former Lincoln president Niara Sudarkasa.

He considered running for mayor in 1995. Former Gov. Ed Rendell said: “He was exceptionally bright, courageous, and never afraid to challenge the status quo in pursuit of what he believed was right.”

Mr. Glanton was at home in a suit jacket and tie.

One of 11 children, Richard Howard Glanton was born Nov. 21, 1946. He was reared in rural Villa Rica, Ga., didn’t start school until the fourth grade, and he and his siblings worked for years on the family farm.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and, in 2005, was awarded an honorary doctorate from West Georgia. He married Scheryl Williams, and they had a daughter, Morgan, and a son, David.

After a divorce, he married Eileen Candia, and they had a daughter, Georgia. They lived in Philadelphia and Chicago, and moved to Princeton in 2009.

Mr. Glanton was a doting father, his family said. He taught his children to ride bikes and read Shakespeare. “He taught me that there was no room in which I didn’t belong or couldn’t strive to enter,” his daughter Morgan said. “I love him for that.”

Mr. Glanton was an avid reader and golfer.

Nearly everyone he met remembered his laugh and perpetual suit jacket and tie. He played golf, was an avid reader, and would talk politics for hours.

“He was fearless in his conviction to do what he believed was necessary and proper to achieve his goals and provide for his family,” his son said. His wife said: “He was kind and generous. He made everyone he spoke to feel special. He was always bringing you in.”

Why did best-selling author Carol Saline email The Inquirer’s obit writer?

In addition to his wife, children, and former wife, Mr. Glanton is survived by two sisters, four brothers, and other relatives. One sister and four brothers died earlier.

Memorial services are to be held at noon Saturday, July 18, at Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church, 119 Thomas Dorsey Dr., Villa Rica, Ga. 30180, and at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 18, at the Union League, 140 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19102.

Donations in his name may be made to the University of Virginia Law School Foundation’s Elaine R. Jones Scholarship, 580 Massie Rd., Charlottesville, Va. 22903.

Mr. Glanton (left) enjoyed working on projects.

July 9, 2026
Long vilified graffiti art finds an unlikely gallery in Suburban Station

On entering Suburban Station from the 16th Street entrance, one is welcomed by a vast, bare-walled concourse punctuated by empty retail spaces.

And then you turn right.

A painting made to look like a subway car stands out against the blank concourse. The inside is entirely covered in graffiti, along with paintings, drawings, and mosaics. Not an inch of space is bare.

Organizers and artists greet people as they come in and share stories about their street art journey.

A room in the exhibit looks like the inside of a SEPTA BSL train car, orange seats and all.

This is “Platform X,” a new era of graffiti art, organized by Step Outside, an artist-led program that transforms existing spaces into graffiti havens.

Exhibition curator and fashion designer Zucati Zuce poses for a photo at Platform X.

“We’re all street artists and we care about this more than anything,” said the artist who goes by the name Doomed Future. “There’s not much opportunity in galleries to showcase graffiti and street art here in Philly. We want to have our own thing here.”

Doomed Future works alongside Step Outside organizers Philmadelphia, Inphltrate, Zucati Zuce, Raw G Zero, Ianismymiddlename, and RoboQ4. Because graffiti is considered criminal mischief under Pennsylvania law, the artists did not want to share their real names for this article.

SEPTA representatives reached out to Doomed Future in January and asked them to take a look at the vacant spaces for rent in Suburban Station for a potential exhibit. The artist decided to rent a space from a real estate agent.

Artwork showcased in the Platform X art exhibition, in which the back room was made to look like a subway car.

“Street art’s grimy — it’s real, gritty, dirty,” Doomed Future said, “and so is the subway.”

A more rebellious Semiquincentennial

“USA 250″ is the theme around which 250 artists imagined their graffiti art.

One piece, American Religion, depicts Benjamin Franklin with a crown of thorns and the words “In God We Lust” above his head, certainly a switch from the patriotic depictions of the Founding Father we’ve seen for the Semiquincentennial.

Exhibition organizer Ianismymiddlename looks at artwork at Platform X, including “American Religion” by @Frewil_design.

Other pieces present a more rebellious yet optimistic view. Love Is Not Dead by Banjax the Balaclava depicts a bunch of angry figures holding anarchist flags in front of City Hall, with a match burning between two traffic cones at the center.

“The thinking behind it was that there’s been a lot of burnout and frustration, particularly with folks that have been active in the street, fighting against injustices,” said Banjax. “I think it’s important to bring the message of love into these spaces as much as there is rage. As things get harder, continue to heat up, I want to remind people of that love is at the core of what we do.”

Artist Banjax the Balaclava poses with “Love Is Not Dead” at Platform X.

“Platform X” is Step Outside’s fourth showcase after a year of operation, with this one put on in collaboration with the nonprofit United Street Art (USA). United Street Art is dedicated to advancing and highlighting street art and graffiti. Most of the artwork is for sale, with all profits going directly to the artists.

“Supporting the artists is our main mission. We’ve been doing free shows before, and this is our biggest one,” said RoboQ4 aka Robb Quattro, executive director of USA. “This is a big, long-term investment for us and we’re ready to continue doing more shows beyond this one.”

Establishment vs. antiestablishment

Graffiti, as an art form, is inherently antiestablishment, and the establishment still does not receive it well.

At the start of the year, the city announced the Gateways to Philadelphia project. In collaboration with Mural Arts and Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, it invests $11.5 million toward beautification initiatives, including landscaping, new murals, and graffiti removal.

A sign for the Step Outside art exhibition with a sticker that says “Anti-Artificial Intelligence.”

“I can understand some people saying some graffiti is an eyesore, but there’s a lot that’s not,” said contributing artist Satan, who has been making graffiti art for over 40 years. “This is helping me as an artist grow.”

The show has been received glowingly by visitors, who have been invited to add to the art themselves. People have drawn on the walls with chalk, spray painted their own tags, and left stickers anywhere there was room.

On Father’s Day, there was a father-son duo putting their own graffiti on the wall, said artist and organizer Inphltrate. “That was really cool to see,” she said. “This is a safe haven for not only street art and graffiti, but for any person who is creative who needs an outlet. You are safe and accepted here.”

Artwork by the artist, who wishes to be identified with their Instagram username, @shrpy_ (top), and Elizabeth Fiend (bottom) is pictured at Platform X.

“Writing our names, I didn’t look at it as art. We were vilified,” said wallwriter Lewis Pittman, also known as Lewis or King Lewis in the street art scene. “I’m glad I’m still above ground to see the evolution of this culture. I’m glad it’s accepted as an art form.”

Pittman is one of Philadelphia’s original “wallwriters,” which is what graffiti artists called themselves in the 1970s. Pittman, along with wallwriters like Cool Cone and Cornbread, helped popularize the now iconic Philadelphia “gangster” handstyle, defined by tall, condensed letters.

“I remember Sunday nights going to Fern Rock, writing on all the buses and trains,” Cone, aka Cone ICP, said. “On Monday morning, nothing but my name came down Broad Street.”

Curator and fashion designer Zucati Zuce stands in front of street signs with graffiti, all of which are for sale.

After the USA 250 show closes, Step Outside plans to put on a Then and Now-themed showcase in August at Platform X, showing the evolution of street art. Incorporating and paying respect to the OGs who popularized the art form is a necessity for their exhibits.

The deep history of Philly graffiti

As a teenager, Cone founded Imperial Casanova Persuaders (ICP), one of the country’s original graffiti clubs, known for tagging public transportation. They helped originate the “wicked” variant of the Philly gangster handstyle, which puts a more wild, energetic spin on the lettering.

“They could look at us as being the start of murals, too, since a lot of stuff started in Philly. But we don’t get the recognition because a lot of people don’t speak on it,” he said. “In American history, we’re one of the best kept secrets.”

Contributing artist and self-styled wallwriter, who wishes to be identified as Cool Cone, is interviewed by a reporter. As a teenager, he founded graffiti club ICP.

Philadelphia, with its thousands of murals, is billed as the “Mural Capital of the World.” Mural Arts Philadelphia, the country’s largest public arts program, started off being a part of Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network in 1984.

Cone, like many graffiti artists, had several run-ins with police officers in the 1970s, getting targeted for wallwriting. Today, he travels the nation, speaking at museums and various art events, recognized as a trailblazer in street art history.

From left: Artists Cool Cone, Satan, and Lewis Pittman pose for a portrait at Platform X. The three are trailblazers in Philadelphia’s street art scene, going back to the 1970s and 1980s.

ICP’s symbol, a capital “I” with two dots on the side, can still be seen tagged around the city and even in Platform X.

“You’re not going to stop the wallwriters,” Pittman said.

Closing receptions for the “Platform X” USA 250 show are Friday, July 10, from 5 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, July 11, from 1 to 10 p.m. The exhibit will stay open for the rest of the summer.

Platform X is located in Suburban Station down the steps on 16th Street between Market Street and JFK Boulevard in Center City, Philadelphia. More information on stepoutsideshow.com and @stepoutsideshow.

July 9, 2026
A group of Philadelphia men decided to get fit and started a ballclub in 1833. Here’s how they paved the way for the Phillies.

During the early 19th century, gentleman did not play games, at least not outdoors.

Outdoor frolicking was for children.

But the yellow fever epidemic of 1822 and the cholera epidemic a decade later started Philly’s men of means on a health kick. It became cool for grown men to play outside, breathe fresh air, stretch limbs, and build their muscles.

In 1833, a few of them formed a social club to play a fairly new outdoor game called Townball in which a player goes to bat at “home,” and gets three tries to hit a ball. If he manages to hit it, he runs a course, stopping at three bases along the way before returning home, safely.

Every time a player returned home, his team scored a point.

Artist David McShane illustrated three three ball players from the early- and mid-1800s to represent the Olympic Ball Club.

Sounds familiar? John Thorn, the official historian for MLB Baseball agrees.

Townball, Thorn said, caught on because it was a different kind of sport. “It wasn’t not gymnastic. It wasn’t pugilistic. It wasn’t mere combat…It was more than exercise. It was camaraderie. That was nice.”

The recreational athletes referred to themselves as the Olympic Ball Club and are considered America’s first baseball team. As MLB All-Star Week 2026 gets underway in Philly this weekend at Citizens Bank Park, that first ballclub will be feted at the park for the Philadelphia Historic District’s 28th firstival.

Firstivals are weekly day parties honoring events that happened in Philadelphia before anywhere else in the world, part of the city’s yearlong celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

The Olympic Ball clup pictured in 1883, 50 years after the organization was founded.

The Olympic Ball Club played early games in Camden. In those days the club split themselves into two teams and played against each other. There was no foul territory, the ball was smaller, yet softer. And sometimes they even swung the bat with one arm.

“Runners would be declared out if the ball was thrown at them between the bases,” Thorn said. In other words, you didn’t have to tag people out.

In the 1860s, the Olympic Ball Club adopted the same rules as the New York Knickerbockers. In the same decade, they also moved the club’s home to North Philadelphia, a field between Master and 27th Streets. Back then, this area was known as Camac’s Woods, an estate and public park owned by 19th century Philadelphia gentleman Turner Camac.

The first professional base ball team — it was originally spelled with two words — the Cincinnati Red Stockings, were formed in 1869. Their salaries were paid by an organization of local businessmen.

By 1876 — the year the National League was founded — Philadelphia had a second base ball team, the Athletics. On April 22 of that year, the Athletics played the Boston Red Caps in America’s first professional league baseball game. That game was played in North Philadelphia at 25th and Jefferson, and Boston beat Philadelphia 6 to 5.

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Esmerlyn Valdez hits a run-scoring single against Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Tim Mayza during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, July 2, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

In the early 20th century, baseball started to be spelled as one word, Thorn said. And its play mirrors that of today. The Philadelphia Phillies, originally called the Quakers, were founded in 1883, making them the oldest, one name, one-city, franchise of professional sports.

Why are there so many baseball firsts in Philadelphia?

“Philadelphia was the home to organization and structure,” Thorn said. “This was the seat of government, the place where American politics and innovation started. Philadelphia is a town of invention.”

This week’s Firstival is Saturday, June 11, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at Citizens Bank Park, 1 Citizens Bank Way, Philadelphia, PA

The Inquirer is highlighting a “first” from the Philadelphia Historic District’s 52 Weeks of Firsts program each week. A “52 Weeks of Firsts” podcast, produced by All That’s Good Productions, drops every Tuesday.

July 9, 2026
Mahershala Ali seen jumping rope behind the scenes of ‘Task’ in Manayunk

Mahershala Ali is staying warmed up amid filming for season two of the HBO series Task.

The Oscar-winning actor was spotted on Grape Street in Manayunk, jumping rope between scenes. Wearing a grey polo T-shirt, blue jeans, and a Phillies hat, Ali seemed to be getting in a quick exercise while the Task crew set up equipment behind him, according to a video posted to the Roxborough Rants & Raves Facebook group on Tuesday.

The video was posted by Facebook user Trevor D’Arcy, a Doylestown native per their social media profile.

The second season of the Mark Ruffalo-led, Delco-set series has been filming in the area since Monday. Ruffalo will be reprising his role as FBI agent Tom Brandis while Ali will be playing a longtime Philadelphia DEA agent named Eddie Barnes. Barnes will reportedly rival Ruffalo’s efforts in his new task force.

The first season was filmed in the greater Philadelphia region, with the production team having deep Philly roots. Executive producer Jeremiah Zagar is a South Philly native, and is the son of the late Philadelphia mosaicist Isaiah Zagar.

The show’s creator Brad Ingelsby resides in Berwyn, where he was born and raised.

Ali grew up in Oakland, Calif., but his wife, Amatus-Sami Karim, spent part of her childhood in Philadelphia. Ali was raised Christian, but converted to Islam after attending a prayer at a Philadelphia mosque with Karim and her mother, according to People.

“I converted Dec. 31, 1999. It was a Friday. That was my second time going to the mosque,” Ali said to the Kansas City NPR affiliate, KCUR in 2017. “I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with her … and I just had such a strong reaction to the prayer.”

In 2017, Ali became the first Muslim actor to win the Academy Award for best supporting actor, for his role in Moonlight. He won the same award two years later for Green Book (2018).

Task is Ali’s second HBO venture after the third season of True Detective, where he played Arkansas State Police Detective, Wayne Hays. He was most recently seen in Jurassic World: Rebirth.

No premiere date for season two of Task has been announced.

This article has been updated to include Mahershala Ali’s wife, Amatus-Sami Karim, and details about her connection to Philadelphia.

July 8, 2026
Point Breeze’s Keith Haring mural could be added to the city’s Register of Historic Places

Keith Haring’s We the Youth is already a Philadelphia landmark, but what if the city made that designation official?

The Point Breeze mural, the only collaborative Haring mural that still hangs in its original location, is being proposed to be added to Philadelphia’s Register of Historic Places, which would make it an officially designated and protected landmark.

Haring was born in Reading, raised in Kutztown, and died in New York City in 1990, at age 31, from AIDS-related complications.

“Keith Haring was an extremely important artist who tragically died fairly young,” Alexander Till, a historic preservation planner at the City of Philadelphia, said to WHYY in a statement. “This nomination gives us an opportunity to preserve this piece of his work and his legacy in Philadelphia.”

Keith Haring, who died in 1990, with his painted carousel. MUST CREDIT: Sabina Sarnitz/Luna Luna/Keith Haring Foundation/Artestar

We the Youth, according to Till, who made the nomination, fits Criteria A and E for designation, stating that it “has significant character, interest or value as part of the development, heritage or cultural characteristics of the city … or is associated with the life of a person significant in the past.” Plus, it “is the work of a designer … whose work has significantly influenced the historical, architectural, economic, social, or cultural development of the city.”

The South Philly mural has stood at the corner of 22nd and Ellsworth Streets for nearly four decades. It was painted in 1987 to commemorate the U.S. bicentennial, and intentionally placed in a less-mainstream neighborhood.

Defined by its colorful dancing characters, We the Youth was painted in collaboration with a group of Philadelphia students, through a partnership with the nonprofits CityKids NYC and Brandywine Workshop.

“Philly is very proud to have a Keith Haring mural and especially one embedded in the community that was done in such a collaborative manner,” Jane Golden, founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, said last month. “We get nothing but positive response and excitement when people learn there is a Haring mural in our city.”

In 2013, Golden and her Mural Arts team undertook a massive restoration of the Haring mural.

“As the local caretaker of the Haring mural, we are committed to helping ensure this mural stays at its original location for generations to come,” she said.

“We the Youth” is a Keith Haring mural painted in 1987 on the exterior of a rowhouse at 22nd and Ellsworth Streets.

Murals, especially outdoor ones, are notoriously difficult to get put on the city’s Historic Places Register. They can only be nominated as an “object,” defined under city preservation laws as “a material thing of functional, aesthetic, cultural, historic, or scientific value that may be, by nature or design, movable but yet related to a specific setting or environment.”

Out of 21 objects designated since 1971, only four were murals or mural collections: The Dream Garden inside the Curtis Center, the New Deal-era murals inside the Family Court building, Angelic Exaltation of St. Joseph into Heaven inside Old City’s Old St. Joseph’s Church, and Iron Plantation Near Southwark inside the Southwark Station Post Office in South Philly.

If approved, We the Youth would be the first designated mural in over four years, and the first outdoor one in the city’s history.

Some preservationists have reservations with such a designation.

“The nomination raises broader policy questions about how to evaluate murals under the city’s historic preservation rules,” Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, said in a statement. “Murals are often created as public art on blank walls. Getting designated can have lasting effects on property, new construction, and neighborhood revitalization.”

The owner of a historic property in Philadelphia is obligated to keep the property in good repair and obtain approval from the Historical Commission before making any changes to the site, according to the city’s website.

The mural stands at 2147 Ellsworth St., on the facade of a three-bedroom rowhouse that is available for rent, per an OCF Realty listing. A potential historic designation will not affect the larger property and will be restricted to the mural and the wall it is painted on.

The building’s owner, listed as “2147 Ellsworth LLC” in city records, will be required to maintain the structural integrity of the wall and commit to set obligations, with Mural Arts making any necessary restorations to the mural itself.

The owner would not be allowed to remove or alter the appearance of the mural without the Historic Commission’s review, “just as the owners of historic properties are not allowed to perform exterior alterations to their properties without review,” a representative from the commission said.

OCF Realty did not immediately respond to further queries around the building’s ownership.

“We believe it is essential for the Historical Commission to consider both the importance of this specific work and the precedent it may set for future mural nominations,” Steinke said.

The Philadelphia Historical Commission’s Committee on Historic Designation will discuss Till’s proposal at its July 22 meeting. The nomination would have to be approved by the entire commission for We the Youth to be added to the register.

July 7, 2026
We can thank the Afro Sheen founder for ‘The Sound of Philadelphia’

Like many Black children growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Mount Airy author Hilary Beard had fond memories of Afros and Soul Train dancers.

“I was a little Black girl with braids who sat between my mother’s knees every day as she combed my hair and oiled my scalp with Ultra Sheen,” Beard recalled in a recent video chat. “When I was in the seventh grade and cut my hair into an Afro, I used Afro Sheen. I grew up watching Soul Train. I lived in a world created by this man.”

It wasn’t until 40 years later that she realized these hallmarks of Black culture had a common author, George E. Johnson, the father of modern Black hair care.

Three years ago, Beard teamed up with a then 94-year-old Johnson to cowrite his memoir. She combined her warm memories of plaits, kinky blowouts, Black power picks, and the Soul Train Line with more than 2,000 pages of interviews to write Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street, a 320-page story of entrepreneurship, civil rights, and Black culture, spanning nearly a century.

“Mr. Johnson’s story sweeps through the Cotton South, the Great Migration, the Jim Crow North, the Jim Crow South, World War II, and the civil rights of the 1950s and 1960s,” Beard said. “And it’s told through the perspective of an African American man. We know many of these stories have not been told, they have also been actively suppressed.”

George Johnson, founder of Afro Sheen, in his Chicago study. Johnson is the founder of the first Black company to go public. He also funded the early episodes of Soul Train, for which the Sound of Philadelphia, Gamble & Huff, wrote the soundtrack.

Johnson’s story begins in 1927 Richton, Miss., on a small sharecropping farm. His mother, Priscilla, left his father in 1929, and moved Johnson and his two brothers to Chicago’s South Side. In his early 20s, he worked as a production chemist at the Black-owned cosmetics company Fuller Products, owned by S.B. Fuller, the richest Black man in America at the time.

In the early to mid-20th century, many Black people’s grooming habits included straightening their hair to assimilate, often affording them better jobs in mainstream America. The hair straightening concoctions — a mix of potatoes, lye, and eggs — separated, were messy to apply, and burned.

While working at Fuller Products, Johnson developed Ultra Wave Hair Culture, a creamy emulsified product barbers applied to clients’ hair, giving them the slicked back look popularized in the 1940s by Little Richard, Nat King Cole, and Sammy Davis Jr.

Ultra Wave Hair Culture marked Johnson Products Co.’s debut. In the next decade, JPC introduced Ultra Sheen Cream Satin Press, which hairdressers applied to Black women’s hair before pressing it straight with a hot comb; and Ultra Sheen Relaxer, a lye-based hair straightener for Black women. The “Black is Beautiful” movement birthed Afro Sheen, a spray that left Afros voluminous and glossy.

“A Natural Explosion! Afro Sheen® Blowout Creme Relaxer 1973/2007” from the series “Unbranded: Reflections in Black by Corporate America” by Hank Willis Thomas. MUST CREDIT: Rubell Museum

“The thing that moved my products forward was innovation,” said Johnson, who, at 97, still sounds like a salesman talking to potential customers. “We created something like a new mousetrap, it had never been done before.”

In 1971 — with sales of $12.1 million, or $94 million in today’s dollars — JPC became the first Black-owned company to be publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange, now known as the New York Stock Exchange. Although at the time it was a major achievement, Johnson said that with hindsight, he realized it was a big misstep as he was forced to answer to a board that didn’t understand the Black community.

Creating his lane

Johnson — not to be confused with John H. Johnson, founder of Ebony and Jet magazines — built his empire when banks did not loan money to Black startups, and groceries and drugstores did not stock Black hair care products, let alone place them on endcaps. Johnson remembers struggling to build his business when there were no federal laws to protect him from discrimination. He built his own manufacturing facility and created networks to distribute and advertise his products, and was among the first to sell Black hair care products in mainstream retail outlets.

To see companies like Target and Walmart — which up until recently had a stellar reputation of stocking Black hair care by Black-owned companies — cower under the Trump administration and roll back DEI initiatives is not only disheartening, but it also signals going back to a time when disenfranchisement of minority- and women-owned businesses was standard operating procedure. This reality, Beard says, makes Johnson’s story particularly timely, serving as a road map with young entrepreneurs of color.

“There is a widespread movement to make programs, books, and context that remind us of the bigotry in our nation’s history illegal,” Beard said. “Mr. Johnson is a witness to the overt racism many Americans would like to sweep under the rug. The irony is the very history they don’t want us to know is the reality they are attempting to create.”

JPC was among the first companies to advertise products to Black consumers using images of Black professionals — like doctors, lawyers, and teachers — instead of subservient characters like Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.

Johnson created Soul Train with Don Cornelius in 1971 so his advertising dollars could reach Black consumers directly. Soul Train — the hippest trip in America — was modeled after Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, and featured R&B acts, creating the community that bought Afro and Ultra Sheen products. In 1974, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff wrote Soul Train’s iconic theme song, “T.S.O.P. — The Sound of Philadelphia,” performed by Philadelphia International Records’ The Three Degrees. Soul Train laid the cultural groundwork for MTV and Black Entertainment Television, and “T.S.O.P.” was the first TV theme song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. JPC’s profits nearly tripled to $37 million a year by 1975.

“That was tremendous growth,” Johnson said. “And in 1980, I gave Don my share with the stipulation he keep one minute of advertising time a show to JPC.”

Living history

Johnson never planned to write a book.

“I certainly wouldn’t have waited until I was 94 to do this,” he said. “But I had an epiphany, a real experience and I clearly heard five words, ‘You must tell your story.‘”

Johnson is married to Madeline Murphy Rabb, the mother of Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, a friend of Beard’s. Chris Rabb reached out to Beard, the author of 19 books including memoirs she cowrote with actors and husband-wife team Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance, as well as Philadelphia high school baseball phenomenon Mo’ne Davis, in 2021.

Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street by George E. Johnson, written with Mount Airy-based author, Hilary Beard.

Beard read 16 books about Black hair care culture and Chicago history. The two-year-long writing process became emotional, especially when Johnson recalled his infidelity and losing his first manufacturing facility to fire.

“When Mr. Johnson contacted me, I thought of the African proverb: when an elder dies, a library burns down,” Beard said. “So, I dropped everything to capture this piece of living history on the page.”

July 7, 2026
Amid a heat wave, Philly Pops and Idina Menzel played music that arrived like a balm on Independence Mall

Whatever brutally hot designs the weather gods had in store Friday for Philadelphia’s Independence Day celebrations, by 8 p.m. the temperature fell below 90 degrees, and the music on Independence Mall arrived like a balm.

Listeners were stretched across the lawn of the mall fairly solidly from Independence Hall to Arch Street — an estimated 12,000 attendees, according to a Wawa Welcome America spokesperson. Whether drawn by the Philly Pops with tunes patriotic or stirring, or by popular actress-singer Idina Menzel, the crowd was in a mood at once celebratory and relaxed.

The weather posed no threat, at least for the first hour or so.

At Friday night’s Philly Pops concert on Independence Mall.

This annual tradition of “Pops on Independence,” a free Philly Pops concert on the mall, has become a way of taking the national temperature. Last year, a few months into the new presidential administration, there were subtle references to the political moment, with the acting superintendent of Independence National Historical Park speaking to the audience about equal rights of all kinds, including marriage rights, and referencing a nation “built on the struggle for freedom from tyranny, and the principle of liberty for all under the just rule of law.”

Friday night, park superintendent Steven Sims struck a more anodyne note, speaking of the historic setting, the city’s events this week commemorating the 250th anniversary of the nation, and of celebrating with “one of our most universal languages — music.”

The audience seemed only too happy to live inside of this bubble for a while, though to the woman holding up a “Striving for Democracy” sign, you were seen.

Philly Pops music director Chris Dragon speaking to the crowd during Friday’s “Pops on Independence” concert on Independence Mall.

No one should take for granted the fact that this concert endures. The group performing Friday under the Philly Pops name is a band of survivors, emerging after the demise of the original Philly Pops and much organizational and legal drama. Had the orchestra not reorganized, a 4 ½-decade tradition of hearing music with no less a backdrop than Independence Hall might be gone.

Listening and strolling on Independence Mall Friday night at the Philly Pops concert.

How many other cities can boast as powerful and authentic a resonance between art and setting? When the Pops performed its Armed Forces Salute — having audience members stand as the respective song of the military branch in which they served was played — it made real and human the idea of such service to the nation.

A section has been added to the medley to recognize the U.S. Space Force, established during the first Trump administration; I could be mistaken, but no service member from that branch who might have been in Friday’s audience appears to have stood for this song, called “Semper Supra.”

Idina Menzel performing with the Philly Pops Friday night.

Judging by the number of families with young children in attendance, the main attraction was Menzel, and if they came to hear “Let It Go” from Frozen, they were not disappointed. Menzel was a canny choice for this occasion; she is a singer who knows how to send sound and charisma back to the farthest reaches of the audience.

It was not necessarily the best night to appreciate the talents of the Pops and conductor Chris Dragon. The sound system near me, fairly far back from the stage, cut in and out. No sound check had been possible because of the heat, a Pops spokesperson said. And the concert ended earlier than planned after organizers grew concerned by gathering dark clouds and flashes of lightning. The last few pieces that might have showcased the ensemble weren’t played. A loss, for sure.

But the event succeeded on so many other levels, that it didn’t matter.

As the crowd headed off with the music fresh in their ears, downtown buildings were aglow red, white, and blue; young families lingered and took selfies; and Market Street on a Friday night seemed like the lively urban stretch it once was and could be again.

July 4, 2026
See it, hear it, feel it: All the Philly art we loved this week

Finding America at Woodmere’s ‘Arc of Promise’

Last week, Woodmere director William R. Valerio stood in front of six vibrant works in Woodmere’s Charles Knox Smith Hall’s Antonelli Gallery.

Behind him were two works by Philadelphia painters Francis Coates Jones and Thomas Hovenden, both depicting an elderly Black person named Sam, who lived in the Germantown/Chestnut Hill area, enjoying moments in nature. Another work, a Dox Thrash etching of a man holding a banjo, suggests he’s more than an entertainer; he’s also an introspective thinker.

Woodmere director William R. Valerio discusses the “Arc of Promise” exhibition, featuring the work of Philadelphia artists who portray Black people with humanity. A number of the works are from the Civil War era.

Contemporary artist Allan L. Edmond’s lithograph, America’s Bicentennial, features luminaries Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, and Barack Obama alongside scenes of African American struggle and achievement.

What if America in the 19th century — when many of these works were made — embraced Black men’s humanity? Valerio asked, sparking my own questions.

What if we came to terms with how unfair treatment of women, minorities, and immigrants in the past impacted our lives today?

Would America be a different place?

These questions find answers in every nook, cranny, and inch of Woodmere’s “Arc of Promise” exhibit. Each painting, ceramic, map, or mixed media collage speaks to how Philly artists — from the 17th century through today — envisioned the idea of America.

From left to right, “Untitled,” 1874; by Charles V. Brown; Francis Coates Jones; “The Fifteenth Amendment (or Civil Rights), George Bacon Wood, 1875; “Left in Charge,” 1882; Thomas Hovenden, “I’s So Happy,” 1882; Dox Thrash, “Played Out” c. 1937; “American Bicentennial,” Allan L. Edmunds. These photos show the humanity of Black men during an era when art didn’t portray them as such.

Many — including Barbara Bullock’s seminal sculpture honoring the life of Trayvon Martin and the charcoal works of the late Peter Paone — are a part of Woodmere’s vast permanent collection.

But there are also several important works on loan including protest photography by Harvey Finkle and a mixed-media necklace by Teri Hislop, a member of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. Henry Bermudez’s Miss America, completed in 2019, offers a layered vision of America through migration, mythology, and identity. It sits next to sculptor Hiram Powers’ “America,” in which 19th-century America is depicted as a Greek goddess.

There is a lot of pomp, circumstance, and sparkle in this lively retrospective. The must-see gallery, however, is the Schnader Gallery Hall because it includes a pristine collection of refurbished American landscapes by local 19th-century artists Frederic Edwin Church and James Hamilton featuring many a Schuylkill waterfall. Think of this gallery as a place to retreat after a bustling Fourth of July weekend.

“Arc of Promise” takes its name from watercolor artist Jerry Pinkney, a longtime friend of the Woodmere who used the term as a way to speak to an America of unfolding potential, despite its past unequal treatment of Black people, immigrants, and women.

“Arc of Promise” runs through Nov. 2, 2026, Woodmere’s Smith Hall is located at 9201 Germantown Ave.

— Elizabeth Wellington

Actor John Clarence Stewart as the titular character in “Basil Biggs” at the Wilma Theater.

Excavating history with ‘Basil Biggs’

There is something so powerful about seeing someone grapple with their personal experience of American history. As Semiquincentennial fanfare reached a fever pitch in Philadelphia, this workshop of a developing play by actor/playwright Anna Deavere Smith was a deeply moving performance about her great-great-grandfather, Basil Biggs, a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Smith learned of him in an episode of Finding Your Roots; even then, she knew his story was worthy of a play, though she didn’t start writing until a decade later.

Biggs was a veterinarian and farmer in Gettysburg during the Civil War, a free Black man who helped fugitives escape slavery and who buried the tens of thousands of soldiers who died in the war’s bloodiest battle. The Biggs family house still stands today, and Smith visited the grounds, as well as the Adams County Historical Society, while she researched the time period. There was little historical documentation about her family, so this work is narrative speculation, based on her research of the time period, much like groundbreaking scholar Saidiya Hartman’s critical fabulation: In the absence of records about African Americans, visionaries use archival materials to imagine the lives of those largely erased from written memory.

Smith crafted a riveting world that showcased fierce resilience, disarming humor, and profound empathy during a painfully divided time. The story is fueled by original music from actor/violinist Edward W. Hardy. It was an honor to experience one of the earliest presentations of this play, which will likely grow into a major production. It’s the kind of honest work about this nation’s bloody, conflicted history that feels like essential viewing for anyone who calls themself a patriot.

“Basil Biggs” ran June 26-28 at the Wilma Theater as part of ArtPhilly’s What Now: 2026 festival.

— Rosa Cartagena

Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie. The band’s new album is “Livin’ in the U.S.A.”

Romping, stomping, piano-pounding resistance with Low Cut Connie

Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie has stressed that the band’s eighth studio album, whose release is timed to America’s 250th birthday, is an act of resistance.

Shortly after becoming one of the first artists to cancel at the Kennedy Center after the Trump administration’s takeover of the D.C. institution in early 2025, Weiner recorded what became the title song.

As he explains in an explanatory note that accompanies the album, it addresses “the atrocity of ICE, authoritarianism, racism” and led to a full set of songs “about the times we are living through in America 2026.”

But while Weiner’s political stance is unequivocal — “I made this album to say f— you to this regime, to the brutality, and inhumanity of our tech leaders,” he writes — his music is much more subtle.

Many of the titles like “Oh Yeah” and “Get Down” on Livin in the USA are essentially party songs: romping, stomping, piano-pounding, and saxophone-wailing celebrations of diversity and sexuality that aren’t the slightest bit preachy or pedantic.

Singing a gospel of self-liberation, Weiner is accompanied by the touring LCC band, which includes singer Amanda “Rocky” Bullwinkel,” guitarist-sax player Kelsey Cork, and drummer Jarae Lewis. Occasionally, as in the grinding “Human Condition,” the songs are overt in their condemnation of life during Trump time, which he likens to “living in a house of detention.”

But in general, he heeds lessons learned from favorite albums like Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA and Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On. When delivering a heavy message, always keep the groove going and the rock rolling.

“Just because the world is collapsing,” Weiner writes in his Livin album note, “doesn’t mean we can’t go skinny dipping this weekend.” “Can’t Be Wrong” is perhaps the most grabby earworm in a tight, 10-song set whose energy never flags. In that song, the prospect of “gettin’ naked in the afternoon, or maybe later underneath the moon” leads to an obvious conclusion: “Oh babe, you know it can’t be wrong.”

“Livin in the USA” releases July 3

— Dan DeLuca

Remembering LGBTQ+ activists

Resting in peace can also mean resting in pride and power. A new Gayborhood mural provides a tribute that does exactly that.

In Pride, In Power, In Memory is located on the side of Voyeur Nightclub at 1221 James St., a prominent spot amid Philadelphia’s queer nightlife.

The mural is located outside of Voyeur Nightclub in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood.

Painted by artist Santiago Galeas, the mural displays portraits of Gloria Casarez, Michael S. Hinson Jr., Tyrone Smith, Nizah Morris, and Dawn Munro; all LGBTQ+ activists who called Philadelphia home.

Each figure is accompanied by a flower symbolizing the person’s life and identity; Casarez’s portrait is adorned by Mexican marigolds, for example, as a nod to her heritage. The faces were all drawn referencing photos of them looking hopeful and optimistic.

The mural is strikingly bright, with vivid shades of purple and yellow illuminating the portraits.

These trailblazers pursued several kinds of activism in their lives, including AIDS awareness, trans rights, and community organization to rally for queer rights. Without them, the status of Philadelphia’s acceptance of the queer community may have looked completely different today.

“In Pride, In Power, In Memory” is located on the side of Voyeur Nightclub at 1221 James St.

— Morgan Ritter

July 4, 2026
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce donate $1 million to Reading food bank

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce may or may not be getting married this weekend. But the pop singer and Kansas City Chiefs tight end are celebrating their impending nuptials with some philanthropy.

The couple donated $26 million to 20 charities across the United States on Thursday — including one in Swift’s hometown of Reading. Helping Harvest, a food bank that serves “seniors and adults experiencing food insecurity” in Berks and Schuylkill Counties, received $1 million from the couple.

The donation was unexpected, Helping Harvest said in a statement on Thursday, but greatly appreciated.

“The $1 million that Ms. Swift and Mr. Kelce donated to us today will be used and the impact will be exponential in allowing us to rescue more food from waste and provide more food to people in need,” Helping Harvest president Jay Worrall said to The Inquirer. “[Swift] has done the people in her home community a great service, and we thank her for it.”

Taylor Swift performs during the first of three Eras Tour performances at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Friday, May 12, 2023. .

Swift has a history of donating to food banks, particularly when on tour. During the “Eras Tour” in 2023, Swift donated to Three Square Food Bank in southern Nevada, Food Lifeline in Seattle, and Second Harvest of Silicon Valley in San Jose, Calif., among others.

In December, she donated $1 million to Feeding America, of which Helping Harvest is a partner food bank.

One of Helping Harvest’s largest expenses is its infrastructure, such as cold storage and refrigerated trucks for food distribution. The donation, Worrall said, would likely be invested in additional trucking or warehouse space that would allow them to store more food.

“There have been substantial reductions in federal resources for food banks over the past few years, compounded by the reductions to the SNAP programs that are being enacted right now,” he said. “The state has tried to step up in some ways, but the increase in state funding has been modest compared to the reductions in federal funding.”

Last year, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration invested $459,000 in Helping Harvest’s new community kitchen, which provides culinary training and is where meals are prepared for people in need.

In the last two years, Helping Harvest’s federal funding has decreased by a little over a third. The organization received $2,687,166 in grants awarded under federal programs, compared to $4,240,293 in 2024, according to a recent audit for the 2025 fiscal year. The organization anticipates distributing over 14 million pounds of food this year, up 3 million pounds from 2024.

A spokesperson for Swift did not immediately respond to The Inquirer’s request for comment about the donation to Helping Harvest.

While there has been no confirmation from the couple, Swift and Kelce are reportedly tying the knot on Friday at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, where Swift was most recently seen cheering on New York Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

Celebrity news publication Page Six released a video of large Sysco-branded boxes of food being brought into the venue, including lobster meat, french fries, andchicken. The Associated Press has reportedly obtained a copy of a city permit for a “special event” taking place at the venue on Friday night.

The article has been updated to include details about Swift and Kelce’s reported wedding. Staff writer Beatrice Forman contributed to this article.

July 2, 2026
Bill Wine, Emmy Award-winning film and TV critic, and longtime La Salle professor, has died at 81

Bill Wine, 81, of Philadelphia, three-time Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award-winning film and TV critic, retired tenured associate professor of TV and film at La Salle University, onetime freelance TV critic for the Daily News, freelance writer, playwright, and popular lecturer, died Sunday, June 14, of complications from Parkinson’s disease at his home in Chestnut Hill.

The son of two part-time amateur actors and a lifelong devotee of theater, film, TV, writing, and teaching, Mr. Wine was a film critic for WTXF-TV, Channel 29, for 12 years and KYW radio for 17 years. Known for his pithy, witty, and often acerbic reviews, and a breezy conversational style of writing, he worked at Channel 29 from 1990 to 2002 and KYW from 2001 to 2018.

“Bill Wine was a character out of a Neil Simon comedy, more Oscar than Felix,” said Carrie Rickey, former Inquirer movie critic. “You didn’t have to wait long for the punchline.”

Mr. Wine’s film reviews on Channel 29 were often funny and entertaining.

At Channel 29, Mr. Wine was nominated for eight regional Emmy Awards for commentary and writing, and won three. He appeared regularly on the station’s Ten O’Clock News, in primetime movie preview and review programs, and later on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on Good Day Philadelphia.

By 1990, he had already written hundreds of freelance film reviews for the Daily News and Courier-Post, done radio reviews for WPEN, and taught a variety of classes about film and writing for a decade at La Salle. So, despite no previous TV experience, he was hired at Channel 29 over 60 other film critic applicants.

KYW cuts ties with Emmy-winning film critic Bill Wine after 17 years

“I had never been on TV, but I wasn’t nervous,” he told the Daily News in 2001, “because I had been standing in front of 100 students for 10 years.”

Mr. Wine worked at at WTXF-TV, Channel 29, for 12 years.

He started at KYW radio in 2001 and usually aired reviews and reports on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Sometimes, he watched three movies in one day. He left Channel 29 in 2002 and KYW in 2018 only after both companies eliminated their local film critic position.

“When I started [writing film reviews], it was before the internet,” he told The Inquirer in 2018. “A lot of people [now] feel like, ‘Who the heck is a movie critic to come on in a minute and to dismiss something that took hundreds of people and millions of dollars to create?’”

In the 1970s and ‘80s, he wrote articles and reviewed films, TV shows, books, and plays for WPEN, The Inquirer, Courier-Post, Philadelphia Magazine, and other outlets. In 1975, he wrote dozens of freelance TV columns called “On the Air” for the Daily News.

Mr. Wine wrote dozens of columns as a freelance TV critic for the Daily News in 1975.

He spent three years in California in the 1970s working on plays and film and TV scripts. He hobnobbed with famous writers, producers, and actors in Los Angeles, staged one of his own plays, and was a winning contestant on a new TV game show.

He wrote 11 plays over the years, and several made it to the stage. “Now the people who disagree with my reviews can come and find out if I’m as dumb as they think I am,” he told The Inquirer in 2002.

He aired reviews on WIP radio and lectured often at libraries, schools, community centers, theaters, and other venues about his favorite films, adapting books to film, and other topics. “He could be wickedly funny, especially when delivering a pan of a movie,” his family said in a tribute. “One of his favorite quotes was: ‘I had a bad seat. It was facing the screen.’”

Mr. Wine was a prolific playwright who enjoyed table readings with family and friends.

Mr. Wine earned a bachelor’s degree in math at Drexel University and a master’s degree in communications at Temple University. He helped design La Salle’s nascent Communication Department in the 1980s, and school officials called him one of their “Founding Fathers.” He also taught briefly at Drexel, and came close to earning a doctorate at Temple.

In 2001, he was featured in a Daily News story about “celebrity professors” and said: “You have to remind yourself that this is television, not the classroom. You mention, say, ‘film noir’ on TV, and you get a memo.”

William David Wine was born June 21, 1944, in Germantown. He grew up in West Oak Lane and Cherry Hill, attended Central High School, and graduated from the old Cherry Hill High School.

A story and this photo of Mr. Wine about his time as a professor at La Salle appeared in the Daily News in 2001.

As a boy, he devoured newspaper movie reviews and fell in love with film after seeing Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 thriller Rear Window. He got positive reviews of his own freelance movie review when he was at Temple, and he knew then, he said later, that writing about movies was his creative niche.

“The first time I saw my byline, I was hooked,” he told Drexel Magazine in 2016.

He married Dina Lichtman, and they divorced later. He married Suzanne Monsalud in 1981, and they had daughters Simone and Paulina, and lived in Germantown, Wyncote, and Chestnut Hill.

Mr. Wine and his wife, Suzanne, married in 1981.

Together, Mr. Wine and his family traveled to Paris and London, and he and his wife honeymooned in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He doted on his daughters and sometimes took them to his La Salle classroom, the Channel 29 TV set, and movie screenings.

Friends, former colleagues, and former students called him “a force of nature,” “smart and gifted,” and “a rare combination of kindness, professionalism, and humor.” His daughter Simone said: “His humor, warmth, and presence made life brighter.”

Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer

Mr. Wine played tennis, third base on adult softball teams, and pickup basketball into his 70s. He followed the Phillies, 76ers, and Eagles closely, and hit tennis balls with Hall of Famer Rod Laver at a publicity event in Los Angeles.

Mr. Wine and his family made memorable trips to Paris, London, and elsewhere.

“He was a wonderful father and a dedicated teacher,” his wife said. “He was a real Philadelphian, and we complemented each other.”

His daughter Paulina said: “Dad, I think you cracked the code. We’ll see you at the movies.”

Why did best-selling author Carol Saline email The Inquirer’s obit writer?

In addition to his wife and daughters, Mr. Wine is survived by three grandchildren, a sister, Marcia, and other relatives. A sister died earlier.

A celebration of his life was held earlier.

Donations in his name may be made to the Bill Wine Scriptwriting Award at La Salle University, 1900 W. Olney Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19141.

Mr. Wine (second from left) enjoyed time with his family.

July 2, 2026