Come on home, hon!

Over three days next October (3-5), local Baltimore boosters are going to throw a Baltimore Homecoming to bring home some people who are famous around the country and around the world.

It's felt that having some people who were born or raised here and then have gone to great acclaim will give the city's tarnished image a nice sparkle.

So, they trot out the familiar names:  Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Congressman Elijah Cummings(D, MD), actor Josh Charles, and actress Julie Bowen.

Problem is, "These folks aren’t always connected to the city," according to Nate Lowentheil, who works with Baltimore Homecoming. "They don’t always know what’s happening in Baltimore."

Well. Elijah Cummings certainly does. He lives here and represents part of the city quite well in Congress. Kevin Plank came up with the idea for athletic wear while attending the U of Maryland and now owns half the city and most of the county as a result. But Julie Bowen and Bess Armstrong, a couple of actresses who come from the same high-class suburb of Baltimore, left here a long time ago for fame and fortune, and let's just say they might not recognize Kenilworth Mall as it looks today.

Mr Zappa 

"The idea of the homecoming is to engage this alumni network of accomplished Baltimore natives from around the country, and get them to meet all the amazing young leaders in Baltimore. The artists, the entrepreneurs, the activists, the community leaders. And to find ways to reconnect to the life of our city," Lowentheil says. 

And, as Congressman Cummings says, "Baltimore has so many great young leaders in business, politics, and the arts."

Quite true. 

I think this is a great idea.  It comes as a surprise to a lot of people that musicians from Tori Amos to Frank Zappa were raised here, that actors such as John "Gomez Addams" Astin, Hans Conreid, Divine, Charles S. "Roc" Dutton, David Hasselhoff, John Kassir (who gets extra points for being from my neighborhood!), Edward Norton and Dwight Schultz, who gets extra credit for going to the same high school as John Waters are Baltimore to the core.

Mr Astin

Actresses with Baltimore roots include Anna Faris, Mo'Nique (who gets extra points for being a fellow alumnus of the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland - as does Robin Quivers!), Nicole Ari Parker,  and Jada Pinkett Smith.


Musicians? How about Gina Schock, Greg Kihn, Cab Calloway, Ronnie Dove, Mama Cass Elliott, Billie Holiday, and Dru Hill?

Ms Schock

And any list of famous locals has to include the host of radio's "This American Life," Ira Glass, U.S. Representative from California since 1987, Minority Leader and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and cranky newsman H. L. Mencken and offbeat poet Ogden Nash.

So bring on the Baltimore Love! 410 represent!