From the Editor

ON THE COVER

Meet the Booksellers

Jonathan and Meredith Robinson became the new owners of Little Professor on 18th Street in early 2020. Photo by Elise Ferrer Photography Design by Kimberly Myers A“Acknowledge that you remember. Remember anniversaries. Grief is always in the background.” I wrote down these words as I heard author Nancy Guthrie speak about grief in the summer of 2017—just before we launched this magazine—and since then they have guided the most significant work I think we have done in this publication, telling the life stories of those our community has lost. In September/October 2018, we remembered the life of Edgewood Elementary teacher Shannon Burgess. In March/April 2020, we recounted the legacy of Fire Chief John Bresnan. Since October 2019, we’ve marked the life of Aniah Blanchard—who would have turned 21 on June 22—in a series of commemorative Instagram posts. In November/December 2019, Mary Michael Kelly shared her story of her love for and loss of two of her children. Along the way, I’ve been afforded the privilege to get to know each of these individuals in a unique way, talking to those who knew them best about their particular traits and shared memories and then writing a narrative to share with you, our readers. And that was very true of our stories in this issue about LJ Rouse, a youth sports coach who brought color, literally and figuratively, to fields and mentored countless players, and Robyn Naftell Herring, a devoted nurse practitioner, mother and friend who was a bright light in the lives of many. Over the past year, our community has mourned many things deeply, including both of these lives and that of Annie Montgomery, and in that heaviness it only felt right to honor their legacies in Homewood in this way. On a lighter note, we’ve got lots of new things to introduce to you in this issue! Homewood Life is now coming out in print once quarterly, or once every season: fall, winter, spring and summer. If you are a subscriber, you will still get the number of issues left in your subscription, and if you aren’t a subscriber, you can change that at homewoodlife.com any time. And as always you can find us sharing more timely updates on local happenings @homewoodlife on social media, and you can sign up for our monthly emails at homewoodlife. com. Also in this issue we are starting a new travel feature, Hit the Road, that spotlights destinations within driving distance or a direct flight from Homewood/BHM that you’ll find in each issue going forward, as well as a new annual advertorial section of Community Influencers that features local business leaders and others making a difference in our area. Be sure to check both of those out. Thanks for reading, and here’s to hoping fall weather arrives before this issue is too old!