I lived in Towson from 1955 to 1975 and was a teen there in the magnificent 1960s. Towson was home to several noted (or notorious), characters:
- Divine – aka Harris Glenn Milstead, respected ground-breaking cross-dressing actor/performer
- John Waters – Underground filmmaker, performer, author and cultural icon
- Madalyn Murray O’Hare – Notorious atheist activist whose Supreme Court Case prohibited reciting prayers in public schools
- Spiro T. Agnew – Vice President under Richard Nixon- resigned due to criminal activities
- Arthur Bremer – Attempted assassin of George Wallace (incarcerated in Towson Jail for several months)
- F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald – lived in La Paix mansion on the same street where Divine grew up, while Zelda was treated at the Shepherd Pratt Mental Hospital. Zelda was suspected of starting a spectacular fire that nearly burned the mansion to the ground.
- Michael Phelps – Olympic swimming champion, won more Olympic medals than any other human.
What a party that group would have made, but they certainly left their mark!
Here are links to the stories, originally published by the web magazine, SPLICETODAY.COM
- https://www.splicetoday.com/baltimore/my-friend-the-antiques-thief
- https://www.splicetoday.com/baltimore/outcast-culture
- https://www.splicetoday.com/baltimore/my-band-wasn-t-great-but-we-had-the-gear
- https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/my-church-choir-youth
- https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/suburban-moms-in-the-1960s
- https://www.splicetoday.com/baltimore/how-i-learned-to-love-private-school
- https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/my-first-car-and-the-friend-who-stole-an-edgar-allan-poe-document
- https://www.splicetoday.com/baltimore/beatniks-in-baltimore-and-my-first-band
- https://www.splicetoday.com/baltimore/tourists-exploring-1920s-baltimore
- https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-best-of-times-in-1980s-manhattan
- https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/i-nearly-burned-down-the-poe-house
- https://www.splicetoday.com/moving-pictures/blaxploitation-is-my-game
- https://www.splicetoday.com/pop-culture/fan-freak
- https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/brief-visit-to-afghanistan
- https://www.robertmaier.us/2020/10/09/growing-up-in-towson/