“One of Ron Cassie’s vignettes in If You Love Baltimore, It Will Love You Back is titled “The Polaroid Guy,” and that’s exactly who Cassie is. Only instead of film, Cassie uses the page. His empathetic approach, concern for justice, and keen journalist’s eye have been honed over years on the Baltimore beat. As Cassie crisscrosses the city, what develops is an image of an urban landscape and its people in a constant state of rehab—in every sense of the word—that’s emblematic of American cities today.”
— Gregg Wilhelm, founder and director emeritus, Baltimore’s CityLit Project, director of Creative Writing, George Mason University
“Nicolás Ramos, writes Ron Cassie in this anthology of survival in Crabtown, arrived in the U.S. as a teenager to pick broccoli on a farm in Texas before winding his way to Baltimore. Cassie, a reporter with literary instincts worthy of Nelson Algren—eye, ear, and heart full of soul—didn’t begin writing about Charm City until he was 42. But oh, the harvest he has gleaned since in this most improbable of cities. It’s all here, 171 stories worth in what I trust will be the first of many books Cassie will deliver as his roots sink deeper into the hard red clay along the shores of the Patapsco.”
— Rafael Alvarez, former city desk reporter at The Baltimore Sun, short story writer, staff writer for the first three seasons of The Wire, author of Basilio Boullosa Stars in the Fountain of Highlandtown.
“An expansive and yet microscopically detailed portrait of a city—painted with love. Cassie’s intimate portrayal of Baltimore’s residents, their triumphs and tragedies and work-a-day lives serves as a gorgeous rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s tweeted dismissal of Baltimore City as a “disgusting,” “very dangerous and filthy place.” As Studs Terkel investigated the wage-earner in Working through scrupulous listening, Cassie similarly attends to the tenor of residents’ experiences; the composite result is paean to a rust-belt city…in all its quirky glory.”
— Karen Houppert, former Village Voice and Baltimore City Paper editor, author of Chasing Gideon: The Elusive Quest for Poor People’s Justice, associate director, Master of Arts in Writing Program, at Johns Hopkins University
“When local papers, politicians, police officers and other people who frequent Baltimore collectively decided to demonize ‘squeegee kids’—Ron Cassie stepped up and delivered a dose of humanity, humanity that many other outlets ignored. Cassie could’ve taken the easy route and sided with most publications, but instead he did what was right. He met the kids, brilliantly documented their reality and crafted a beautiful story that the mainstream desperately needed. Cassie is a gem, his writing is extremely urgent, necessary, and we need more writers like him.”
— D. Watkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Cook Up and We Speak for Ourselves, editor at large at Salon, University of Baltimore writing professor
“An essential addition to your Baltimore bookshelf, Ron Cassie’s collected vignettes of city life provide a master class in the art of feature writing. In If You Love Baltimore, It Will Love You Back, Cassie gifts the reader with vivid sketches of the region’s hidden heroes, snubbed landmarks and unheeded history. From the father and son duo who taught generations of city kids to swim in their backyard pool to the ex-drug dealer persuading a new generation to turn away from violence, from mourners looking to salvage a piece of the defunct Sparrows Point steel works to kids trying to make a buck washing car windows at city intersections, Cassie reveals both the richness and pathos of life in our town.”
— Deborah Rudacille, author of Roots of Steel: Boom and Bust in an American Mill Town and Professor of the Practice, UMBC
If You Love Baltimore,
It Will Love You Back
171 Short But True Stories
If You Love Baltimore,
It Will Love You Back
171 Short But True Stories
Ron Cassie
Copyright © 2020 by Ron Cassie
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission from the publisher (except by reviewers who may quote brief passages).
First Edition
Casebound ISBN: 978-1-62720-308-1
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-62720-309-8
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-62720-310-4
Printed in the United States of America
Design by Courtney Kenny
Editorial development by Sofia Barr
Promotion plan by Jacqueline Kohaut
Cover photographs by John Patterson, Ron Cassie, Mike Morgan, Erin Douglas
Back cover author photo by Sarah Cassie
Apprentice House Press
Loyola University Maryland
4501 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21210
410.617.5265
www.ApprenticeHouse.com
For my mother, the daughter of two immigrants, who loved people,
simple pleasures, and good stories.
Contents
Introduction 1
1. The Polaroid Guy 8
2. Old Heads 11
3. Breaking the Habit 14
4. To Haiti 16
5. Friend of the Court 18
6. Golden Hours 21
7. Miles of Charm 24
8. The Wheel 26
9. Old School 28
10. Bienvenidos 30
11. Slumlord Justice 32
12. A Dream Un-deferred 35
13. Blast Off 37
14. Pin-Up Girls 39
15. Illuminati 41
16. Weddings Rings 43
17. President Street 45
18. More Menorah 48
19. Baltimore vs. Brooklyn 50
20. Everything Must Go 52
21. Pinball Wizard 54
22. Adults Only 56
23. Sweet Trees 58
24. Basketball Diaries 60
25. Nether World 62
26. Sneaker Show 64
27. Poor People’s March 66
28. Alcohol Free 68
29. Tour Dem Parks, Hon! 69
30. Pump It Up 71
31. Water Cure 72
32. Pilgrimage 74
33. Setting Precedent 76
34. Guns for Gigabytes 79
35. School Girls 81
36. Hacking It 83
37. The Dome 85
38. Lady Day Way 87
39. Well Read 88
40. The Duchess 90
41. Sci-Fi Channel 92
42.