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Out of The Blocks

400 E Patapsco

By Aaron Henkin
Published July 7, 2015 at 1:54 PM EDT
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all photos by Wendel Patrick www.wendelpatrick.com
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all photos by Wendel Patrick www.wendelpatrick.com
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Geoffry Shore, owner of Patapsco Feed & Supply at 432 E Patapsco Ave
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Geoffry Shore, owner of Patapsco Feed & Supply at 432 E Patapsco Ave
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"I went through 17 women for my pigeons. The women don’t like the pigeons." 76-year-old pigeon racer Fran Webber, 432 E Patapsco Avenue";
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"I went through 17 women for my pigeons. The women don’t like the pigeons." 76-year-old pigeon racer Fran Webber, 432 E Patapsco Avenue";
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"I got locked up here. I got robbed here. I beat people up here. I had shoot-outs here." Gary, 400 E Patapsco
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"I got locked up here. I got robbed here. I beat people up here. I had shoot-outs here." Gary, 400 E Patapsco
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"I never wanted to be a bad father. My father was never there for me." Scott Spencer & daughter Anna, 400 E Patapsco
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"I never wanted to be a bad father. My father was never there for me." Scott Spencer & daughter Anna, 400 E Patapsco
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"I need to teach my daughters. I could be gone today or tomorrow." Quillie, 435 E Patapsco Avenue
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"I need to teach my daughters. I could be gone today or tomorrow." Quillie, 435 E Patapsco Avenue
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"I’m going to school to be an over-road trucker. There’s more that I want to see, more that I want to show my children." ‘Block,’ 400 E Patapsco";s:3:"u
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"I’m going to school to be an over-road trucker. There’s more that I want to see, more that I want to show my children." ‘Block,’ 400 E Patapsco";s:3:"u
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"When I got into it, everything was still analog. Computers weren’t involved." Music producer “Spielberg,” 423 E. Patapsco Avenue";s:3:
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"When I got into it, everything was still analog. Computers weren’t involved." Music producer “Spielberg,” 423 E. Patapsco Avenue";s:3:
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"You have to command your area. This is my area. This is where I make a living." Antonio McDuffy, 419 E Patapsco Avenue
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"You have to command your area. This is my area. This is where I make a living." Antonio McDuffy, 419 E Patapsco Avenue
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"I’ve been incarcerated twice. This barbering thing has helped me focus on the positive." Marcus Carter, 419 E Patapsco Avenue";
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"I’ve been incarcerated twice. This barbering thing has helped me focus on the positive." Marcus Carter, 419 E Patapsco Avenue";
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"Real is going to recognize real. I don’t have to say it. I’m here to tell you I’m a businessman." Mobile phone vendor Dana ‘DJ’ Robinson, 429 E Patapsco Avenue";s:3:"uri
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"Real is going to recognize real. I don’t have to say it. I’m here to tell you I’m a businessman." Mobile phone vendor Dana ‘DJ’ Robinson, 429 E Patapsco Avenue";s:3:"uri
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"I picked up a major addiction. Heroin." Gerard, 435 E Patapsco Avenue
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"I picked up a major addiction. Heroin." Gerard, 435 E Patapsco Avenue
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"I smile, even when it hurts." Lakeisha, Patapsco Mart, 439 Patapsco Avenue
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"I smile, even when it hurts." Lakeisha, Patapsco Mart, 439 Patapsco Avenue
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"We’ve been at this location 45 years. We’re the oldest business on the street." Pat Wills with daughter Andrea, Wills Printing Company, 417 E Patapsco Avenue";s:
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"We’ve been at this location 45 years. We’re the oldest business on the street." Pat Wills with daughter Andrea, Wills Printing Company, 417 E Patapsco Avenue";s:
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"I took time in jail to get inside my own head and figure out what I needed to do to change my life." Kelly Jones, 435 E Patapsco Avenue
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"I took time in jail to get inside my own head and figure out what I needed to do to change my life." Kelly Jones, 435 E Patapsco Avenue
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"The boys on the corner call me ‘Momma,’ but I’m old enough to be their grandmother." Phylis Beck, 44 E Patapsco Avenue";s:3:
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"The boys on the corner call me ‘Momma,’ but I’m old enough to be their grandmother." Phylis Beck, 44 E Patapsco Avenue";s:3:
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"The good die young, I guess." Buck, 400 E Patapsco Avenue
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"The good die young, I guess." Buck, 400 E Patapsco Avenue
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On the 400 block of E Patapsco Avenue, you'll meet octogenarian pigeon racers, evangelizing barbers, philosophical convenience-store clerks, reformed and not-so-reformed drug dealers, aspiring hip hop musicians, and more.  

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Out of The Blocks WYPR ProgramsOut of the Blocksaaron henkinWendel PatrickPatapsco AvenueBaltimore neighborhoods
Aaron Henkin
Aaron creates and produces original radio programs and podcasts for WYPR. His current project is The Maryland Curiosity Bureau. Aaron's neighborhood documentary series, Out of the Blocks, earned the 2018 national Edward R Murrow Award. His past work includes the long-running weekly cultural program, The Signal, and the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings series, Tapestry of the Times. Aaron's stories have aired nationally on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
See stories by Aaron Henkin