The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Leslie Gray Streeter

Leslie Gray

Leslie Gray Streeter is a columnist excited about telling Baltimore stories — about us and the things that we care about, that touch us, that tickle us and that make us tick, from parenting to pop culture to the perfect crab cake. She is especially psyched about discussions, no matter how big or small, that we don't usually have. Open mind and a sense of humor required. When she was a sophomore at Baltimore City College High School in the 80s, she met her first newspaper columnist, and thought ""Wait? They'll pay you to write about your opinions? Sign me up!"" And since then, that's all she has wanted to do, and mostly all she has done. She went from City to the University of Maryland and then up and down the east coast until she found herself here as the lifestyle columnist for the Baltimore Banner. It's a perfect circle and honestly she's directing the emotional movie montage in her head right now. There's a lot of Janet Jackson in it. At the Banner, she wants to build on the expertise she has gained as a staffer at The Miami Times (weekly), York Dispatch and the Palm Beach Post, with freelance gigs including writing about for The Washington Post, opining about grief for O, The Oprah Magazine, to weekly recaps of ""The Bachelorette"" for the Seattle Times. That's a lot of ground to cover, but as a Features writer and columnist for almost 30 years she has learned that we, as humans, cover a lot of ground, too, so what we read should, too. We are what we care about, eat, watch, listen to and gab over Twitter about, and it means even more when it's about where we live. And that's what her column is going to be. She is the author of one book, the memoir ""Black Widow"" (Little Brown), and an international speaker about grief, culture, parenting and a lot of other stuff. She is also a widowed single mom of one son named Brooks Robinson, because as she said, they're really really really from Baltimore, which they returned to in July 2020. She is a very slow run-walker, a fan of true crime documentaries and podcasts, and a bad guitarist who sings loud over the chords she can't reach.

The latest from Leslie Gray Streeter

Performers on stilts dance across the stage while one breathes fire during the UniverSoul Circus Caribbean Carnival act at a show in Baltimore.
He didn’t see anyone who looked like him at the circus, so he created one of his own
Cedric Walker created the UniverSoul Circus so that kids growing up in places like his native West Baltimore could see themselves reflected in joyous things.
In Otterbein. The woman with the dog: This was the only home not hidden in shadow. In the time it took to unlock my phone, the woman and her dog came into the frame as if to bring the street to life.
She’s photographing her Baltimore neighborhood walks as an exercise in mental health
Nichole Morris' goal is to walk through — and photograph — each of Baltimore’s 250-plus neighborhoods not only as a physical record but as a mental health exercise.
Former therapist Andrew Walen now owns School of Rock Pikesville.
He built a career in mental health. He bought a School of Rock to help his own.
Andrew Walen’s journey took him from music to mental health and back again. Fatherhood and The School of Rock brought him full circle.
A pattern of books with some of them open. The books are of different sizes and colors. The pattern is made up of various books stacked on top of each other
Books are having a moment. So why are we getting rid of book criticism?
The Associated Press announced they are ending their book reviews. What does that mean for our culture?
Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker
HBO Max
And Just Like That...

Season 3 - Episode 7
Grieving ‘And Just Like That...,’ the show that could’ve been
‘And Just Like That...’ could have been a relatable, aspirational look at middle age if it didn’t get in its own way.
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
A Ravens fan wanted to sell her tickets after Harbaugh’s Trump visit. Then the phone rang.
A diehard Ravens fan almost sold her season ticketss over Coach John Harbaugh’s Trump White House visit. A call with a team executive changed her mind.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris was interviewed by Stephen Colbert on the July 31 episode of "The Late Show."
Kamala Harris doesn’t owe us anything
Kamala Harris wants to fight tyranny from outside an elected office, but that's not good enough for some people.
Illustration of feet on a weighing scale surrounded by various fruits symbolizing health and diet
My vacation threw off my healthy eating. Here’s how to get back on track.
After eating healthier, I had a little too much fun with food in New Orleans. A registered dietitian explains how to get back on track after a vacation.
Columnist Leslie Streeter with her late husband Scott Zervitz on their wedding day in 2010 in Palm Beach, Fla.
I’ve been widowed for 10 years. This is what his death taught me about life.
Grief, faith, time and therapy have taught me it’s OK to be OK, or even really good, just as much as it was OK not to be OK in the thick of mourning my late husband.
An overdose victim is treated in the triage area near Penn North metro station after Baltimore Police and Baltimore City Fire ⁩respond to a call for multiple people experiencing overdose symptoms at the intersection of Pennsylvania & North avenues in West Baltimore on Thursday, July 10, 2025.
Why one mass overdose won’t be the last — and what we’re missing that got us here
Baltimore has been roiled by the news of mass overdoses. One recovery worker and recovered addict says the truth is found behind the headlines.
Thirty-five years ago this spring, "The Cosby Show's" Vanessa Huxtable came to Baltimore to have Big Fun. It turned out not to be so much fun for her, but it made a very cool salt box design by Juliet Ames.
35 years ago, ‘The Cosby Show’ had ‘big fun’ in Baltimore. We still are.
Vanessa Huxtable of “The Cosby Show” came to Baltimore in 1990 to have “big fun.” It turned out not to be so much fun for her, but it was awesome for us Baltimoreans.
Author Anne Tyler is not from Baltimore, but she's adopted the city as her own.
Meet literary icon Anne Tyler, the first author in The Baltimore Banner Book Club
Author Anne Tyler was not born in Baltimore, but over several decades, hers has become one of the city’s signature voices.
Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Aidan Shaw (John Corbett) in Season 3 of "And Just Like That..."
Widow to widow: Life’s too short for Carrie to be with Aidan on ‘And Just Like That’
Carrie Bradshaw of "And Just Like That…" is dating like she think she's going to live forever. As a widow, she should know that no one does.
The book cover for Nelson Aspen's "Kindred Spirits: A Titanic Tale," which uses a real-life Titanic passenger to tell a modern gay romance.
A Titanic tale of gay love and history comes to Baltimore
Writer and entertainment journalist Nelson Aspen's interest in the Titanic goes beyond his new book, "Kindred Spirits." One word: reincarnation.
Is owning a home better than renting? It’s complicated.
Past generations were led to believe that buying a home vs. renting was the ultimate sign of adulthood. Now, that line of thinking is shakier.
United States' Coco Gauff celebrate after winning the final match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus n Paris, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Coco Gauff serves Maryland sisters a tennis dream they can chase
Even though tennis player Coco Gauff lost Wimbledon in London this week, one Maryland family will continue to be inspired by her, from Reisterstown to Paris.
Dr. Tonya Webb, left, is a part of the American Cancer Society's VOICES of Black Women project, which hopes to survey 100,000 Black women about their medical and life experiences in hopes of eliminating disparities.
Black women with cancer die at higher rates. To heal them, we have to hear them.
The American Cancer Society’s VOICES of Black Women survey is seeking 100,000 participants' stories and experiences to close disparities.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 22: Protesters in support of LGBTQ+ rights and against book bans demonstrate outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Building on April 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. U.S. Supreme Court Justices heard arguments for the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor where a coalition of parents from Montgomery County, Maryland, say that a school requiring their children to participate in classes that include LGBTQ themes violates their religious beliefs and thus their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion.
Commentary: Supreme Court’s ruling on LGBTQIA+ books is a slippery, hateful slope
The Supreme Court’s decision to let Montgomery County parents exempt their children from public school lessons using LGBTQIA+ books is a subtle tool of hate.
At left, John Carlos speaks at the 50th anniversary of his Olympics experience in San Jose, California, in 2018. At right, Peter Norman, Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968.
Olympic and civil rights icon John Carlos welcomes you to the revolution
Carlos accepts his role as an icon and a pioneer, but refuses to believe it makes him different or more significant in spirit than others.
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: Members of the U.S. Colored Troops and Buffalo Soldiers, living historians and re-enactors from Maryland, Georgia, Massachusetts and other states, prepare to march in the Juneteenth People's Parade on June 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. The first federal holiday to be established in almost 40 years, the Juneteenth National Independence Day marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned that they had been freed two years earlier by the Emancipation Proclamation.
Juneteenth is a celebration of everyone knowing the truth. We need that desperately.
Juneteenth is the commemoration of when the last enslaved Black people in Texas found out they were free. But, like now, the truth was irrevelevant without the knowledge.
Load More Stories
Oh no!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes. If the problem persists, please contact customer service at 443-843-0043 or customercare@thebaltimorebanner.com.