People & Places

Title page for The Founders

Francois and Berenice Chouteau

Today their names grace our highways, city districts and restaurants. But before Chouteau was a trafficway, it was the name of an immigrant couple who used their honeymoon to discover new land. Before McCoy’s was a good place to get a beer, it was a family of missionaries whose son would use his business savvy…

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Guitar-maker Dave Wendler with Wendler a custom built electroCoustic double neck 12-string/6-string that is being shipped today to a repeat customer in New York. (Photo: Dan Calderon)

Sympathetic Vibrations | Taking That Tone

Dave Wendler is obsessed with tone. So much so that he has spent the majority of his life striving to unearth the tonal potential of every instrument he comes across. And it’s at his unassuming home in the south Kansas City suburbs where Wendler hones his craft. Wendler is the owner and operator of Wendler Instruments —…

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A profile of Munir Yameen

Of Faith and Loyalty

The office of Palestinian-born shop owner Munir Yameen is a warm and congenial space, adorned by a black-and-white photo of Yameen as a young man in uniform, a smattering of carefully framed verses from the Quran and the customary photos of children and grandchildren. But the most striking photo on display is of his grandson Tarik standing…

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A woman at the grave of her soldier son

In ‘Service,’ A Celebrated Photographer Turns His Lens On U.S. Troops

As a celebrated portrait photographer, Platon Antoniou (who goes professionally by his first name) is well-known for his close-up depictions of the powerful. He has aimed his camera at the faces of celebrities and world leaders ranging from Vladimir Putin and Moammar Gadhafi to Willie Nelson and Woody Allen. “Sometimes,” he says, “you look in…

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An old flag with the words "The Founders"

A New Digital Series

Today, their names grace our highways, city districts, and restaurants. But before Chouteau was a trafficway, it was the name of an immigrant couple who used their honeymoon to discover new land. Before McCoys was a good place to get a beer, it was a family of missionaries whose son would use his business savvy…

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