Cynthia Taggart

Ivanka Suveg uses her poetry to sooth her soul over the ongoing war in her homeland of Bosnia. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

"Steel Magnolias" Time and location: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Feb. 9-25, Sixth Street Melodrama, Wallace Tickets: $9, $7 for seniors/students, call 752-3081 for reservations. Rehearsals are about the same as therapy sessions for the six women in the Sixth Street Melodrama's production of "Steel Magnolias."

Bill and Gloria Waggoner are co-authors of a computer textbook. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

This year's students can make or break Lori Blessing. "You can tell she's a first-year teacher," says Betsy Cord, sizing Lori up with ruthless candor. Betsy is a junior in Lori's Coeur d'Alene High School nutrition class. "She doesn't know students, how we act. But she's catching on." So much for Lori, who told her students on the first day of school that they couldn't fool her because she had teenagers at home.

1. Norman hugs Ethel in a poignant scene. 2. Ethel and the mailman (Maryanne Revels and Doug Wolf) listen to Norman (Darrel Louks) grouse about old age. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Charlie and Candy Taranto and their son, Shawn, like to share sweets in exchange for smiles. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Virginia Tinsley Johnson says she can't imagine her life without books. "Reading gives you so much wisdom, ways to cope with things." Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

So far, Caroline Griffin and kids John and Laura are happy with their home-schooling experiment. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Ben Keeley

At 30 and still a bachelor, Bob Miles became a parent. It wasn't a move he had planned, but it certainly wasn't an accident. And Bob has no regrets. "It's sort of like having a roommate," he says.

Neff