Last Updated on August 7, 2025
Resident Pat Payne will review The Amiable Baltimoreans [Baltimore: JHU Press, 1984] by Francis Beirne on Tuesday, August 19 at 7 PM in the Auditorium.
The Amiable Baltimoreans explores the history and culture of Baltimore, forged by the Yankees and Southerners who settled here, in a state created by English barons as a haven for a persecuted Catholic minority. In a delightfully wry and engaging style, author Francis Beirne, a Baltimore Sun columnist, examines how these forces shaped Baltimore. Published in 1951, the book traces the evolution of the city’s rich mix of heritages over two centuries, and how their interplay drove its growth and its cultural and
economic life. His thesis is that the coming together of such disparate influences has created a truly unique city.
Beirne reveals how these distinct elements combined to create a city of people bonded by the acceptance of their differences and their readiness to creatively respond to the challenges they encountered. The result? A city of “amiable people who go about life in a leisurely and contented way.”
Is Baltimore still the same city Francis Bierne knew in 1951? That’s one of the questions we’ll explore as part of the August book discussion!
Resident Patricia J. Payne, MSW, MBA, MDiv, came to Baltimore for her first job and discovered a city that has captured her heart despite its incredible ups and downs. She is retired from the State of Maryland, having served as Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development under Governors Parris Glendening and William Donald Schaefer. Pat has extensive experience in the areas of affordable housing finance and community revitalization. She began her career as a community organizer in Baltimore City.