Herb Levine, interim superintendent of Peabody Public Schools, stands outside the new Higgins Middle School, which opened this fall. | Photo: Reba Saldanha

By Cyrus Moulton

He retired in 2005 after more than three decades in education, culminating as superintendent of Salem Public Schools, where he built four schools and rehabilitated the high school. Then he retired again. And again, and…

Tom Demakes, president of Old Neighborhood Foods, and his sons (from L to R) Tim, Elias and Andrew together run the 102-year old business located on Waterhill Street in Lynn. 

By Bill Brotherton

Old Neighborhood Foods has been in business on the same Lynn street for 102 years.

“But people who live down the street don’t know who we are,” says Elias Demakes, vice president of Sales and Marketing. He admits it drives him a little crazy.

By Stacey Marcus

When Keisha Whitaker, wife of Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, visits the North Shore she sometimes takes a nostalgic ride along Route 1. Anyone with roots on the North Shore is familiar with the iconic highway whose revolving restaurant and entertainment scene has hosted family favorites (think Hilltop Steak House, The Continental Restaurant, Augustine’s, Kowloon Restaurant, Diamond Head and Prince Pizzeria) and famous fruits (imagine Green Apple, Golden Banana) to provide a kaleidoscope of colorful memories throughout the years.

By Meaghan Casey

Jimmy Buffet enjoys his cheeseburger in paradise. Bob Kraft likes his topped with four onion rings (one for each of the Patriots’ Super Bowl wins). Greg Bates, the self-named “burger master” of the North Shore,” prefers his in Lynn.

Attorney Tom Demakis in his Downtown Lynn law office.  

By Paul Halloran

Attorneys who practice business and real estate law typically do so in relative anonymity, operating about as far out of the legal spotlight as you can get.

That wasn’t always the case for Tom Demakis, a Lynn attorney who has worked the last 35 years at the family firm in Lynn founded by his father, Charles, in 1942. While Demakis is recognized as a go-to lawyer in his field, you’re probably not aware that he once played a leading role in the busiest and most prominent district attorney’s office in the country.

By Bill Abramson

As a player, an offensive lineman, Bill Adams was “that faceless piece of the puzzle.” As a football coach at Lynnfield High School, he was far from faceless. He was out front and was everything that a coach should be.

Dr. Don Feldman and technician, Natalia Munera, work on patient Alex Moya. 

By Stacey Marcus

There is nothing I like more than a genuine nice person who tells it like it is, which is precisely why I fell in love with Dr. Donald Feldman the minute we began our conversation. The Lynnfield resident, whose business Feldman Orthodontics has been in Lynn since 1973, was quick to proclaim  his Revere heritage.

Christine Dwyer in full character as Elphaba in “Wicked.” 

By Rich Fahey

If you want to see the real Christine Dwyer, don’t tune in when she’s on TV.

“Every time I’ve been on TV, I’ve been green,” she laughed, including her appearance as Elphaba performing “For Good” on the 2014 Tony Awards, where she met Idina Menzel, the actress who originated the role on Broadway.

By Leah Dearborn

At 11:45 a.m. on a Friday, the food court at the Square One Mall in Saugus was quiet. Approximately two dozen tables sat unoccupied, and only the occasional passerby frequented the aisles between stores.

Massachusetts has an official state berry, the cranberry; an official state dessert, the Boston cream pie; and, even an official state bean, the baked navy bean. While these delicacies may have gained official status in representing the Commonwealth, everyone knows the designated sandwich of choice for carnivores residing north of the Tobin is: the beef, served “three-way” style.