On the Cover: Chaim Bloom, President of Baseball Operations for the St. Louis Cardinals
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Highlights from the March/April 2026 Issue
Cover Story: The Long Game
In St. Louis, baseball is not merely watched —it is studied, remembered, inherited. The Cardinals are less a franchise than a civic institution, and when Chaim Bloom arrived to lead baseball operations, he stepped into a role shaped by decades of expectations and a fan base fluent in both box scores and history.
Bloom understands this. He always has.
Text: Craig Kaminer
Photo: Zach Dalin
Someone Else’s House
Not a“Pop and Pop Shop,” Mainlander has moved and it’s better than ever.
Text: Alexa Beattie
Photo: Carmen Troesser
Making A Home Your Own
After decades in traditional Fair Oaks houses, Marlene and Jake Wilson moved to a new build in Huntleigh –then proceeded to make it entirely their own.
Text: Christy Marshall
Photo: Alise O’Brien
From the Ground Up
A group of Ladue High School students are building a tiny house
Text: Alexa Beattie
Photo: Kate Munsch
Crafting Community
Few brands in St. Louis have embedded themselves into the emotional fabric of the city quite like 4Hands Brewing Co. For some, its City Wide IPA —a beer that has become shorthand for civic pride. For others, it’s the LaSalle Park taproom, where art, music, families and sports fans coexist without pretense. And for many, it’s the sense that 4Hands is not simply a brewery but a cultural platform —one built on experience, generosity and belonging.
Text: Craig Kaminer
Photo: John Lore
The Mother Road
It’s geography. It is embedded in the city’s sense of motion and possibility, a westward line drawn from the Mississippi River toward reinvention. Long before the road became a global symbol of freedom and flight, it was simply the way out, the route that carried families, commerce, music and ambition beyond the river’s edge.
As Route 66 marks its centennial in 2026, St. Louis finds itself not at the margins of the celebration, but at its emotional center. From here, the Mother Road gathered momentum, crossed the heartland, climbed deserts and mountains and eventually reached the Pacific Ocean. One hundred years later, the centennial lets St. Louisans see familiar streets as the opening chapter of one of America’s most enduring stories.
Text: Craig Kaminer
Photo: Cindy Jacquez
A New Bold Aria for the American Stage
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ 2026 Season and the Vision of Patricia Racette.
Text: Craig Kaminer
Event Calendar, Presented by Spirit Jets
Happenings of note in March & Apri.
Share your celebrations with us, or let us know what events you want to see featured on our pages by emailing editorSTL@slmag.net.
Sophisticated Celebrations
Presented by
La Notte Bianca
SLAM Gala
The Rep’s Holiday Benefit
Nelly’s Black & White Ball
Fleur de Lis
The Sophi Awards
From the Editor-In-Chief
On October 15, 1964, I fell in love. With baseball.
My father had allowed me to skip school (and a French test) to go with him to the seventh game of the World Series. Holding down a serious side gig at Saint Louis University, he’d wrangled tickets in the school’s section in the upper deck. I sat next to a young nun who had crossed her fingers before the first game and taped them in place. Putting aside the fact I concluded she should be appealing to a higher power for hope, she was fun and funny (She was also in considerable pain when we removed the adhesive at the end of the game.).
As we all know, the Cardinals beat the New York Yankees 7 to 5. With only two days’rest, Bob Gibson was back on the mound. Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Ken Boyer all suited up for the Yankees.
For most of my childhood, I thought the National League consisted of the Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers and the like. But the American League?
The Yankees. Only the Yankees.
Get To Know Us
At Sophisticated Living, we are dedicated and passionate about all the finer things life has to offer. Whether your interests are close to home or in far-flung places, each issue shares highlights of the good life in St. Louis and beyond.
Craig Kaminer, Publisher
A native of New York City, Craig has spent the last 35 years developing award-winning marketing programs for some of the leading consumer/lifestyle brands in the US and St. Louis including The Ritz-Carlton, Tiffany & Co., Marriott, Italian Tourism, Simon Property Group, and Danon. His marketing experience includes senior management positions at Twist, Influence, Weber Shandwick and Fleishman-Hillard.
Craig is an accomplished sailor, art collector, jazz promoter, and frequent traveler to Italy. Craig received his bachelor’s degree in architecture and art history from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and graduate studies in business management at Columbia University. He is married to Debbie and has two sons, Philip and Barrett, who live in Austin and Nashville respectively.
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Christy Marshall, Editor-In-Chief
After earning her masters at the University of Missouri, Christy started her journalism career at Advertising Age, first in Chicago, then as the Southwest Bureau Chief based in Dallas, and finally in Ad Age’s New York office. She lived in Manhattan for the next decade. While there, she ended up working for Adweek and New York Newsday, while also freelancing for a variety of publications including the New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, and Cosmopolitan.
Christy moved back to her hometown of St. Louis to work on the brand-new daily the St. Louis Sun. When it was shuttered after seven months, she joined the U.S. Attorney’s office as the Public Information Officer. While there, she married her husband, Michael Gans, and they adopted their daughter, Katie, from China.
Always a reporter and writer at heart, Christy returned to journalism. First she was Executive Editor at St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles and then spent a decade at St. Louis Magazine as the founding editor of St. Louis At Home (now StL Design) and St. Louis Family. She joined Sophisticated Living in 2014, retired two years later, and then returned to resume her previous post in 2023.
Christy loves to read, cook, travel, play mah jongg with friends, spend time with her family including their Boxers, Buddy and Dot, and at her family’s farm in Grubville, Missouri.