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Fred Katz wrote for film in Hollywood, accompanied Harpo Marx on piano and taught college anthropology, all as a high-school dropout. But that was after he played with the Chico Hamilton quintet — and brought the cello into modern jazz.

What do you get when you put 40 high-energy New Yorkers in a tiny Brooklyn kitchen and tell them all to cook dinner? Chaos. We check out a monthly gathering aptly named "Chaos Cooking."

Martin Ramirez was a Mexican immigrant who spent more than 30 years in California psychiatric hospitals. At the time, much of his work was thrown away, but today, he is hailed as one of the giants of 20th century art.

Manufacturing is increasingly being done with robotic power tools that cost tens of thousands of dollars. They're known as CNC or computer-numerical-control machines. A California company is making low-cost CNC machines that will help in the classroom.

There are 200 community food banks in the U.S. providing free groceries to the needy. About two dozen of them, including one in Hillside, N.J., run community kitchens that train people for careers in the culinary arts.

Martin Ramirez was diagnosed as a catatonic schizophrenic soon after he immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1925. During his 30 years in mental institutions, Ramirez produced more than 300 mesmerizing drawings. Much of his work is now on display in a major retrospective at the American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan.

"Look at all the wisdom, look at all the heart that is imprisoned in our society," says Hank Willis Thomas, cofounder of the art installation project.

In 1959, Kent Garrett was one of 18 black students accepted into a freshman class of more than 1,000. It was an early form of affirmative action, and he chronicles his time on campus in a new book.

The founding publicity director of Def Jam Records, Bill Adler, amassed a highly valuable collection of music, writing and images.

Here's a story about grass-roots filmmaking with no eye toward a Hollywood deal. For his first full-length feature, Jay Craven convinced Michael J. Fox to work for free. And Craven screens his movies himself, driving from community centers to libraries to theaters throughout New England.