npr : When you push through the pumpkin-orange door into the cozy, diner-shaped Florence Pie Bar , you’re likely to find a table of new moms with their babies or another of old friends: Groups delighting in neighborly conversation, old-fashioned community and a slice of comfort. Follow the string of white lights along the glass countertop in the Northampton, Mass., eatery, and survey the sweet and savory pies du jour, from nectarine-blueberry to coconut cream to eggplant parmesan. Shoot the political breeze with the counter staff, especially if the friendly face of local politics — City Council President Bill Dwight — is wielding the pie spatula. Then say hello to the pie wizard behind the tiny kitchen’s industrial-sized mixer, the one with the wire-rimmed glasses and salt-and-pepper ponytail. That’s Maura Glennon, who left a two-decade career as a college music professor to become the humble owner of a pie bar in the western Massachusetts college town. “Right now, our culture ne