Author Archive

Kerouac’s Characters: L. V. Rochette By Kurt Phaneuf  According to his granddaughter Lucille (Parthenais) Sullivan, Dr. Louis Vitalien “Victor” Rochette (1862-1930) delivered an estimated 10,000 babies for Lowell’s Franco-American mothers during his four-decade career.  Arguably his most famous delivery was Jack Kerouac, whose birth Rochette oversaw at Leo and Gabrielle’s…

PENNANT FEVER By Terry Downes Could this finally be the year Home fans will have much to cheer The boys bring home as souvenir The pennant soaring high? The wins they just keep piling up The foe limps home like beaten pup Joy flows out of coach’s cup The team…

Remembering Lowell from Afar By Despo Baltoumas Although I live far away my mind goes back to a familiar corner in Lowell. Two floors above the tailor shop, I looked out the window to Suffolk and Broadway.  Below me all kinds of people were walking by.  At a young age…

37th annual Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! Festival: October 9–13, 2025 Poetry and musical performances, tours, and more planned to commemorate life and legacy of Jack Kerouac Lowell, MA — Jack Kerouac was born in Lowell and became a writer here. Each October, the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! Festival (LCK!) illuminates his local influences…

Lowell People – (PIP #82) By Louise Peloquin In the pre-LinkedIn era, the local daily newspaper allowed readers to learn about Lowell people. Here are 4 peeks into the past. L’Étoile – January 6, 1925 HE SPENDS 28 YEARS AT LOWELL HUMANE SOCIETY ——- Agent Charles F. Richardson has seen…

Kerouac’s Characters: E. Gaston Campbell By Kurt Phaneuf Edward Gaston Campbell (1891-1952) was already a citizen of note by the time he began appearing in the hometown novels of Lowell native Jack Kerouac.  Born in Montreal, QC, Gaston arrived in America in 1893 and became a U.S. citizen in 1919. …

The Lowell City Council met last Tuesday night. In this newsletter, I’ll discuss several issues that arose at that meeting. **** The Markley Group LLC, represented by former Mayor Bill Martin (who is the last attorney to have served on the Lowell City Council), came before the council with a…

Kerouac’s Characters: An Introduction By Kurt Phaneuf Of the 600-plus personages in a literary oeuvre Jack Kerouac called his “Duluoz Legend,” over 200 of them are Lowellians.  Kerouac’s first novel–The Town and The City (1950)–is filled with his friends and neighbors.  His personal favorite works–Visions of Gerard (1963) and Doctor…

The Kerouac Commemorative Has Become a Sore Spot By Steve Edington [This article originally appeared as an editorial in The Lowell Sun on September 24, 2025. Visit the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac website for the full schedule of events.] This coming October 9-13 Lowell Celebrates Kerouac (LCK) will present our 37th…

Nana by Leo Racicot I liked few things better than being with my Nana, sitting beside her in her kitchen, waiting for everything to cook. I can still hear the good heat bubbling up from aromatic casseroles, my whole boyhood exoticized by almonds, the scent of sesame, strong licorice, black…