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There’s always a Lowell connection, right? Farewell, David Bowie, rock star, pop star, culture star, endlessly inventive artist. When I heard the news today, I was reminded of a story told to me by Lowell singer-songwriter extraordinaire Bob Martin. He was breaking into the music business in the early 1970s,…
Read More »Around 1996, there was a lot of activity flowing from an idea about transforming Lowell into “The Flowering City,” with a new effort to enhance the parks, forest, waterways, gardens. The thinking was that the community was ready to shift its attention from 20 years of bricks-and-mortar rehab and redevelopment…
Read More »Vincent Valentine, founder of The Telephone Museum, shares another story about the early days of the telephone in Lowell: Charles Glidden and his brother Clark were struck with amazement at how adolescent boys can wreak havoc simply for the sake of wreaking havoc, no matter what the strict rules were…
Read More »Seems official if there are web links to get free tickets being posted on Facebook. The Donald is due in Lowelltown. John Cassidy of The New Yorker magazine has a cutting take on candidate Trump, one of the increasing number of media sideswipes that have not been effective in slowing…
Read More »Save the date if you are a fan of The Brush Art Gallery & Studios and the Lowell cultural renaissance. On Saturday, January 16, at 1 pm, the Brush Gallery is hosting a panel discussion about the roots of this amazing arts project that will begin its 35th year in…
Read More »Web image by anthony92931 courtesy of commons.wikimedia Along with Henri Marchand’s “fruitcake” essay and my “Oranges at Christmas” essay, the re-appearance of this poem has become part of the Christmas tradition for our blog. I wrote the first draft of this poem in 1976, and worked on it on-and-off for a long…
Read More »This essay was first heard on the “Sunrise” radio program of WUML, 92.5 FM, at UMass Lowell around 2007. Executive producer Chris Dunlap assembled writers in the area for the daily essay feature, a popular component of the morning public affairs show. I’ve shared this essay with rh.com readers for several…
Read More »Thanks to Vincent Valentine, founder of The Telephone Museum, for the following blog post: Recently, we set the wayback machine to April 19TH, 1878 and went to Lowell, MA. We found Charles Jasper Glidden and his brother J. Clark Glidden on a roof top with what seemed to be hundreds…
Read More »Fruitcake web image courtesy of apple.com Like its subject this essay has been around, appearing first as a Sunrise radio essay, re-wrapped as a “Guest Column” piece in the Sun, and showing up on this blog last year. At Paul Marion’s request I re-gift it once more to all who…
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