RichardHowe.com – Voices from Lowell & Beyond

The Great Book Burn-a-Thon

The Great Book Burn-a-Thon

By David Daniel

“Welcome to Radio KTRD’s third annual Spring Book Burn-a-Thon! Bob Toole here, along with co-host Carly Kindler. We’re broadcasting all day to celebrate a great cultural tradition in our metro area. We know you’re as excited as us, so let’s get to the phones! Who do you have, Carly?”

“Right, Bob. Sugar’s on the line calling from Keegerstown. Go ahead, Sugar, what book are you suggesting for our bonfire?”

“Burn Herzog.”

“Sugar, Bob here. Her zog. That how you say it? Sounds evil. I haven’t read that one.”

“Neither have I.”

“I’m just checking Google here, Bob. Here it is—that one’s by Saul Bellow. Won a National Book Award . . . that’s suspicious right there. Gives a synopsis—umm, yadda, yadda . . . mmm, sounds kind of pointless.”

“So, thumbs up on that one, Sugar. Bring it on down. Let’s take another call, Carly.”

“Mike’s in a car. Go ahead, Mike.”

“Am I on?”

“Go ahead, Mike.”

“Yeah, I just wanna say about that last book, I damn sure ain’t read it either, but you don’t gotta get down into the hog wallow to know garbage. A dirty book by a dirty man is—”

“Or dirty woman. Let’s not be sexist about this.”

“—is all’s you got to know. Here’s one I wanna see toss’d on the fire. ‘Trout Fishing in America.’”

“That’s the title?”

“What it says here. Some guy named . . . Brautigan.”

“Brought a gun?”

“I’m tryna read what it says on the . . . ”

“Careful while you’re driving, Mike. Um, I don’t know that one. Some sort of fishing book, you say?”

“They wanted to make my son read it for school. I took a look—and pee-uu. I like to thrown it right in the trash if it wasn’t a schoolbook and I’da hadda pay.”

“That says a lot about you as a parent and citizen, Mike. You might consider running for school committee.”

“I just now decided, schoolbook or no, I’m bringing it on down for tonight’s fire.”

“Onto the pile it goes. Remember, listeners, you can take the fight right to the school board in your own town. It’s people standing up to smut that brings change. Isn’t that so, Carly?”

“Right, Bob. The school committee, the local library. That’s a good place to start. And if you get resistance—some of those library ladies can be pretty pesky—tell them they work for you. You pay their salaries. And it’s your right to free speech. Haul books right off the shelves if you have to to make your point.”

“Well—haha—I don’t know if that’s where I’d start, Carly, but at least make some noise.”

“Which is what the group sponsoring tonight’s bonfire is doing, Bob. They’re called ‘Moms for Others’ Sake’ and they’re not shy about sticking their noses in and looking out for all of us.”

“So, folks, if you’re just joining me and my co-host Carly Kindler, our goal’s to have a heap of books by nine p.m. That’s when we’ll light up. If you’re in the area, come on by! It’s family friendly fun. Meanwhile, listeners, you can phone or text us with requests.”

“When you think about it, Bob, books are more of a threat than guns.”

“Well you do hear that. Make the argument, Carly.”

“A criminal breaks in your house, are you going to stop them with a book?”

“Probably not. Unless it’s a big fat book. Haha. Or a boring one.”

“Meanwhile we’ve got texts and tweets here. I’ll just read some of the titles that’ve been  . . . uh, anything by J. K. Rowling. Tenderness by Robert Cormier. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Grapes of Wrath. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Alexi, is that how you say it? The Handmaid’s Tale. Any books by D.H. Lawrence. Any by Toni Morrison. Don’t know if that’s a man or a woman. Woman? Bob says woman. Okay. And this last one—Charlotte’s Web.”

“Hmm—I’m curious about that one, Carly. A children’s book, isn’t it?”

“Well, it is, but according to what it says here on the Moms for Others’ Sake ban list it’s heavy on death and it gets very sad—so maybe not appropriate for youngsters.”

“Okay, well. Food for thought.”

“Just to remind listeners, Bob, we’re broadcasting all day, and if we can get actual copies of some of these books tonight, so much the better. We’re gathering everything right out in the K-TRD studio parking lot where we’ll have the bonfire.”

“Someone was asking earlier, won’t burning filth just pollute the air? All I can say is it shouldn’t. A good righteous fire that burns really hot . . . haha. By the way, if listeners have got audiobooks or CDs, or even record albums—”

“Dating yourself, Bob. Just got another text message—The Catcher in the Rye.”

“That the one about the drunk ballplayer? LOL. I know the book. Read it in high school . . . I actually kind of liked it.”

“You’ve got a stronger stomach than I do, Bob. Anyway, it’s all fair game, folks. Bring them on by. We’ll see they get their due. Remember, we want this year’s event to be the biggest yet. And to that end, for anyone bringing along three or more books for the blaze we’ll be offering exciting prizes.”

“The phones are lighting up. Callers waiting to get on. We have city councilman Stappo on line one. A good day to you, sir.”

“Great to be on. I just want to pump this event for our community. What it gets down to, it gets down to who’s making our decisions for us. At the next council meeting I’ll be introducing a proposal to freeze funding for the city library.”

“Really? Wow. That’s uh . . . that’s thinking out-of-the-box, Councilman.”

“It’d save money, for starters. As it stands, we’re all paying for a library that not all of us use. If we make it a private business, well, there’s control over inventory. And, shoot, maybe it’d turn a profit.”

“Well, you’re always with the ideas, sir. Will you be there tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it. I’ll bring the marshmallows.”

“That’s councilman Gus Stappo, folks. And I want to give another plug for Mom’s for Others’ Sake—MOFOS—who are making sure that bad books don’t end up in the hands of good people. Carly’s signaling we’ve time for one more call.”

“Last one for this segment, Bob. Let’s go to Winnisburg. Howdy, caller . . . you’re on K-TRD!”

~*~

National Library Week is April 6-12

“In 2023, the American Library Association reported that the number of titles targeted at public libraries had increased more than 90 percent from a year prior, and 17 states – including Florida, Texas, and Connecticut – had seen more than 100 censorship attempts. A more recent report from the free expression-focused nonprofit PEN America notes that more than 4,000 unique titles have been banned across the country. The organization says that we’re in a moment of education censorship “unseen since the 1950s-era Red Scare.”

— From Boston Globe 3/11/25

At present, legislators in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, and Texas are debating legal penalties against teachers and school librarians for discussing unapproved books.

Rhode Island is introducing a bill that would combat efforts to ban and censor books and punish teachers.

Lowell City Council in 1924

Lowell City Council in 1924 – (PIP #63)

– Louise Peloquin

Dick Howe’s weekly “Lowell Politics” post keeps us abreast of City Council meetings and local events.

Let’s peek into century-old City Council meetings. More in the coming weeks.

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L’Etoile – December 23, 1924

FAVORABLE TO A SPORTS STADIUM IN LOWELL

     The City Council adopts the report recommending building an athletics stadium – Veto of the Plain Street playground overridden, but not of the John L. Durkin ground – Exchange of compliments on the occasion of the year’s end.

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McNABB,  AS CITY TREASURER STAYS ON THE TABLE

——-

     Last night, the City Council overrode the Mayor’s veto on the question of a John. L. Durkin playground. The Council also adopted the recommendation to build an athletics stadium in Lowell. On the other hand, the Council refused to act on the name of John H. McNabb, submitted by the Mayor for the position of city treasurer. Finally, the Council closed 1924 with flowery rhetoric.

     Yesterday’s City Council was the year’s last, except for a possible special meeting before January 1st to discuss the Beaver Brook Bridge issue if the electorate commission finishes counting the number of petitioners hostile to this project.

     Most of the session dealt with congratulating the new District 5 counselor John P. O’Connell, with expressing condolences and finally with saluting the end of the year and welcoming in the new one.

     After counselor O’Connell took his oath of office, counselor Daly, president of the sub-committee named by the Council, reported that his committee recommended building a public stadium in Lowell. This resolution invites the Lowell representatives to the State House Legislature to present a bill to create a five-citizen committee responsible for the Lowell stadium construction proposal. The Council adopted this resolution.

     The Council then adopted, by 11 votes, the appropriation of $3000 for the purchase of a playground on Plain Street, something which the Mayor had vetoed  because it was too expensive. Counselors Fitzgerald, Genest, McFadden and O’Connell did not vote.

     On the question of the $18,000 for the John L. Durkin playground, the following six counsellors voted against: Chrétien, Daly, Fitzgerald, Genest, Hennessy and Lambert. As the Mayor had already vetoed, the vote was sufficient to prevent the appropriation to pass because only eight votes were in favor. Counselor O’Connell did not have the right to vote because he had not participated in the first round.

     Counselor Daly, seconded by O’Connell, proposed nominating John H. McNabb as city treasurer. The verbal vote was welcomed by a salvo of NO’s. Only five counselors- Chadwick, Chrétien, Day, Fitzgerald, and O’Connell – wanted to act on the McNabb nomination. The name was therefore left on the table.

     The session ended with City Council members ceasing insults, exchanging bouquets and reestablishing friendly relations. (1)

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1) Translation by Louise Peloquin.

Authoritarianism versus liberalism: a political memoir by Marjorie Arons-Barron

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog.

Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi is the remarkable memoir of an Albanian girl, told in the first person starting when she was just seven years old. Ypi sees the world and her homeland through the perspective of her very complicated family.  Her grandmother, Nini, who lives with them, came from a family of inherited wealth who lost everything with changing Albanian governments.  Ypi’s father had Socialist leanings but was disillusioned under the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. Her mother was impatient with ideology and at odds with her father. She only comes into her own after the Communist government loses control in 1990, and she rises to prominence in the opposition Democratic Socialist party by the mid 1990’s.

Lea discovers that, from her earliest years, her schoolteachers have been spewing propaganda, and her parents (always arguing) and grandmother have been lying to her about their family biography, their life as suspect intellectuals and her grandfather’s torture and imprisonment on political grounds. Her family has spoken in code, referring to political prisons as University A or University K.  The child is torn between believing her government lackey teacher and subtle but conflicting signals picked up from her reticent but cynical family.

It is, above all, a coming-of-age tale that takes us from the end of Enver Hoxha’s Stalinist-style dictatorship through the difficulties of embarking on market-based liberalism, which clearly doesn’t hold all the answers. Throughout the memoir, always seen through Lea Ypi’s eyes and family experience, is the question of what it means to be free?  How much does the family into which we are born shape our values and our understanding of history?

The memoir plays off the philosophy of political scientist Francis Fukuyama and his concept that over time, governments undergo a natural evolution, gravitating toward liberal democracy. It reminds one of Martin Luther King’s line about the arc of history bending toward justice.  Sadly, as history unfolds in the memoir (which came out in 2021), that anticipated “end of history,” is not realized. It is far from certain that most if not all nations come to recognize the benefits of leaving behind the isms including authoritarianism. Clearly, as we view the United States today, such enlightened civil society and civil discourse are far from inevitable.

Ypi’s story avoids getting mired in these philosophical and theoretical abstractions. Through her family, we are left to ponder what compromises are necessary to survival, and which trade-offs are insupportable from a moral perspective?  How do we navigate between right and wrong, and are right and wrong absolutes?  It is a really good read, well worth your time and the several literary awards bestowed upon it.

Lowell Politics: March 30, 2025

On Tuesday night the Lowell City Council voted to amend the Land Disposition Agreement the city executed in 2020 with Lupoli Companies LLC for several parcels in the Hamilton Canal District. The vote was 8 to 2 with YES votes from Councilors Corey Belanger, Sokhary Chau, Wayne Jenness, Rita Mercier, Vesna Nuon, Kim Scott, Paul Ratha Yem, and Mayor Dan Rourke. Voting NO were Councilors Erik Gitschier and Corey Robinson. Council John Descoteaux was absent from the meeting. The amendment will allow 270 new market rate apartments to be constructed in the Hamilton Canal District. I’ll share more details of the agreement later in this article, but first, let’s review how we got to this point.

From Lowell’s founding in 1826 until the end of World War I, the parcels involved in this agreement were home to the Lowell Machine Shop which – no exaggeration – was the Silicon Valley of nineteenth century America. Lowell’s mills were novel but so was all the textile machinery within them. It did not exist elsewhere in the US, so it had to be invented and then manufactured at scale. The Lowell Machine Shop was the first place in America to do it.

Unfortunately, Lowell’s industrial preeminence was short-lived. In Lowell, the Great Depression came early and stayed late. That was particularly true for the Lowell Machine Shop which faded away in the early twentieth century leaving the land it once sat upon run down and underdeveloped.

This condition persisted through the early decades of Lowell’s revival. The massive funding for downtown building renovations that accompanied the National Historical Park’s arrival did not benefit the former Machine Shop site (notwithstanding the NPS trolley stop and canal boat dock being located there). The concurrent construction of the Wang Training Center (now Middlesex Community College’s Cowan Building) and the Hilton Hotel (more recently, the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center) also skipped the area. In the 1990s, the rehabilitation of the Bon Marche building and the construction of the Tsongas Arena and Lelacheur Park did nothing to help the Machine Shop neighborhood.

Recognizing this systemic neglect, city planners in 2000 developed the Jackson Appleton Middlesex (JAM) Urban Revitalization and Development Project. The JAM Plan asserted that this neighborhood had tremendous potential given its strategic location between the main routes into the city (the Lowell Connector and the Gallagher Transportation Terminal) and the city’s downtown. Because market forces had failed to benefit this area, the city proposed more active measures including the taking of privately owned parcels by eminent domain, the demolition of 19 buildings that were beyond rehabilitation, and the installation of new infrastructure to support private development.

The Hamilton Canal District emerged as a component of the JAM Plan. Its 15 acres of canal-front land, made vacant by the demolition of the few run-down buildings that had remained on the parcel, was seen as a blank canvas upon which the right developer could create a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood that connected downtown to the commuter rail station.

As time passed, realizing this vision proved elusive. A master developer was selected but the city lost patience and ended that deal. Another master developer was selected with the same result. At one point, the city council voted to prohibit any residential units from being constructed in the Hamilton Canal District (a vote which was wisely ignored). At another point, the council renamed the Hamilton Canal District the Hamilton Canal Innovation District in the apparent belief that adding the word “Innovation” to the project’s name would draw cutting edge businesses. Predictably, that did not work.

Aside from a residential apartment building constructed along the Pawtucket Canal, the only activity was funded by governmental entities. UMass Lowell continued to operate 110 Canal Street as its “innovation hub”; the Commonwealth built the seven-story Kiernan Justice Center; the city constructed a 900-space parking garage; and millions in state and federal funds were spent on roads, utilities, and other infrastructure improvements seen as a precondition to further development.

Finally in 2020, the city of Lowell entered a Land Disposition Agreement with Lupoli Companies LLC that affected five lots within the Hamilton Canal Innovation District. On the ground, these lots can be grouped into three distinct parcels:

• The first parcel consists of Lot 1 which sits between the Kiernan Justice Center and Mill No. 5. This is now the site of the 541-space Lupoli-owned parking garage.
• The second parcel consists of Lots 2, 3A, and 4. This is the large surface parking lot wedged between the Hamilton Canal and the Pawtucket Canal and is across Jackson Street from the Justice Center.
• The third parcel consists of Lot 5 which sits across Jackson Street from Mill No. 5 and across Canal Street from the UMass Lowell Innovation Hub.

Per the agreement, the city agreed to sell the Lupoli Companies LLC these three parcels for $2 million. In return, Lupoli Companies LLC agreed to improve the parcels as follows:

• On Parcels 2, 3A and 4, construct a 12 to 14-story building with covered parking.
• On Parcel 5, construct a 50,000 square foot building.
• On Parcel 1, construct a 500-space parking garage.

The “project schedule” agreed to by Lupoli Companies LLC was as follows:

• On Parcel 1 (parking garage), commence construction by June 30, 2021.
• On either Parcel 5 (50,000 sf building) or on Parcels 2, 3A & 4 (12-14 story building) commence construction (of one of them) by June 30, 2023.
• “Construction of the core and shell of the buildings on all of the Development Parcels shall be substantially completed by December 31, 2027.”

Although the parking garage opened for business on March 4, 2024, there was no visible activity on either of the other parcels which violated the contractual provision that construction of at least one building would begin by June 30, 2023.

The Land Disposition Agreement contemplated this possibility, stating that if the developer failed to meet this schedule, the city could declare the developer in default. The developer then had 180 days to cure the default. If the developer failed to do that, the city could “declare a termination of title to such development parcel in favor of the city whereupon title shall revert to the city.”

Finally, on April 24, 2024, the city council’s economic development subcommittee heard from Mr. Lupoli who, citing higher than expected costs of construction, proposed a scaled down project, replacing the promised 12-14 story high rise with a 5-story wood frame apartment building, and the promised 50,000 square foot building on the other lot with a second apartment building. That second building would have no retail. The building on the larger lot would have a restaurant on the ground floor.

At that point, the city should have exercised its rights under the Land Disposition Agreement, declared the developer in default, and commenced the process of regaining ownership of the two undeveloped parcels. I understand that would have resulted in litigation and tied things up in court for years, but so what? Councilors are incorrect when they say the land has been vacant for 20 years. It’s been vacant – or at least not used productively – for nearly a century so where is the harm in continuing to wait?

I’m not holding out hope that a knight-in-shining-armor developer will somehow emerge and construct a high-rise office tower filled with thriving businesses. That’s not going to happen here or anywhere else. But as we have learned from the rising cost of the renovations to Lowell High School, and the currently insurmountable cost of renovating other older buildings such as the Smith Baker Center and the Superior Courthouse, there is great value in vacant land that can be rapidly developed when the right circumstances arise.

It’s not like the city is going to reap new property taxes from the two apartment buildings proposed. Besides ratifying the change to the development agreement, the council also voted to grant Tax Increment Exemptions (TIE) and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreements that essentially exempt both structures from paying property taxes for the next fifteen years.

We live in a turbulent and unpredictable time. That’s true for our national politics, but it’s a condition that transcends that. The global economy seems shaky and heading in the wrong direction. Massive cuts to federal spending will trickle down to the state and city to cause considerable fiscal distress. It does not seem like a great time to be embarking on big construction projects.

Beyond the coming fiscal chaos, bigger changes are afoot. Between the emergence of artificial intelligence and the embrace of working from home, the nature of work is changing in ways that mirror the transition from a farm to an industrial economy 200 years ago. That may sound like science fiction, but that is the nature of technological change. It seems far-fetched until suddenly it isn’t. My point is that we don’t know what kind of physical structures will be needed to accommodate this new reality of work. Until we do, having a 15-acre vacant parcel sitting between downtown Lowell and the city’s major transportation links is like having money in the bank. Why not save it until the best deal comes along rather than squander it right now on a project dictated by others.

One factor left unsaid on Tuesday may have been the financial harm the Lupoli Companies might suffer if the city had terminated the agreement. Back in April 2024, Mr. Lupoli himself described his dilemma. He told the council that he built the parking garage before either of the two buildings because lenders would give him more favorable rates on a construction loan if parking for those who would live in the new buildings already existed nearby. He also said that even though people using the Justice Center were using the parking garage, he needed the additional parking revenue that would come from the proposed apartment dwellers to cover the cost of constructing the garage.

Assuming that is accurate, had the city declared a default and walked away from the deal, Lupoli Companies would be squeezed by the ongoing fiscal deficit for the garage. Tying the matter up in court for years would not help with that and any claim for damages against the city could have been offset by a counterclaim for the lost revenue from the city’s own Hamilton Canal District garage caused by the city having been induced to allow the construction of a competing private parking facility.

Another factor in the city’s decision may have been that The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank, a local institution, is the holder of the mortgage Lupoli Companies obtained on these parcels. According to records at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds, in October 2021, the Lowell Five granted the three Lupoli-controlled LLCs that took ownership of these three parcels a loan of $19.7 million. In July 2022, that mortgage was amended to increase the indebtedness to $22.9 million. Then, in February 2024, a second mortgage in the amount of $1.7 million was similarly granted by the Lowell Five. While the registry records don’t show how much money was drawn from these loans, the total possible indebtedness on paper is nearly $25 million.

Finally, don’t forget that it’s an election year. Attending a much-publicized groundbreaking ceremony of a new apartment complex shortly before the election is a better look for incumbents than weekly executive sessions to discuss ongoing litigation.

As for the terms of the amendment adopted by the city council on Tuesday, it calls for 170 residential units to be constructed on the larger parcel and 100 residential units on the smaller one. Between the two buildings, the developer is supposed to include 10,000 square feet of commercial, retail, or restaurant space, although if the developer is not able to fill the space with those uses within two years of completion of the building, the developer may convert that space to more residential apartments.

The amendment also specifically authorizes Lupoli Companies to transfer ownership of the two undeveloped parcels to Boston-based developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes with Lupoli Companies retaining ownership of the parking garage. The Cabot, Cabot & Forbes website shows some impressive-looking real estate developments by the firm, mostly in Greater Boston, so hopefully this Lowell project will be consistent with the rest of their portfolio.

Recall that last August the city council also authorized WinnDevelopment to construct a 124-unit residential apartment building on another Hamilton Canal District lot. Assuming that happens, and that the two apartment buildings now contemplated by Cabot, Cabot & Forbes all get constructed, the Hamilton Canal Innovation District will have been transformed into an enclave of apartment buildings with a courthouse, two parking garages, and not much else. Given the grand initial vision for the site and its historical legacy, that seems underwhelming, a case of settling for less than what might be gained by waiting.

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This week brought the sad news that Lowell-native and LHS Distinguished Alumni Tom Sexton, the former poet-laureate of Alaska, passed away at his longtime home in that state. Tom retained ties with Lowell and was deeply interested in city developments. Paul Marion posted an appreciation of Tom on richardhowe.com.

Also on richardhowe.com this week, I shared my experience at Khmer Literary Arts Day, a great event at UMass Lowell that featured four Cambodian-American authors reading from and discussing their work.