This is the third batch of those who contributed works to History as It Happens: Community Bloggers in Lowell, Mass. our forthcoming book of community writing by more than 40 contributors to this website over the past ten years. (See the first group of contributors here and the second group here).

History as It Happens will be released at a book launch event on Saturday, August 5, 2017, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm at Lowell Telecommunications Corporation at 246 Market Street. Thereafter, the book will be available locally and online.

History as It Happens: Contributors part III

Paul Hudon, historian and poet, is the author of All in Good Time (poems) and The Valley & Its Peoples: An Illustrated History of the Lower Merrimack. Paul’s poem 23 October is in the poetry section.

Sengly Kong holds a Ph.D. in natural resources management from Cornell University and is a research project coordinator at University of Connecticut Health Center. He is the former chair of Cambodia Town Lowell. Sengly wrote about Lowell’s Cambodia Town neighborhood.

Jean LeBlanc is the author of Skating in Concord, The Haiku Aesthetic, At Any Moment, and other books. From New England, she teaches at Sussex County Community College in New Jersey. Jean’s poem Billerica, Midnight is in the poetry section

Jack McDonough was a senior writer and editor at UMass Lowell for more than 20 years and previously wrote for United Press International news service. Jack’s essay Parties is about end-of-the-year gatherings.

Bopha Malone is a regional business advisor at Enterprise Bank and a past board president of the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association in Lowell. Bopha’s remarks from the 2015 Salute To Women conference are in the book.

Jacquelyn Malone is the author of All Waters Run to Lethe. Her poems have appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal, Ploughshares, and other journals. Jacquelyn’s poem Body Heat is in the poetry section.

Henri Marchand is the Special Events Coordinator for the City of Lowell. Previously, he was assistant to the City manager and the producer of Sunrise, a public affairs program on WUML 91.5 FM. Henri wrote about his aunt who is a nun in Quebec in Sisters and also contributed The Christmas Fruitcake: An Ageless Tradition.

Paul Marion is a writer and a past president of the Lowell Heritage Partnership. He is the author and editor of several books, including Union River: Poems and Sketches and Mill Power: The Origin and Impact of Lowell National Historical Park. Paul contributed many blog posts to the book.

Joe Meehan is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Greater Lowell YMCA. Joe’s poem Fog Lights is in poetry section

Marty Meehan is the president of the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. Formerly, he was chancellor of UMass Lowell and a U.S. Representative in Congress from 1993 to 2007. He is a former first assistant district attorney for Middlesex County in Mass. Marty contributed Paul J. Sheehy: A Remembrance from 2014.

Matt Miller, author of Club Icarus and Cameo Diner, teaches at Phillips Exeter Academy. His poems have appeared in Slate, Harvard Review, and other journals. He received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Poetry at Stanford University. Matt’s poem The Beauty of a Nail is in poetry section

Derek Mitchell, executive director of the Lawrence Partnership, is the former Lowell site director of the International Institute of New England. HE served in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua. Derek contributed Lowell’s Hidden Epidemic from 2013.

Julie Mofford, a former staffer at the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission, lives in Maine where she writes and works as a museum and historical society consultant. She has published books about the Salem witch trials, Beat Generation, polio epidemic, and child labor, among other subjects. Julie’s 2015 post, Whistler’s Father, is in the book.

Jack Neary is a playwright (Kong’s Night Out, Jerry Finnegan’s Sister, and others), director, and actor who has appeared in the films Black Mass and The Town. Jack contributed Remembering John from 2008 and Remembering Ed LeLacheur from 2010.

Steve O’Connor is the author of The Witch at Rivermouth, Smokestack Lighting, and The Spy in the City of Books. He teaches English at Greater Lowell Technical High School. Steve has two blog posts in the book: Visitng with two very special veterans from 2009; and The Pawtucketville Bibliophile from 2011

Muriel “Mimi” Parseghian is a community activist and political analyst in the Lowell area. She was a pioneer blogger with the Left in Lowell team. In 2012, she received the prestigious Agnouni Award of the Armenian Relief Society, Eastern Region. Mimi contributed Compensation for Councilors from 2016.