Author Archive

Voyages By Jim Provencher  1  Old Orchard Beach  In the last place, where the river enters the sea, where it ripples into a larger whole, my mother lived out her final days, wandering sea-oat anchored dunes, wading the sea-edge, gathering glinting shells that caught her eye. 2  Then, Back When…

Housing, Parking and Roadwork in 1924 Lowell – (PIP #68) By Louise Peloquin City Hall and municipal administration offices are hives where worker bees coordinate their efforts to act for the benefit of the community. Meetings are held. Commissions are created. Projects are elaborated. Sometimes however, the hives get of…

The early part of Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting was dominated by a discussion of a memo from the City Solicitor’s office in response to an earlier motion from Councilors Erik Gitschier and Corey Robinson that the city consider adopting a “construction employment” ordinance like that in place in the…

EARLY SEASON By Terry Downes Spring Training’s just a memory The teams have now gone north To fields where fans wait anxiously New wonders to spring forth. Off the buses, trains and planes They hustle to the park To show their loyal watching crowds They’re not out for a lark.…

Growing Up in Lowell in the 1950s and ’60s by Leo Racicot The Lowell of my growing-up years was nothing like the Lowell of today. The city, being younger, was, of course, cleaner, safer and had a vitality long gone from its parks and downtown area. Our father died young,…

My West Virginia and Jack Kerouac’s Lowell By Steve Edington  This article originally appeared in the online journal WestVirginiaVille.   When I graduated from Marshall University in 1967 my known world did not extend beyond southern West Virginia and southern Ohio. Beginning in my early teens, I would make a…

Budgets, Balances & Briefs – (PIP #67) By Louise Peloquin More money matters… L’ETOILE – October 16, 1924 THE BUREAU OF HYGIENE MUST ECONOMIZE ——- The city auditor’s quarterly report reveals the city’s financial position. ——-                 Yesterday, city auditor Daniel F. Martin gave…

Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting led off with a motion by Councilor Erik Gitschier that the council send a letter to “our state delegation” expressing the council’s opposition to House Bill 2347, “An Act to Promote Yes in God’s Back Yard.” The bill’s goal is to promote more housing by…

Last Voyage of the Sholokhov By Jim Provencher She was a scow really, a defunct dinosaur of the sealanes, shipping out of Vladivostock supplying quick cash flow for the Mother Country when the West had won and things were slow. An odd mix, the motley crew and cheap-fare cruise customers,…

A Classical Education By Stephen O’Connor A woman who I suppose was trying to impress upon me the extent of her minimalism once told me that she could live a perfectly happy life without a television or radio, without coffee and dessert, without wine, and without music. That final bit…