Author Archive

Morning Mondo and A Question  By Jim Provencher  What’s the plan, Poppy, now that you’re getting up there, you going to ash or ground? My six-year-old grandson hits me with these questions out of nowhere, no holds barred morning mysteries, no filter, no curb, no screen. Ashes, I guess—why take…

Last Outpost Layover By Jim Provencher   Stalled at a kind of boundary line awaiting orders Another afternoon of pink grapefruit, soda & gin People die, places endure In a space of dead treelines and dry creekbeds Chipping away at dense blocks of gravity Noguchi-gouged granite, brutally knocking into the heart…

The Kerouac Renaissance: From Lowell to the World By Steve Edington—Lowell Celebrates Kerouac The Jack Kerouac Commemorative at Bridge and French Streets was formally dedicated in the summer of 1988 two years after the organization, Lowell Celebrates Kerouac, was created to carry forth the idea of honoring Kerouac in his…

“Echoes and Musings” – (PIP #70) By Louise Peloquin 24-26 Prince Street did not have AI-powered software to set up L’Etoile’s layout. Ways to “meubler l’espace” (furnish the spaces) had to be found. Advertising was essential as we have seen in previous “peeks into the past.” (1) Jokes and humorous…

The main event at Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting was City Manager Tom Golden’s presentation of his proposed FY26 city budget to councilors. The formal public hearing on the budget is scheduled for the council’s May 27th meeting. A concise PowerPoint presentation identified five “major fiscal challenges.” Increase in the…

Notre Dame Revisited By Louise Peloquin      Since Richard Howe’s April 3, 2023 post on Notre Dame (1), we have regularly covered the cathedral’s meticulous renovation. (2)      A journalist aims at investigating and gathering facts. A tourist plans to take in must-see spots. With the latter in mind, I decided to join…

Living Madly: Loneliness, Third Places, and The Back Table By Emilie-Noelle Provost Much has been written about the current “loneliness epidemic.” For the last fifteen or so years, people everywhere have become increasingly isolated from one another, a problem both exacerbated and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. People are spending…

Memories of Music in Lowell By Leo Racicot Our mother’s mother, Adele, had the most beautiful, high, clear soprano. She loved to sing. I have only to close my eyes, and I can still hear Come, Come, Come to the Wildwood, I Come to the Garden Alone and Alexander’s Ragtime…

Prom Time – (PIP #69) By Louise Peloquin It’s that time of year again – prom time. Who am I goin’ with? What if I go with a bunch of BFF’s? What if I go alone? What am I gonna to wear – vintage, gothic, random? Are proms still a…

The most important portion of Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting emerged from an innocuous agenda item: The City Manager notifying the council that a member of one of the city’s many volunteer-staffed boards had resigned. The board involved was the city’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Committee and the…