Menu
Some observations on contemporary American politics – and life – from our Central European correspondent, Malcolm Sharps. The Mask of Sorrow, a Tragic Face Revealed By Malcolm Sharps Here’s a name: Wolski. Veronica Wolski. An American with Slavic roots, you might conclude, not rare in itself. It’s a name that,…
Read More »Boarding School Blues: Chapter 21 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 21: Inspection Desk inspection replaced morning chores the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Blanche and her classmates welcomed the shake-up in the schedule and felt confident that Madeleine’s tidying techniques would serve them well. “Girls, Sister Gerald will soon join us. We want…
Read More »History of the Button Factory By Gary Metras By the time the button factory depleted all the fresh water mussel shells from three rivers and was about to shut down, the Civil War began. It switched to ripping up earth and blasting rocks to mine tin and lead, to manufacture…
Read More »Remembering a Friendship: Robert W. Whitaker, III Nov. 9, 1950 – Sept. 16, 2019 By David Daniel We became friends through propinquity. Bob and his wife Anne and my wife Stephanie and I were among the first inhabitants of the regal old Lamson Estate on Nesmith Street in Belvidere when…
Read More »The city held its first election under its new hybrid system of government on Tuesday (Sep 21, 2021). There were preliminary elections held in four of the eight city council districts. A preliminary must be held when there are more than twice as many candidates as there are seats to…
Read More »My Life With Lowell’s Favorite Good Humor Man, Mister Softee By Pierre V. Comtois He became a summer tradition. When the sun shone down from blue, cloudless skies and heated up the city sidewalks such that walking barefoot was impossible without burning your feet, there was that familiar jingle that…
Read More »All Over America By David Daniel Was it the recent summer Olympics that put it in my mind? Or, somehow, the TV footage of the chaotic evacuation of Afghanistan? I’m not sure, but . . . does anyone remember the great high-jumping mania that once gripped the nation? All over…
Read More »On January 7, 2014, we posted a story by Mehmed Ali and Beth Brassel about Moody Gardens, a Lowell bar of the 1950s and 60s located at 294 Moody Street. The story (which can be read in full here) tells how the bar struggled until one night in 1957 when…
Read More »Back from its extended summer break, Trasna is please to present the latest publication from poet Maeve O’Sullivan, Wasp on the Prayer Flag. This is Maeve’s fifth collection with Alba Publishing. It chronicles the years from 2018-2021 in haiku and senryu. Rooted in Ireland and its varied landscapes, with…
Read More »The dreaded red “X” recently was posted on the Smith Baker Center. That signals to first responders that the building is unsafe to enter but it also is an indicator that it’s unlikely the building will remain standing for much longer. Given that development, here is some background on the…
Read More »