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The web gives us disturbance, uproar, commotion, and confusion for synonyms of “turmoil”—words that fit both the weather forecast and political forecast. A storm is not really an outside force since we are in nature, but there’s a sense that something is coming to get us, to make trouble on…
Read More »My father, Marcel R. Marion, was an enthusiastic observer of American politics and world affairs. He never ran for anything except union steward when he worked in a textile mill in Lowell in the 1940s. He was a wool sorter, meaning he classified types and quailty of wool by examining…
Read More »This is from Bob Dylan’s memoir “Chronicles: Volume One” (2004). Thanks to Jim Cook for the tip. We know all these guys by one name: Dylan, Bono, Kerouac, . . . and Cook. . “One night, Bono, the singer from U2, was over for dinner with some other friends. Spending…
Read More »I went deep into the vault for this poem that I wrote more than 20 years ago. I thought about the poem around 5:30 p.m. today, when I was walking Ringo-the-dog on the South Common in perfect October weather. The scent of dried leaves was all around. The air was…
Read More »The death of George McGovern is something of a milestone for me. I cast my first presidential vote for him in November 1972. The voting age had been lowered to 18 that year in deference to the 18-year-olds who were being drafted to fight in Vietnam. Sen. McGovern opposed the…
Read More »“Rogers Hall produced many distinguished alumnae. Among them, Anne Harvey Sexton, a 1947 graduate, was later awarded the Pulitzer price for poetry. Dr. Mona Meehan went on to become the first female chief of staff appointed to a US hospital at St. John’s Hospital, now part of Saints Medical Center. …
Read More »I’m sure that I’m not the first one to make note of this, but one aspect of this election is fundamentally about style: hip versus square. I don’t think Gov. Romney would quarrel with this characterization. He is comfortable in his own skin. As the weeks wear on, however, and…
Read More »Congratulations to Franco American School Principal Lorraine Richard, SCQ, Director of Development Colleen Tully and the Board of Directors of the Franco American School, former state Sen. Steven Panagiokos, and all the generous craftspeople and donors for the extraordinary restoration of the Way of the Cross at the Grotto of…
Read More »The world premiere of Jack Kerouac’s play “Beat Generation” made news coast to coast and around the world this week. Among the media outlets that published articles and reviews or broadcast reports were the Associated Press, Rolling Stone, WBUR and WGBH radio in Boston, the Sun, Howl in Lowell and…
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