In his new column, opinion writer E. J. Dionne, native of Southeastern Mass., urges President Obama to roll out a BIG Plan for jobs and real economic recovery that reaches everyone up and down the socio-economic ladder. Read his column here, which I picked up from the Washington Post, a…
On Facebook, I received a notice about the people at Penguin Books saying they are re-reading all of Charles Dickens’ books in anticipation of the 200th anniversary of his birth next year. 2012 also marks an anniversary of Dickens’ visit to Lowell, which he wrote about in “American Notes.” UMass Lowell,…
There’s an extraordinary obituary in the SUN today, a capsule history of 100 years in the life of Nick Mastas of Lowell. Read the obit here, and get the SUN if you want more. He was born in the back of a buggy, fought as a Ranger in WWII, and worked…
Here’s the latest POTUS vacation dispatch from the Vineyard by our faithful, far-flung correspondent, Ray LaPorte. Air Force One flew over Vineyard Haven harbor last evening on a glide path to Otis Air Base. Its shimmering light-blue hull and contrails in the fading sun at 10,000 feet signaled that within…
Check out this rant by Allan Sloan of Fortune from cnn.com I spent July on family leave, not writing columns, and watching with increasing horror as market-illiterate know-nothings, abetted by the craven leaders of the Republican Party (from which I’m about to resign) and the unspeakable ineptness of Obama and…
One of our occasional contributors who tracks money, politics, sports, pop culture, Lowelliana, and his own dreamlife (a la Jean-Louis K.) is on special assignment for rh.com while the First Family tries to get a moment of tranquility on “the Island.” Our man on the scene Ray LaPorte from Pawtucketville Nation will file regular posts…
My wife and I did the be-a-tourist-in-your-own-state thing again yesterday as part of our “stay-cation” approach this summer. We started and ended our day in Andover, but spent most of the bright blue-sky day in Boston, which looked very good in the parts we visited. Boston King Coffee on Main Street…
Forbes magazine and website published its latest list of highest-earning authors, topped by James Patterson at $84 million for the past 12 months. I picked up this bulletin from bbc.com. See the top ten here. New Englander Stephen King made third place with $28 million. Note to self: Poets not found on…