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There was a disturbance in the educational force this week when Joyce Denning passed away. She was Professor Joyce Denning of the Political Science Department at UMass Lowell. I am one of the lucky ones who can say she was my teacher. There are hundreds of us. Thousands. She is…
Read More »Illustrations from the Blizzard of ’78, when I was living at Whitecliff Manor apartment complex off Mammoth Road in Dracut. I made these colored sketches in my big writing notebook, sitting at a desk in front of a window in my bedroom that overlooked the parking lot.—PM
Read More »It was a good morning for a walk in the park, national historical park, that is, so Rosemary and I took Ringo the dog for a mighty hike down along the lower reach of the Western Canal at the bottom of Suffolk Street and then through the mill yard at…
Read More »This is a shout out to everyone at Merrimack Repertory Theatre who brought audiences an outstanding production of The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith, featuring Miche Braden in the lead role. A hot three-piece band made up of Jim Hankins on bass, Aaron Graves on piano, and…
Read More »The Greater Lowell Music Theatre is back this spring at UMass Lowell’s Durgin Concert Hall with its first production of the year on March 21 and 22. Tickets are available online now. There will be two summer productions this year: Fiddler on the Roof, starring Eddie Mekka (familiar to TV audiences…
Read More »Les Bernal of Lawrence is a familiar name in certain political circles of the Merrimack Valley. These days he is the national director of Stop Predatory Gambling, a nonprofit organization opposed to casinos and state lotteries. In today’s New York Times, he takes on the topic of sports betting. Here is his…
Read More »In the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration used the job-creating vehicle of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to employ artists in a marketing campaign called “See America,” which promoted the beauties and treasures of the national parks of America. This year, the Creative Action Network, made up of designers…
Read More »Overnight, I heard the BBC report that Peter Seeger had died, a man whose life became absorbed in the music of our nation both as a singer of traditional songs and a composer of new works. I was lucky enough to hear him sing when I was a high school…
Read More »In the 1980s I played some serious softball with the Burgess Construction team in the Dracut Softball League. “Richie” Burgess, as I knew him, played on some of those teams, including the championship team in 1988. I wrote a poem, “Bragging Rights,” to commemorate that winning season, and following is…
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