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Thanks to journalist John Collins and the Sun newspaper for reporting on artist Vassilios “Bill” Giavis’s gift of a print of one of his classic paintings to the Town of Dracut. The original painting was based on a poem of mine. Read the story here. A Hundred Nights of Winter…
Read More »This essay was first heard on the former “Sunrise” radio program of WUML, 91.5 FM, at UMass Lowell. Executive producer Chris Dunlap assembled writers in the area for the daily essay feature, a popular component of the morning public affairs show. I shared this essay with readers of this blog for…
Read More »On this snowy night, from Alaska comes a poem with a snowy owl, courtesy of our desk in the West manned by Tom Sexton. Here’s a Lowell memory for our readers. For those who don’t know, Tom Sexton is a distinguished alumnus of Lowell High School and former Poet Laureate…
Read More »The Christmas Fruitcake: An Ageless Tradition by Henri Marchand A note from the author: Like its subject this essay has been around, appearing first as a Sunrise radio essay, re-wrapped as a “Guest Column” piece in the Sun and showing up on this blog for the past few years. At…
Read More »Along with Henri Marchand’s “fruitcake” essay, the re-appearance of this poem has become part of the Christmas tradition for this blog. I wrote the first draft of this poem in 1976, and worked on it on-and-off for a long time. I had in mind the extensive outdoor lighting displays in Dracut (the…
Read More »Linda Biehl of California was the first Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies at UMass Lowell in 2008. She was on campus and in the community for three weeks, meeting people, talking, sharing her remarkable, inspiring, and challenging story. Her daughter was a casualty in the sometime violent struggle to end…
Read More »Scene for a cold morning. “Pastel Snowfall” by Richard Marion (c) 2013 See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
Read More »“Winter Scene” by Richard Marion (c) 2013 See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
Read More »Kerouac wrote that he “always considered writing his duty on earth.” Merrimack Valley Conference writer and sportsman Jay Atkinson has an essay about the endurance of Jack Kerouac in today’s Boston Globe. We’re waiting for Jay to have a regular Sunday column on words and books in the Globe. He’s…
Read More »Wednesday’s NY Times included an opinion column by Nicholas Kristof in which he wondered about a lack of empathy in today’s society, especially regarding children in need. Read the essay here, and consider getting the NYT if you want more of this kind of writing.
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