Menu
Author Archive
‘Macca-holics: There Is No Cure’
Paul McCartney read aloud a sign down front in the crowd that summed up the situation nicely: “Macca-holics: There Is No Cure.” First, I will post Sarah Rodman’s exuberant Boston Globe review of Tuesday night’s concert at Fenway Park, and then will offer my thoughts. Web photo by Barry Chin…
Read More »Tanglewood Pops & Vince Gill
The Boston Symphony Orchestra opened its Tanglewood season this past week, and my wife and I were lucky enough to attend Sunday’s performance by the Pops Orchestra with a special guest, Country music star Vince Gill. We had not been to a concert in the Berkshires for about 20 years,…
Read More »Will Kerouac Stamp Proposal ‘Stick’ This Time?
Reporter Joel Kost in today’s Sun newspaper puts some gas in the tank of a long-time effort to get the US Postal Service to issue a commemorative stamp in honor of author Jack Kerouac. One of this blog’s loyal readers, Dean Contover, has been leading the stamp charge for about…
Read More »Squirrels Under the Hood
OK, after 21 years living in the same house with the same yard and the same tall trees, a new scourge has appeared: squirrels getting under the hood of our cars and chewing the electrical wires that make the engine start and the car go forward. Twice in a week…
Read More »Independence Day Essay by John Wooding
Web photo courtesy of dailykos.com . Holding On to Those Self-Evident Truths By John Wooding . It’s Independence Day. A few weeks ago I became an American citizen. No big deal, really. Thousands of people do this every year. But I have been here for over thirty years, hanging on…
Read More »‘He Went to the Woods’: An Essay by Kassie Rubico
With Father’s Day a few weeks ago, the following essay by Kassie Rubico came to our attention. A Writing Instructor at Northern Essex Community College, Kassie received a Master of Arts in Creative Writing and Literature at Rivier College in 2008 and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Pine Manor…
Read More »JFK in November
Yesterday, I received an email message from the staff at WGBH-TV about their plans to broadcast anniversary tribute programs to mark 50 years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. I was nine years old when President Kennedy was killed, and that date…
Read More »Joan Baez in Lowell
In the end it was like church. A generational church. A church of humanity. Of joy. Of suffering. Of soulful community. She had brought us together one more time, and there was a poignancy to it because a lot of us who were there are getting “up there” and have…
Read More »Franco-American Week Events Coming Up
Flag-raising ceremony at City Hall (web photos courtesy of Jennifer Myers) Thurs. June 27, 6 pm Club Lafayette, 465 Fletcher St, Lowell Learn How to Quadrille. Take a dance lesson from Rita Paquin. Free and open to everyone of any age. No partner needed. Fri., June 28, 6.30 pm Ste.…
Read More »