Following is an excerpt from my manuscript for the book “Mill Power: Reclaiming Lowell’s Place and Story,” which I wrote for the National Park Service in 2011-12. The book covers the years 1966 to 2012, documenting the origin and impact of the national park in Lowell in the context of…
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This past Saturday, my wife and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Alice Louise Hubbell and Samir Mahesh Shah at the West Parish Church in Andover, Mass. We’ve known Alice for many years because she is the daughter of my friend and colleague Mary Lou Hubbell of…
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“Dawn Birds” by Richard Marion (c) 2013 See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net I saw a large “vee” of geese in the sky last Sunday when I was doing yard work. I heard them honking before I saw them overhead.—PM
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When I was growing up a lame riddle often repeated was: “Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.” Looking back on it, I can see the question and answer are just kind of daffy, but also hear a little bit of a Merrimack…
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Ray Manzarek, one of the giants of 1960s rock and roll, died yesterday at the age of 74. The co-founder of The Doors performed in Lowell once with The Doors, at the Commodore Ballroom in 1967, and twice with poet Michael McClure at the Smith Baker Center for the annual…
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Acclaimed author Paul Theroux visited Lowell a few months ago on assignment from Barron’s online journal. The Medford native rode the train to Lowell, retracing his mother’s route to college in the late 1920s. She earned a teaching degree from Lowell Normal School. Theroux spent a day in Lowell, hosted…
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Merrimack . We live thirty miles inland along the old road to the coast, a road laid down on an early wagon track, which followed the Indian trace—a long day on sure feet giving way to oxcarts that took half the week to return from the sea with their burdens…
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“South Campus Sailing” by Richard Marion, Copyright (c) 2013 See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net The conditions were much better this past weekend for the big rowing competition on the Merrimack. Congratulations for a successful event to the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau (including Tom Golden and Deb Belanger),…
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Read Dominique Browning’s NYTimes review of Elinor Lipman’s two new books: a novel, “The View FromPenthouse B,” and a collection of essays,”I Can’t Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays. She is a graduate of Lowell High School and a past recipient of the LHS Distinguished Alumni Award. There is a rumor…
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