Author Archive

Fifty years ago (July 13, 1960) John F Kennedy won his party’s nomination for President of the United States. At the convention held in Los Angeles, Kennedy beat…Lyndon Johnson, Senate Majority Leader-Texas; Adlai Stevenson, former Governor of Illinois; Stuart Symington’ Senator from Missouri; Hubert Humphrey, Senator from Minnesota; and several…

I became a little pensive when I read former President George H W Bush ran his boat aground in Maine Monday. Personal history caused what you might consider an unusual reaction. I am lucky enough to spend a lot of time in Southern Maine. Over the years I have seen…

Fifty years ago yesterday Harper Lee published To Kill A Mockingbird. The book and subsequent movie hold a unique memory for me, which I will explain later. Harper Lee was born and raised in Alabama during a time of extreme, racial discrimination in the United States. Strangely, she only published…

I find it fascinating when a current event brings back a life memory.It happened to me just this week. I was listening to the morning news with my wife whena report came on about the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain (the Spanish call it encierro). Hold on hold…

The entry below is crossed post from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Something is happening with John Kerry. The state’s senior senator seems to be finding his real voice. He is coming across as authentic, not usually a word traditionally associated with him. Maybe losing the Presidency in 2004 has freed…

The weather is unquestionably the top story this week…and UMass Lowell’s Weather Center provides the best Lowell weather forecast around.  The University’s Department of Environmental Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences maintains the website. It is one thing to listen or watch  Boston forecasters but it is a completely different experience to…

The temperature was in the 90’s yesterday. It is going to be in the 90’s today and tomorrow, then, according to local forecasters, it will cool down to the upper 80’s for the remainder of the week.  So with all this heat and humid around, how do you keep cool?…

I  always wished I had been born on the fourth of July…can you just image your birthday being filled with parades, fireworks and barbeques every year?. Who cares that the celebration is not for you…it doesn’t matter. It would be a blast anyway (excuse the pun). Below is a list…

Excuse me, but I just can’t take this Russian spy thing seriously. You see I was born in 1951 and lived my early years in the heart of the Cold War. I experience the “Red Scare” first hand. And let me tell you, when you’re an innocent kid and “they”…

“A pair of peregrine falcons nesting on the roof of the 18-story Fox Hall at UMass Lowell successfully hatched 2 chicks this spring. On June 2, a team from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife checked their status & put I.D. bands around their legs. As usual, the chicks’…