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February 2 is a celebratory day with roots in ancient lore, Christian ritual and popular culture. In pre-Christian times, today February 2 was celebrated as the “Festival of Lights.” The day marked the time halfway between the shortest day of the year and the Spring Equinox. Ancient people also believed…
Read More »Martha Norkunas is a scholar, a folklorist, who was the director of cultural affairs at the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission in the early 1990s. Her book “Monuments and Memory: History and Representation in Lowell, Massachusetts” was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 2002. In it she catalogues the various…
Read More »Between 1990 and 1993, a very different kind of public-art project happened in the power house of the Boott Cotton Mills. This was part of the growing Lowell Public Art Collection. UMass Lowell art students and dozens of volunteers joined San Francisco-based artist David Ireland (since deceased) in his effort…
Read More »St. Brigid of Ireland ~ “Mary of the Gaels” Today February 1 is the Feast Day of St Brigid of Ireland, often called Mary of the Gael. She is one of the great patron saints of Ireland along with St. Patrick and St. Columba. Named for Druid goddess Brid, and though she…
Read More »Tuesday, February 19, 2013 7:00-9:00 PM Jack Kerouac Reading & Discussion Series The second of a five-part Jack Kerouac reading and discussion series led by Dr. Todd Tietchen of the UMass Lowell English Department. The discussion is on “The Town and the City” parts 3 – 5. location: UMass Lowell, South…
Read More »Growing up in Lowell, I always heard stories of my great grandfather using ashes from the coal furnace in the family home on Shaw Street to fertilize the backyard where he grew hundreds of pounds of potatoes each year. It is those stories, in part, that propel me outside each…
Read More »This poem is from Matt Miller’s new prize-winning collection of poems called “Club Icarus,” published by the University of North Texas Press. Matt is a Lowell High School graduate who earned degrees at Yale University, where he also played varsity football, and Emerson College. He teaches English and coaches football…
Read More »As a follow-up to my earlier post on a Patrick Keely-designed church that was saved – unlike Lowell’s St. Peter’s Church – here’s a link to a New York Times article about the re-opend St. Brigid’s Church in New York’s Lower East Side ~ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/nyregion/st-brigids-church-on-lower-east-side-celebrates-a-new-beginning.html?nl=nyregion&emc=edit_ur_20130128 History lived in that sacred space. Immigrant families found faith,…
Read More »Record-setting NFL kicker Tom Dempsey played rough and tough in his football days, including a stint with the semi-pro Lowell Giants whose home for a few years was Cawley Stadium. The NYTimes reports that 66-year-0ld Dempsey is suffering from dementia, which may be linked to the hard knocks he took…
Read More »A reader sent the following email last night: Hello Dick, I just wanted to mention that Jack Neary’s play, AULD LANG SYNE, which premiered at The Peterborough Players Theatre last summer – won a number of awards this past Saturday evening. Jack mentions the awards in his latest blog –…
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