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Niagara Falls and Pawtucket Falls. You wouldn’t think they have a lot in common because of the vast difference in scale, but each of these water features is a defining element of the community that grew where the water rushed by. Read what’s being talked about in Niagara Falls on…
Read More »As talk heats up about the nominees for the Golden Globe and Oscar awards, it seems timely that Mass Moments remind us of the early days of a famous Hollywood movie mogel Louis B. Meyer. The roots of his success can be found here in the Merrimack Valley – in…
Read More »In November and early December, I posted a new haiku almost every day on my Facebook page. I gathered up the first batch and posted them here on rh.com about a month ago. For those who do not use Facebook and may be interested in the poems, following is another…
Read More »Reporter Patricia Cohen in today’s NYTimes described how folksinger Woody Guthrie will finally get his due in the place of his roots, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Local activists kept the tribute flame alive for the past many years, and now the Kaiser Foundation, based in Tulsa, has put up $3 million to…
Read More »Controversial Canadian author Steve Marche shares his view “That we are not all created equal” in his monthly column – “A Thousand Words about Our Culture” – in the January 2012 of Esquire magazine. Here is a taste of his view – then read on for the reasons behind the view. He assails both the…
Read More »Under the title “Dissolves,” the new sections of Joe Donahue’s long poem “Terra Lucida,” are due in January from the publisher Talisman House in New Jersey. Joe is on long-term leave from Lowell, based at Duke University, where he researches eternal questions. The reading public rarely catches up to a visionary poet in…
Read More »MassMoments reminds us today that the Puritans of Massachusetts led by minister Increase Mather thought the celebration of Christmas a vulgar, pagan-like and “profane and superstitious custom.” Over those early years the custom was never totally stamped-out. In the early 19th century when the revelry – especially drinking and merry-making …
Read More »Buffalo, N.Y., faces the same kind of challenges that most older cities do, but a bright spot is the lucrative local theatre industry built around touring versions of Broadway shows like “The Addams Family,” which earned $995,000 a week in the 3,000-seat Shea’s theatre, according to the NYTimes. Read the article…
Read More »A group called Mill City Flashmob recently appeared on Facebook. It’s mission: Lowell, the mill city. Socializing with the community. Membership in the group quickly grew (to become a member, go to facebook.com/MillCityFlashMOB). But the true test of any such organization is not how many visitors it can attract on…
Read More »This poem is from the winter of 1983-84, when I was living in Southern California just south of Laguna Beach. Dana Point was a small coastal town that has since expanded to the extent that there is now a Ritz Carlton there. When I was there it was the bottom edge of…
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