The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. John Winthrop Sears would have been 84 years old last Thursday. He died November 4th. As far as I can tell, he was the last of a breed. Family and friends gathered the evening of his birthday at…
A note from Henri Marchand: Like its subject, this essay has been around, appearing first as a Sunrise radio essay on WUML-FM at UMass Lowell, re-wrapped as a “Guest Column” piece in the Sun, and showing up on this blog for the first time in 2009—and then returning here annually as…
This composition was first heard as a radio essay on the “Sunrise” program of WUML, 92.5 FM, at UMass Lowell. Executive producer Chris Dunlap assembled writers in the area for the daily essay feature, a popular component of the morning public affairs show that was broadcast for a few years in the…
Tonight, I will be at the Pollard Memorial Library on Merrimack Street next to City Hall at 7 pm, talking about “Mill Power: The Origin and Impact of Lowell National Historical Park.” The format is brief remarks, a short reading, and then questions-and-answers. “Mill Power” ($25) is available at the National Park…
The late Nelson Mandela with Christo Brand (web photo courtesy of nelsonmandela.org) UMass Lowell’s Office of the Provost cordially invites the community to a special event on Thursday, Dec. 4, at 4 p.m. in Moloney Hall at University Crossing featuring Christo Brand, author of “Mandela: My Prisoner, My Friend.” Brand was Nelson Mandela’s…
The works of Norman Rockwell – famed 20th-century American painter and illustrator – were perhaps the best at portraying the images of Thanksgiving that reflect his time and and the culture of his time. Today his images seem more nostalgic but nonetheless they are evocative of American memories. What images…
I left Tom Brady and the Patriots with their halftime lead to hear how a crowd of UMass Lowell music students would interpret some of my favorite music. And now, I’m just back from a beautiful and complex performance of music of The Beatles, presented by the UMass Lowell Dept of Music,…
I just returned from a weekend trip to New York City, something that has become an annual family event in recent years. Here are some observations: Getting There: This trip we rode a bus to NYC and it was a great experience that I highly recommend. C&J Bus Lines from…
The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. This fall marks the 50th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement at U.C. Berkeley, a pivotal moment in the history of student activism and political organizing that laid the groundwork for the antiwar movement and other social causes. …
Julie Mofford, a former staffer at the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission, who currently lives in midcoast Maine where she writes and works as a museum and historical society consultant, shares this story about government censorship with a Lowell connection: As Lowell Historic Preservation Commission’s representative on the Kerouac Committee, I…