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I went deep into the vault for this poem that I wrote more than 20 years ago. I thought about the poem around 5:30 p.m. today, when I was walking Ringo-the-dog on the South Common in perfect October weather. The scent of dried leaves was all around. The air was…
Read More »On Saturday afternoon October 13, Cardinal Sean O’Malley visited the Franco American School in Lowell to say Mass and re-dedicate the refurbised and restored one hundred year old Stations of the Cross at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. Over 500 people attended the outdoor mass. The Cardinal remarked…
Read More »MassMoments reminds us today about the Millerites and the view that the end of the world was nigh. I’m struck by the comments attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson and Reverend Theodore Parker when asked about the coming end of days. The Millerites – nearly 100,000 of them – were so…
Read More »The death of George McGovern is something of a milestone for me. I cast my first presidential vote for him in November 1972. The voting age had been lowered to 18 that year in deference to the 18-year-olds who were being drafted to fight in Vietnam. Sen. McGovern opposed the…
Read More »Some photos from yesterday’s tour of Lowell Cemetery:
Read More »“Rogers Hall produced many distinguished alumnae. Among them, Anne Harvey Sexton, a 1947 graduate, was later awarded the Pulitzer price for poetry. Dr. Mona Meehan went on to become the first female chief of staff appointed to a US hospital at St. John’s Hospital, now part of Saints Medical Center. …
Read More »This Saturday (October 20) at 10 am, I will lead one more tour of historic Lowell Cemetery. This tour was initiated by the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce for its members, but the Chamber has graciously opened it to the public. The tour will begin at the Knapp Avenue entrance…
Read More »I’m sure that I’m not the first one to make note of this, but one aspect of this election is fundamentally about style: hip versus square. I don’t think Gov. Romney would quarrel with this characterization. He is comfortable in his own skin. As the weeks wear on, however, and…
Read More »For anyone facing surgery, the possibility of pain looms large. Imagine back to a time when options for “anesthesia” were limited to alcohol or the danger of opium. When a Boston dentist demonstrated the “power of ether” back in 1846 at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Jospeh Warren – a well-respected surgeon…
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