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For some reason I tuned into the local TV news last night and caught a segment from a town meeting somewhere west of Boston where residents and members of the board of selectmen where chastising National Grid for “butchering” the town’s trees. One citizen speaking at the meeting microphone but…
Read More »At the iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Monday May 28, President Obama began a national commemoration of the 50-year anniversary of the Vietnam War. “In an opinion column published today [May 28, 2012] in the military’s Stars and Stripes, the President reminds that it was in January 50 years ago…
Read More »The New York Times just yesterday featured a story about a group of Lawrence, Massachusetts residents who have come together to strategize about how to tell the “other side of the story” – to work out a plan to change the prevailing image of the city. Boston Magazine recently labeled Lawrence…
Read More »On this day – May 29, 1917 – John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts to Joseph and Rose (Fitzgerald) Kennedy. John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy – often referred to by his initials JFK – was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.…
Read More »I went into the vault to get this prose poem from 1978, written soon after the experience that provided the brief story thread in the poem. In those days, I was constantly on the lookout for images and incidents that could feed a new composition. I wanted to write, write, write.—PM . Memorial Day…
Read More »Earlier today the Greater Lowell Veterans’ Council held its Memorial Day Service at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Besides the many veterans groups in attendance, the following elected officials were also there: Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, State Senator Eileen Donoghue, State Representatives Tom Golden and Dave Nangle, Mayor Patrick Murphy and City…
Read More »Tony Sampas shares these images of the stained glass windows of the Pollard Memorial Library for Memorial Day.
Read More »Heavy-duty media coverage of world premiere of the “On the Road” film premiere tomorrow in France at Cannes Film Festival. There will be more reporting after people see the film. Maybe they will like it.
Read More »The attack on Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks (1856) MassMoments reminds us that on this day May 22, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was viciously attacked on the floor of the United States Senate – beaten with a cane by Preston Brooks, a Congressman from South Carolina. The issue…
Read More »On July 12, 1862, Harper’s Weekly featured this “before and after” cartoon about General Benjamin Butler’s controversial May 1862 General Order # 28 known as the “Woman Order” in Union-occupied New Orleans. In yesterday’s New York Times Opinionator Column, writer Terry Jones takes on Ben Butler in “The Beast in…
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