On a cold pre-dawn walk this week, my companion and I lamented the soaring rates of Covid-19 infections that plague us today. Coming after the lull in the virus during the summer and the good news of an imminent and effective vaccine, this most recent blow is almost enough to…
Today is the 79th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which was the home port of the United State Pacific Fleet. At attack was a complete surprise and brought the United States into World War II. On December 7, 2017, I was the guest speaker at the Greater…
Congratulations and thanks to UMass Lowell for erecting four wayside exhibit panels about Lowell’s Little Canada neighborhood. I believe this project is part of the remediation agreement that allowed the demolition of the two surviving triple-decker residences that stood on Pawtucket Street at the Howe Bridge (photo below). The Geography…
History as It Happens: Citizen Bloggers in Lowell, Mass. (2017) captures the best writing from the first ten years of this blog, an unsettled time for the economy, politics, technology, and culture. The book, featuring many writers, documents the local story and offers commentary on national and global matters that touched our…
History as It Happens: Citizen Bloggers in Lowell, Mass. (2017) captures the best writing from the first ten years of this blog, an unsettled time for the economy, politics, technology, and culture. The book, featuring many writers, documents the local story and offers commentary on national and global matters that touched our…
History as It Happens: Citizen Bloggers in Lowell, Mass. (2017) captures the best writing from the first ten years of this blog, an unsettled time for the economy, politics, technology, and culture. The book, featuring many writers, documents the local story and offers commentary on national and global matters that touched our…
History as It Happens: Citizen Bloggers in Lowell, Mass. (2017) captures the best writing from the first ten years of this blog, an unsettled time for the economy, politics, technology, and culture. The book, featuring many writers, documents the local story and offers commentary on national and global matters that touched our…
Two days ago, Denis Barrett, coordinator of Cork Learning City, wrote to colleagues including John Wooding, former professor and provost at UMass Lowell who leads Lowell: City of Learning. The two partner organizations promote lifelong learning in their cities, and this year brought out the Cork-Lowell writing anthology ATLANTIC CURRENTS,…
The entry foyer of the Lowell Memorial Auditorium is known as the Hall of Flags for the 40 or so flags that hang high above the floor. Some of the flags are reproductions from the Revolutionary War era, but most represent the many Veterans Organizations that exist or that have…
Throughout October, Trasna will focus on the Celtic festival of Samhain, better known to Americans as Halloween. The holiday originated in Ireland and celebrates that time of year when the veil between this world and the next grows thin, and life seems more mysterious. This week we feature two poems by Bernie Condon, as…