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The author of “Nickel and Dimed” writes about poverty in the US on the tenth anniversary of her book being released. The article is from Mother Jones magazine via realclearpoliltics.com. If you use this link and get an ad for Mother Jones blocking the article, then select Subscribe on the…
Read More »With the plans to remake the classic 1987 film “Dirty Dancing” now public, there will be lots of chatter about the original starring Patrick Swayzey and Jennifer Grey. Who should play the parts of Johnny and “Baby”? Should there be a remake at all? There are mixed feeling about the…
Read More »Hometown reporting on Philip Levine’s appointment as US Poet Laureate from the Fresno Bee in California. Levine was born in Detroit and started teaching at Fresno State in 1958. The university didn’t even have a creative writing program at the time. His close friend and fellow poet Peter Everwine,…
Read More »Poetry is front-page news online tonight. That’s different. The NYTimes tonight reports that Philip Levine is the new U.S. Poet Laureate. Read Charles McGrath’s article here, and get the NYT if you want more. Phil Levine was one of my poet-heroes when I started writing in the mid-1970s. I admired…
Read More »On this day August 9, 1852, Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden; or, Life in the Woods” was published. “Walden” details Thoreau’s experiences over the course of two years living in a woodland cabin he built near Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts. Notes about the author from The Thoreau Society – which…
Read More »“River Board” by Richard Marion (c) 2011
Read More »From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (or CETA, Public Law 93-203) is a United States federal law enacted in 1973 to train workers and provide them with jobs in the public service. “The program offered work to those with low incomes and the long term…
Read More »Armed with bricks, boards and sticks, pro-Southern Baltimoreans attack Union soldiers headed to Washington, D. C. Library of Congress. The October, 2011 edition of Civil War Times just arrived in today’s mail. Featured in a multi-page spread is an article by journalist Michael Williams’ from his forthcoming book – “City…
Read More »Paul Marion Photo from a recent Yankee Magazine article “Paul Marion: Poetry, community outreach, and a great love for his city” Today’s Sun has a story about fellow blogger Paul Marion and his “on assignment” role with Lowell National Historical Park to write a modern history of Lowell. Paul is…
Read More »Last night, I watched on cable TV the 2010 award-winning French film “Of Gods and Men,” which is based on real events involving a small community of Trappist monks in Algeria in 1995. It is a period of civil war with Islamic extremists trying to impose their will on the local population.…
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