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Good books retain their newsworthiness, so I’m recycling this review-essay about Patti Smith’s most recent book, Year of the Monkey, which I posted on my website, paulmarion.com, late last year. This piece was written before the coronavirus spread among us, a time that seems six years and not six months…
Read More »John Wooding, professor emeritus of political science at UMass Lowell, is the author of the forthcoming biography Gandhi’s American Friend: Richard Bartlett Gregg (Loom Press, October 2020). He is a past contributor to this blog and president of the board at Mill City Grows in Lowell. ‘Cause I’m on the…
Read More »For the month of July here on Trasna, we have been highlighting some of the literary and artistic events cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The other significant arena of cancellations due to COVID-19 is, of course, sport. Today we present an article by Irish sports historian, Dr. Tom Hunt,…
Read More »Paul Hudon: Diary in the Time of Coronavirus (10) Another set of pandemic observations from our riverside correspondent Paul Hudon. We held this post during Baseball Week but the content remains timely. June 21 Something of what we’ll call gallows humor from Mike Nichols and Elaine May, one of the…
Read More »A Perfectly Strange Day at the Beach by Henri Marchand This essay, written in July of 2008 during the last economic crisis, seems apt for our current times. On a recent Sunday morning, a two weeks before the 2020 July 4th holiday, we took our first ride to the beach…
Read More »William Henry Merritt By Eileen Loucraft Back in the early days of professional baseball, Lowell produced a star catcher named William “Billy” Merritt. William Henry Merritt was born in Lowell on July 30, 1870 to William and Mary (Cleary) Merritt who were Irish immigrants. He attended Lowell schools and the College…
Read More »Fenway Park (web photo courtesy of bostoncalendar) American-Based by Chath pierSath The batter spits. Shoves his left foot against the diamond. He makes eye contact with the pitcher. He tilts down the right edge of his cap to buckle it tight to each strand of his hair. It’s…
Read More »Today’s Baseball Week post combines two items from August 2013, the first by me, the second by Paul, both of us fans of Red Sox rightfielder Tony Conigliaro, a Massachusetts native who reached professional stardom at a young age and whose potential seemed limitless – until the evening of August…
Read More »For the month of July, here on Trasna, we will be highlighting some of the literary and artistic events cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In early July of each year, The Henry David Thoreau Society holds its Annual Gathering. This year’s theme was “DIVERSITY.” While an ever-important subject, it…
Read More »Jack McDonough of Tewksbury, Mass., wrote for United Press International, New England Telephone, Brandeis University, and UMass Lowell in his career as a reporter and editor. He’s a baseball fan from way back, and played his share of ballgames: “good glove-good stick.” We always appreciate his contributions to this publication. …
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