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Today’s NYTimes includes this article about the Harlem-based Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the NY Public Library acquiring a massive archive of papers from author and performer Maya Angelou. The story prompted me to recall Maya Angelou’s visit to Lowell in 1989 as a guest of Middlesex Community College. Following is…
Read More »“All the President’s Men” is one of my favorite movies, and I believe the dynamic duo of “Woodstein” should be remembered with a statue on the mall in Washington, DC, some day, but I’m not a fan of the Washington insider books that Bob Woodward has been churning out for…
Read More »A regular reader sent along these photos of Butler’s Toothpick, a navigation aid at the mouth of the Merrimack River. The photographer’s email follows. I must admit, I’ve never heard of this before but I’ll have to check it out next time I’m in the vicinity. I thought you might…
Read More »Locally, we know how touchy the subject of public art can be. Over the years various public art installations in Lowell and environs while generally praised have sometimes raised eyebrows and caused comments. When a certain 1980s City Councilor saw a model for a bronze sculpture proposed for downtown, he said it…
Read More »Renowned author and illustrator David Macaulay may be a distinguished winner of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” Fellowship and the Caldecott Medal for children’s literature, but today he came across more like an inspiring junior high-school teacher (he did that for one year) rather than some artist-god who came down…
Read More »Note: This 18th-century portrait could be one of the earliest depictions of baseball in America. The location of the original oil painting is unknown. (The image was originally featured in Apollo.) There’s a fascinating story by Doug Tribou on the WBUR website that originally ran on the station’s show –…
Read More »The Boston Globe not surprisingly endorsed all the Democrats running for re-election for the state’s Congressionals seats along with the one Democrat seeking an open seat. The editors’ reasoning is a good summary case for keeping the Democrats in the majority in Washington, DC. Read the endorsements here, and get…
Read More »Columnist Maureen Dowd in today’s NYTimes reviews the origins of Justice Thomas and reminds us that bad decisions do have consequences. She also points out the conservative activism seen recently at the Supreme Court may be a lot more damaging to regular folks than the liberal activism of the past that…
Read More »Author and CNN contributing writer Bob Greene gives us a look into an earlier attempt on the life of President – then President-elect – John F. Kennedy in an on-line story today. He tells of the New Hampshire postal clerk who planned to kill JFK in Florida in December, 1960:…
Read More »I can’t link to the full text of this week’s article by Lauren Collins (“All Together Now!”) in the New Yorker about efforts to reshape the civic culture in the United Kingdom because it is restricted to subscribers. Following is a link to the summary version that is available online. Those interested in more can…
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