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‘Grace and Beauty’
We need beauty. We need it badly. On a day when we grappled with our grief over the enduring evil of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, on a day when we learned more from the media about the heinous attack on a young teacher, Colleen Ritzer of Danvers,…
Read More »Bridge dedication wrap-up
Thank you to everyone who helped make yesterday such a special occasion for my mom and dad and the entire Howe Family. From those who organized the event to those who endured the chilly wind by attending the ceremony, you have our enduring gratitude. And it was a wonderful ceremony…
Read More »Photos from the bridge
Tony Sampas shared some photos from yesterday’s bridge dedication:
Read More »Crowd sourcing UML Kennedy pictures
UMass Lowell has a terrific collection of photos of John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline from visits to Lowell during the late 1950s. While everyone recognizes the Kennedy’s, it’s more difficult to identify the Lowell residents in the photos. The best way to solve a problem like that is…
Read More ». . . And Howe
The morning began with dark purple clouds bumping in the sky lanes above a sherbet-rinsed sunrise of raspberry and peach. Wind kicked the brittle leaves every which way, and the frigid air made you feel extra alive in your skin. All good for a big day in Lowell. Spirits were…
Read More »Richard P. Howe: 40 years on the Lowell City Council
Later this morning the new bridge across the Merrimack River that will connect Merrimack Street and University Avenue will be dedicated to my father, Richard P. Howe, in honor of his forty consecutive years on the Lowell City Council which included four terms as mayor. His final council term ended…
Read More »‘Kennedyana’
I borrowed this title from Joe Donahue’s poem sequence about JFK in his 1989 book Before Creation. I imagine a drawer in an old bureau in the cellar or attic filled with collectibles from the Kennedy years. Campaign pins, scrapbooks, LIFE magazine issues. I still have in my office at…
Read More »Poet Joseph Donahue & JFK
Following are excerpts from a seqence of poems titled “Purple Ritual” in Joseph Donahue’s first book of poems, Before Creation (1989). The sequence in much longer and more complex than these passages suggest, but today it seemed important to me to share part of this composition for the record. At…
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