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Poet Anthony Febo did his best work in Lowell for a long time, but has moved on with a family and new goals as a teacher and writer. Kudos to “Febo” for publishing his first book, “Becoming an Island” (Game Over Books, 2021). Please consider ordering a copy. He may…
Read More »The city of Lowell recently announced that the School Committee districts for the 2021 Lowell City Election have been set. Under the settlement of the Voting Rights Lawsuit brought against the city, the method of electing councilors and school committee members would change from the all members elected at large…
Read More »In the spirit of Lowell Walks, here’s a reprise of a blog post from March 2009. Michael Creasey, then-national park superintendent, joined me for a hike along the Pawtucket Canal, the western reach. This sketch appears as a sidebar in my book MILL POWER, about the Lowell comeback starting in…
Read More »Every month is Black History Month even though February stands out in the spotlight. We’re happy to share news of a special resource at the UMass Lowell Center for Lowell History, based at the Patrick J. Mogan Cultural Center as well as online. “Untold Lowell Stories: Black History” brings together…
Read More »March 17, 2021 – With the pandemic lockdown still upon us, we are deprived of our “traditional” celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. This Paul Marion post from March 17, 2011, captures what Lowell is usually like today. For me, it evokes some nostalgia and brings some hopefulness for the not-too-distant…
Read More »Timing is Everything By George Chigas One day last week, I hoofed it up to UML Lydon Library to get a couple of Inter-Library Loan books for an article I’m working on about how Kerouac actually met Neal Cassady at Columbia in December 1946. The basic facts are generally well-known,…
Read More »ATLANTIC CURRENTS II Enter Your Original Writing—Compete for Cash Prizes Attention, writers! Alumni and students of UMass Lowell and University College Cork are invited to submit original prose or poetry for a writing competition this spring. Winners will be awarded a cash prize up to $500. The competition is…
Read More »STUFF YOU KNOW BUT CAN’T NAME The following is a cross-post from my own blog (PaulMarion.com) on January 4, 2021. It took more than a year, but I compiled the best comments from a discussion thread on social media provoked by a question I threw out to the crowd. With…
Read More »Susan April grew up in Lowell and Dracut. She is a scientist who lives in Maryland. She offered us this dream-like poem from 1989. End of Track by Susan April I’m running home again. The church off Shattuck Street smells like morning Mass. The granite curb feels cool…
Read More »Poet, publisher, and bookstore owner Lawrence Ferlinghetti passed away this week at the age of 101. A friend and publisher of Jack Kerouac’s, Ferlinghetti in the late 1980s visited Lowell at least twice as a guest of the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! group. He began writing the poem below on a…
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