The Lowell Poets reading at the Gloucester Writers Center has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 6, at 1 pm, in the fishing hub of the North Shore. Also, with Winterfest pushed ahead to Saturday, Feb. 23, that means the 2nd Annual Lowell Writers and Publishers Winter Roundup at the Old…
Years from now I hope when I read the headline of this post I don’t have to ask, “Which one?” As I write at 7am on Friday, February 8, 2013, it’s 24 degrees outside and scattered snowflakes have been falling since 5am. Yesterday, cancellations started rolling in: almost every school…
In February 1978, I was living with my parents in an apartment off Mammoth Road in Dracut. We and the neighbors rode out the historic blizzard as best as we could. We monitored events on the radio and TV. I kept a journal in those days and made notes about…
On this day – February 7, 1978 – we awoke to many inches that later became feet of snow that had accumulated overnight. The snow continued falling throughout the day. Roads and highways were clogged with stranded cars and trucks locked-in by the snow and other vehicles. Governor Dukakis banned any but…
Harvard economist Edward Glaeser, one of the foremost urban thinkers in America today, has a provocative op-ed in the Globe. In “Best deal in town: on-street parking“, Glaeser examines the economics of urban parking. He contends that the because real estate is so valuable, the true cost of a parking…
Ironic that on the 35th anniversary of the Blizzard of ’78, we’re preparing for another big snowstorm. I stopped at Market Basket on the way home from work and bought all the essentials needed to make French Toast which, as all of you who are recent arrivals should know, is…
Early yesterday morning I headed to Malden for the formal announcement of Ed Markey’s candidacy for U.S. Senate. The event was at the Malden YMCA which is a very impressive facility. I volunteered to help with settup and so arrived two hours before the scheduled start time. This gave me…
The 2nd Annual Lowell Writers and Publishers Winter Roundup is set for Saturday, February 23, 12.30 to 4.00 pm, upstairs at the Old Court Irish pub at Central and Middle streets in downtown Lowell. Publishers and writers attending include playwright Jack Neary, poet and memoir-writer Judith Dickerman-Nelson, Sweeney-and-Seawell creator Dave Robinson, John…
Martha Norkunas is a scholar, a folklorist, who was the director of cultural affairs at the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission in the early 1990s. Her book “Monuments and Memory: History and Representation in Lowell, Massachusetts” was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 2002. In it she catalogues the various…