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Tom Wolfe titled one of his books “A Man in Full,” and the word “full” came to me when I tried to think of a word to describe the story that Andre Dubus III tells us in his fiercely honest new memoir “Townie.” He grew up between two worlds, the…
Read More »Jack Kerouac was born on March 12, 1922; jazz man Charlie Parker died one March 12th. From the Barnes and Noble people, here is a literary comment on author Jack Kerouac and jazz man Charlie Parker. Thanks to Alan Crane on Facebook for the link. For the schedule of Kerouac…
Read More »13 TOWNIE, by Andre Dubus. (Norton, $25.95.) In this memoir, Dubus explores his attachment to violence and his relationship with his famous father. 1
Read More »Last evening at UMass Lowell’s O’Leary Library, Dr. Colm Donnelly of Queen’s College, Belfast, Ireland, gave a presentation on the results of the archeological excavation that was conducted last August on the lawn in front of St Patrick’s Church. The historical dig, a joint effort of Queen’s College and UMass…
Read More »David Brooks in today’s NYTimes wonders out loud if the contemporary American behavioral trend of heightened self-approval may be weakening the national civic culture. He often asks such “community” questions as he tries to puzzle out the workings of our democratic-republic system. He makes a comment on the connection to toxic partisanship in…
Read More »Some of us have vivid memories of the “Blizzard of 1978” and the harsh toll it took on our lives, our property, our schedules and our peace of mind. Imagine back nearly a century before when another blizzard hit Massachusetts. Mass Moments remind us that on this day – March…
Read More »Tony Sampas shows us that the Merrimack River continues to rise, even before the next patch of rain arrives.
Read More »On today’s “Political Intelligence” page of the Boston Globe, senior political writer Glen Johnson tell us of his meetings and inaction of the recently deceased writer and columnist David Broder. The site posts the actual note from Broder to Johnson – a longtime admirer – who was seeking a position with him at…
Read More »The front cover of today’s Globe food section carries a picture of a young man munching on a delicious-looking chocolate frosted doughnut that made me want to run out and buy a half-dozen. The accompanying story discusses the “best” independent doughnut shops in Greater Boston which got me wondering which…
Read More »On this day March 9, 1862 – one of the most famous naval battles in history took place. This batlle between the iron-clads – the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia (formerly the U.S.S. Merrimack*) “ushered in a new era in naval warfare.” History.com offers this account of the battle…
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