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Philosophy and the Insect By Stephen O’Connor  As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.      –Shakespeare My father was a religious man, a devout Catholic who got down on his knees every night to pray. Though he regarded Catholic theology as the…

“Who wants to sell a day in June?” – (PIP #33) By Louise Peloquin Love’s gentle spring doth always fresh remain. Shakespeare’s verse comes to mind when perusing the following 67-year-old news items. Accounts about young couples celebrating upcoming spring  weddings and babies welcomed into the world never grow old. Ever…

It’s budget time for the city of Lowell. At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, City Manager Tom Golden presented his proposed FY2025 budget to Councilors. Other than a brief statement by Golden, there was no discussion on the budget. That will occur on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, at 6 pm at…

This article originally appeared on this website on November 10, 2022, in recognition of the fortieth anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. I’m reposting it today in honor of Memorial Day 2024.  1965 September 1, 1965 – PFC Donald L. Arcand 19 years old.…

Pet Soundings A Music Essay by David Daniel Let me confess right up front. When the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds album dropped fifty-eight years ago this month I was one of the naysayers. In the early and mid-1960s you bought albums (such an exotic concept today!) based upon the appeal…

Lorne Cupples was born in Canada to Simone and James Cupples and immigrated to the United States in 1886 when he was a child. He lived on Grove Street and married Lilla Simpson in June of 1905. Lilla sadly passed away in childbirth with the infant in March of 1907.…

Honoring our Departed – (PIP #32)                                      By Louise Peloquin                                               …

My newsletter of last Sunday focused exclusively on the city’s 1989 settlement of the civil rights lawsuit brought against it by parents of minority students in the Lowell Public Schools, so this week’s edition has two Lowell City Council meetings to cover. Both were concise with no major controversies. Here’s…

In 1831, brothers John and Thomas Nesmith purchased 150 acres in Tewksbury from Judge Edward Livermore for $25,000. The following year, the brothers hired Alexander Wadsworth, a landscape architect from Boston who was the cousin of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and also the designer of Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, to…

We need you! – (PIP #31) By Louise Peloquin      We’ve met three young locals – Raymond Marcouillier, Aimé Martin and Paul Blanchette – who served in the armed forces during World War II. (1) On the home front, where were civilians working? The following advertisements give us examples of job…