Frank Wagner: A New Poem

Five Rows Down and Three Across by Frank Wagner   Five rows down and three across Through wild high grass of the burial ground We looked for old laid bones that could not be found. A generation has passed since his body was laid, Under piled dirt this skin and…

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2020 Year in Review

2020 Year in Review As is the tradition of this website, here is my Lowell-centric review of notable events of the past year. Covid-19 Pandemic – No review of 2020 can begin with anything but the Covid-19 pandemic. At the start of the year, news reports from China told of…

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The Battle of Quebec: December 31, 1775

This was originally posted on this site on December 31, 2010. Plaque erected in Quebec City marking the spot of American General Richard Montgomery’s death. “Here stood the Undaunted Fifty safeguarding Canada, defeating Montgomery at the Pres de Ville Barricade on the last day of 1775, Guy Carleton commanding at…

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Pandemic Glossary

Terms commonly used during 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic Aerosol – virus particles emitted by an infected individual that are small enough to be suspended in the air for an extended period of time which may infect others. AstraZeneca – A drug company that teamed with Oxford University to create a Covid-19…

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Book Review: The Rise of the GI Army, 1940-41

Paul Dickson’s 2020 book, The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941, has the subtitle “The forgotten story of how America forged a powerful Army before Pearl Harbor.” Forgotten indeed! I found the story in this book startling, although I should not have. Like many others, I just assumed that on…

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