Boarding School Blues By Louise Peloquin Chapter 3: Readying Summer was coming to an end and back-to-school preparation topped Maman’s agenda. Blanche helped her mother take the inventory of the leftover school supplies. How many number two pencils, ball point pens, erasers, copybooks, loose-leaf sheets and folders could they salvage…
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President Franklin Pierce: The Lowell Connection Thanks to Juliet Mofford for her excellent story (posted yesterday) about President Franklin Pierce and the tragic death of his son, Benny. While many probably knew that Pierce was from New Hampshire (the only president from our neighboring state), few may realize that Pierce’s…
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The Train Wreck That Derailed a President by Julie Mofford “The burden of guilt I carry for a public career that destroyed my family will haunt me as long as I live.” – Franklin Pierce – Our 14th President Franklin Pierce, (1853 to 1857), had close ties to the…
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Nancy and I have been attending the Moby Dick Marathon at the New Bedford Whaling Museum since 1997, the beginning of a New Bedford tradition. We’ve only missed two over the 25 years since then. I wrote this a few years ago right after the reading of the final chase…
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“Where Now Begins” This week, on January 6th, the United States Capitol was attacked. It houses the meeting chambers of the United States Senate and the Congress. It is one of the most symbolically important buildings in the nation. At the time of the attack, a joint session of Congress was…
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The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. First they ignored Donald Trump’s self-dealing and shattering of norms. Then they pooh-poohed the plot to abduct Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Then they bought into the lies about election fraud and attempts to overturn the results of the…
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The extra-Constitutional drama that accompanied yesterday’s procedural (as opposed to adjudicatory) counting of state electoral votes by Congress made me recall the contested presidential election of 2000. Here is an essay I wrote back then. It is in two parts: one before the outcome was determined; another afterwards. Remember as…
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Epiphany Marie Louise St.Onge It’s time to remove what has grown into an overstatement despite its simple beginnings when you mindfully, with each in-breath, placed each white light on the intended branch just before the snow fell and the temperature dove to a lower more chafing number. When you consciously…
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Thanks to our regular contributor Stephen O’Connor for bringing us another essay by Malcolm Sharps, who was born in England and has lived in Hungary many years. About this commentary on Thomas Wolfe’s iconic novel Of Time and the River, Steve tells us, “I’m glad that I got something of…
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