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Isolation Redux or Three Weeks Among Masked Avengers By Julie Mofford The coronavirus lock-down evokes memories of my forced social distancing at age eight. “She just has a summer cold,” said Mother cheerfully, as I joined the family at lunch after a week in bed. “Since when did you become…
Read More »Spurred by our Texas friend Frank Wagner’s essay about meeting Patti Smith in the late 1970s, an encounter with a cranky, thirty-something, tightly wound artist, we’re reprising this review-essay about Patti Smith’s most recent book, Year of the Monkey, just out in paperback. Note that former Lowell Sun journalists Nancye…
Read More »Frank Wagner of south Texas is an occasional contributor to this publication. Today he writes about meeting the singer-songwriter Patti Smith after a 1978 performance in south Texas. Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1978 but she’s also a poet and author. In 2010,…
Read More »In the following chapter from his urban theory book Exploring the Production of Urban Space, author Michael Leary-Owhin visited Lowell and wrote about the creation of Boarding House Park. Lowell: Producing Urban Public Space and City Transformation By Micheal Leary-Owhin … countries in the throes of rapid development blithely destroy…
Read More »The pandemic has brought many surprises. Most have been dangerous or disturbing but some, like the performance of the local real estate market, have been positive. Driven by historically low interest rates, the mortgage business is booming. During September, the number of mortgages recorded in Lowell was up 29 percent…
Read More »More timely cartoons from our friend Nicholas Whitmore.
Read More »Throughout October, Trasna will focus on the Celtic festival of Samhain, known better to Americans as Halloween. The holiday originated in Ireland and celebrates that time of year when the veil between this world and the next grows thin, and life seems more mysterious. This week we feature award-winning poet, photographer, and filmmaker, Mark…
Read More »From the Archives: Dec 6, 2018 To wrap up our German Week, here’s a story I posted about a day I spent providing security for then Vice President George H. W. Bush during his 1983 visit to West Germany. George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States,…
Read More »Oktoberfest is a 200-year old traditional festival held for 17 days from mid-September until early October in Munich, Germany. Its main feature is beer – about 7 million liters of it each year – along with traditional food (wurst, chicken, pretzels, salted radishes), folk costumes, music and amusement park rides.…
Read More »The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Donald Trump just received the best government-financed medical care in the country. He left the hospital while still infectious, still needs monitoring for abruptly deteriorating and possible side-effects of the medication he’s on, has given no indication…
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