Leo with Louis at L’Etoile

Leo with Louis at L’Etoile (PIP#3) Louise Peloquin October always conjures up visions of Jack Kerouac. And so, it seems fitting to take a peek into the past at the link between Jack’s father and Louis Biron. It was at L’Impartial, the French newspaper Biron founded in 1898, that Leo…

Read More »

Judging Us By Our Work

PIP # 2 – “Judging us by our work”  By Louise Peloquin The first Etoile peek into the past, posted on September 8th, jumped right into business nitty-gritty such as offering services, obtaining orders and paying bills. The New England Investment Company acquired L’Etoile in 1909 and went bankrupt after…

Read More »

Richard Howe on Substack: October 1, 2023

The following was distributed earlier today as my weekly Substack newsletter on Lowell politics. If you’d like to receive this weekly update by email in the future, sign up here.  **** In the opening pages of his 2012 book, The Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a…

Read More »

“Legends of Little Canada” book review

Legends of Little Canada: Aunt Rose, Harvey’s Bookland, and My Captain Jack Book by Charlie Gargiulo Review by Richard Howe I first encountered Charlie Gargiulo nearly 40 years ago, not in person but by reputation. Back then, Joe Tully was the Lowell City Manager and the City Council allowed him…

Read More »

Preliminary Election Week: 1973

This post was scheduled for last week during “Preliminary Election Week” but somehow failed to appear so I’m posting it today.  Here are the results of the 1973 Lowell City Council preliminary election: 1. Armand LeMay 8878 2. Robert Kennedy 8623 3. Leo Farley 8088 4. Ellen Sampson 7648 5.…

Read More »

Richard Howe Substack – Sept 24, 2023

The Lowell City Council continues its every-other-week summer meeting schedule, however, the agenda for its regularly scheduled September 12 meeting was so long that the Council, in a rare move, opted to hold a special meeting the following Tuesday (September 19) to complete the items on the agenda. My own…

Read More »