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To help commemorate Lowell’s bicentennial, I’ve written a new book. Lowell: A Concise History tells the city’s story from the arrival of the first English explorers in the early 1600s up to the present day with a focus on immigration and industrialization. It’s a short volume for the casual reader…
Read More »The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Buckeye by Patrick Ryan is a beautifully written novel about a fictional town in Ohio (Bonhomie), not far from Toledo. If you’ve ever lived in a small town, it may feel like home to you. The span is immediate pre-World…
Read More »Work Life: Part 2 By Leo Racicot When it became clear I was going to be trapped in Las Vegas indefinitely, I figured I’d try to get a job. With some library experience under my belt, I hoped to find work with one of the city’s libraries: a main library…
Read More »Welcome to this week’s edition of Seen and Heard, in which I catalog the most interesting things I’ve seen, heard and read over the previous seven days. Because the Olympics and the Super Bowl both came this week, this edition is exclusively about TV: TV: Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony –…
Read More »Having a Ball – (PIP #96) By Louise Peloquin Have you recognized any names among the 100 + listed below distributing tickets for the Lowell Centennial Ball? L’Etoile – February 20, 1926 TICKETS FOR THE CENTENNIAL BALL __________ On the evening of March 1, admission to the Auditorium will require…
Read More »The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Flesh by Hungarian-British author David Szalay was recently announced as the winner of the 2025 Booker Award. Although the Booker board called it “a propulsive, hypnotic novel about a man who is unraveled by a series of events beyond his…
Read More »Before getting to the February 3, 2026, city council meeting, here are the results of the same day’s special primary election for the state senate seat left vacant when Edward Kennedy died last year. In the Special Democratic Primary, State Representative Vanna Howard defeated State Representative Rodney Elliott. Here are…
Read More »Time of the End of the Season Part Two: Bubblz—LA–Broken Arrow By Bob Hodge Bob Hodge grew up in Lowell and went on to graduate from Lowell High (1973) and University of Lowell (1990). He was (and still is) one the greatest runners to come out of this region. He’s also…
Read More »COPLEY SQUARE WINTER Terry Downes The wind blew low and mournful cold Across the heating grate The granite building shielding him He prayed from cruelest fate. Across the square the grand hotel Drew rev’lers by the score, Who passing barely noticed him Collapsed at Reaper’s door. His stomach ached for…
Read More »Work Life Part 1 By Leo Racicot My very first job was acquired via Community Teamwork. I was assigned to the School Department’s Title 1 offices which were located on the third floor of Pollard Memorial Library. I was hired as a cleaning boy/gofer. My job involved emptying trash buckets, vacuuming,…
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