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In 1969, Tim Trask returned from the Vietnam War and took a job as a guard at Massachusetts Correctional Institute (MCI) Concord. The following post, and part 2 which follows tomorrow, are taken from his memoir about that experience. The first chapter of that work, Odysseus Wandering, appeared on this…
Read More »The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons Barron’ own blog. When was the last time that mainstream media paid this much attention to black-on-black violence? For much of the past week, the Academy Awards historic incident has been the top story in broadcast and print media. The…
Read More »A Decade of Digging By John Wooding President of Mill City Grows This year Mill City Grows (MCG) celebrates 10 years of working with the Lowell community to promote food justice, locally grown organic food, and food education. Founded by Francey Slater and Lydia Sisson, MCG has grown from an…
Read More »Two days before the 100th birthday of Jack Kerouac on March 12th, I was asked by poet and musician Roger West in France if I could connect people in Lowell with his tribute to Kerouac planned for the hour of the author’s birth 100 years ago, 5 p.m. at home…
Read More »Boarding School Blues: Chapter 33 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 33: Cuisses de grenouille Back in October, when the sun kissed the grounds and clement breezes made kaleidoscopic funnels from multicolored leaves, biology teacher, Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus – Sister T for short – was allowed to hold classes…
Read More »The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” King Henry II is said to have muttered out loud, grumbling about Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry wasn’t ordering anyone to whack the troublesome Becket, but four…
Read More »Catherine and John Goodwin were iconic figures in the history community of Lowell. Catherine originated the very popular walking tours of Lowell Cemetery and led them for several decades. When age prevented her from continuing, she put out a call for a volunteer to take over the tours. I responded,…
Read More »About 20 years ago there was a movie called My Big Fat Greek Wedding which became an unexpected hit. My favorite part of the movie, besides its excellent soundtrack, was the bride’s father, Costas “Gus” Portokalos, played by Michael Constantine. Gus owned a restaurant, of course, and had a remarkable…
Read More »The Valley of the World By Jim Provencher You wouldn’t know it today if you were Jack Kerouac heading West the first time, entering El Paso along East Alameda, the blink-bright high-arched sky, the whole world opening up. Jack woke shouting to the morning, This is the Valley of the…
Read More »Valley Girl By David Daniel Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou. Knopf, 325 pp, $27.95. The Dropout Hulu television miniseries (episodes 1-5). Reviewed by David Daniel. ******** In a 2018 60 Minutes segment on health technology company Theranos, its young CEO and founder…
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