Fifty years ago this week Congressman F. Bradford Morse wrote the following letter to Lowell Mayor Richard P. Howe (my father) urging the city to begin planning for the 150th anniversary of the grant of the charter for Lowell which coincided with the 200th anniversary of the United States. This…
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Whether a reader concurs with Chaucer’s view of Aprille as inspirational or agrees with Eliot’s claim that it “is the cruelest month,” April is National Poetry Month in the USA and April 29, 2021, is National Poetry Day in Ireland. This week we introduce four poems by Kerry Hardie, from…
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The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. The pictures grip our hearts; the policies spin our heads. Curbing the current flow of migrants at our southern border requires massive coordination, especially with the Northern Triangle nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. This means thinking…
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Boarding School Blues By Louise Peloquin Chapter 9: Inside & Outside Study Hall Sixty desks were arranged in ten rows in the second floor study hall where any breach of the silence rule lead to the worst of sanctions – recreation deprivation. Every cough, sneeze or sigh echoed so clearly…
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The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons Barron’s own blog. The images from our southern border are disturbing. Watching hundreds of children and other would-be asylum seekers crowded into facilities meant to hold far fewer and only briefly is unsettling. It’s hard to shake the video clip of two men dropping a three-year-old and five-year-old over…
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Zombie Wonderland By David Daniel The radio DJ said, “Be caller number seven and win!” Bored, I dialed. “Congratulations,” someone said, not the deejay, a young woman, probably a station intern. “You’re caller seven.” “Cool,” I said. “I never win anything.” “Well, you sure did this time. Your name and…
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Greek Angel of History By George Chigas Two hundred years ago on March 25, 1821, Greek revolts broke out against the Ottoman Turks, who had occupied Greece for the previous four hundred years. Nine years later, after a hard-fought war, the Greeks regained their independence and now, each year, celebrate…
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A Walk Before the Storm By Prudence Brighton Juniper turned toward me and announced, “I haven’t had fresh air in a long time.” She is six and had just finished her remote learning for the day. We were out for a walk before a winter storm closed in. Walking with…
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The city of Lowell recently announced that the School Committee districts for the 2021 Lowell City Election have been set. Under the settlement of the Voting Rights Lawsuit brought against the city, the method of electing councilors and school committee members would change from the all members elected at large…
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Whether a reader concurs with Chaucer’s view of Aprille as inspirational or agrees with Eliot’s claim that it “is the cruelest month,” April is National Poetry Month in the USA and April 29, 2021, is National Poetry Day in Ireland. So, we begin the month by introducing four poems by…
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