Bang On A Can: A New North Adams Tradition (June 2012)

It's almost nine-thirty. It has been storming on and off all evening, rip-roaring blasts of thunder shaking the thick walls of Mass MoCA's Hunter Center, while torrents of rain pelt the roof. A grainy black and white film is on the screen, showing disturbing views of apocalyptic … [Read more...]

Capturing Memories Of Park Street School (2008)

I grew up in the tiny southern Maryland village of Solomons, and attended Solomons Elementary School. After college, I moved to New England. Twenty years ago, I returned to my home town for a high school reunion and discovered that my little elementary school had been converted … [Read more...]

Henry Brooks: First Artist At The Eclipse Mill (December 2011)

"As far as my Uncle Henry nailing his name in the floor, that sort of sounds like something he would do. He was a man with a great imagination. He always had a mischievous glint in his eyes. He always looked like Peck's Bad Boy. He would be smiling at you like he had a secret he … [Read more...]

Call Me Mr. Blue (2009)

"Our guardian star lost all his glow/The day that I lost you/He lost all his glitter the day you said no/And his silver turned to blue/Like him, I am doubtful that your love is true/But if you decide to call on me/Ask for Mr. Blue." November 1959, College Park, Maryland: The … [Read more...]

Stranded On The Porch In The Great Flood of ’27 (March 2011)

On Nov 2, 1927, the afternoon sky grew ominously dark as residents of River Street received the daily North Adams Transcript. Thirty-six hours later, over six inches of soaking rain had fallen, carrying a few tenement houses into the raging water. The Marshall Street bridge broke … [Read more...]

From David Byrne To Wilco: 14 Years In North Adams (September 2010)

"On the drive up here, I was imagining what this place could be. I thought it would be a place that people would travel some distances to see. I'm just dreaming here. It's some years off, but it's nice to be in on the ground floor." -Artist and singer David Byrne, at the opening … [Read more...]

Various Scenes

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The Man With The Hairy Chest (October 2007)

My projects always seem to start with a story from North Adams native Carl Robare, one of my best friends since I started visiting the city 11 years ago. It’s the one about the guy with the hairy chest. "Back in the early 1950s,” Carl says, “I used to work at the Strong-Hewat … [Read more...]

To All Personnel (2008)

From 1964 to 1966, I served my final two years in the Air Force at the Air Force Academy Hospital in Colorado Springs. I was a medical corpsman, working mostly on the maternity ward, where wives of Air Force men had their babies. It was a cool assignment, and I enjoyed living … [Read more...]

Remembering Two Great Ladies (2008)

The first time I saw this photograph of Lynn Massman and her baby, I thought of my mother, who passed away four years ago this month (1-22-04). There are 75 photos of the Massman family on the Library of Congress website. They were taken for the Office of War Information. The … [Read more...]

Odd Photos

A few of these photos deserve an explanation. I was walking by a wall in Torrington, Connecticut, and stopped to zip up my coat. That's when I noticed the weird stuff on the wall. So I went home and brought back my camera. My daughter was in the process of moving, and this is all … [Read more...]

Springfield (Vermont) Factory To Be Partially Demolished (2008)

The Fellows Gear Shaper Company was formed in Springfield, Vermont, in 1896. Its founder, Edwin R. Fellows, was born in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1865. From 1889 to 1896, he worked for the Jones & Lamson Machine Company in Springfield, helping to design turret machinery. … [Read more...]

Saturday Night At The Movies In Solomons Island (2007)

I lived the last half of my childhood in Solomons Island and Dowell, Maryland. I was known then as Howard Manning. My father, also Joe, was a marine biologist at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, and my mother, Betty, worked there as a librarian. I lived in the Washington, … [Read more...]

Some Things Never Change (2007)

Thirty-five years ago this winter, my wife and I had three meals in a row at the County Girl Diner in Chester, Vermont. We had been living in Connecticut for two years and wanted to see what the Green Mountains looked like, so we took a week off and just drove around. We had no … [Read more...]

Dinner With Dave (2007)

Two weeks ago, I had a short reunion with two of my best friends with whom I was stationed in the Air Force in Colorado Springs in the 1960s. We reminisced about our drive across the Rockies to see a concert by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in May of 1965. He appeared at Western State … [Read more...]

Here’s Looking At You, Kid, Whoever You Are, Detroit, Michigan

I saw this gorgeous and intriguing picture on Shorpy.com, a popular photo blog that posts old pictures and invites comments from readers. The picture was submitted by Scott Allen, the grandson of the photographer, Howard McGraw, who worked a long time for the Detroit News. I … [Read more...]

A Sandwich And A Slice Of History (2007)

A narrow, four-story building stands at 26-28 Washington Street, in Keene, New Hampshire. It looks familiar, like thousands of mixed commercial-residential blocks that were built in the late nineteenth century in cities and towns all across the Northeast. But it captured my … [Read more...]

Claremont, New Hampshire: Starting To Look Like Success (2007)

Every town needs some things to remember, some things to look forward to, and some things that look like success. Our best friends from Connecticut were visiting one day, and my wife and I took them for a drive. We wound up in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, a 25-minute trip … [Read more...]

Interview With Marta Renzi, Creator Of Porch Stories (2006)

If you haven't read my article about "Porch Stories," please read it first by clicking this link INTERVIEW WITH MARTA RENZI (September 2006) The following is the edited text of a conversation I had with Ms. Marta Renzi, the creator and director of Porch Stories, and … [Read more...]

Together Forever, In Life And Death (2007)

Carl Robare called me. For almost 10 years, we've been meeting for coffee early in the morning about once a week in North Adams, Massachusetts. He was born in the city, but lives just over the line in Stamford, Vermont. Carl says, "I was at the Houghton Cemetery in Stamford this … [Read more...]