Put Your Dreams Away (2007)

“I have to go back into the past once more. Just once more. And then I’ll be free of the past.” -Jimmy Stewart, in the movie Vertigo. I served a four-year hitch in the Air Force from 1962 to 1966. I was a medical corpsman. In my last two years, I was fortunate to be assigned … [Read more...]

Chicken Every Sunday (2006)

Many years ago, I saw a small article in my local newspaper. It was just one of those "filler" articles, but it struck me. I asked myself: "How can this possibly be true, and will any readers question its validity? Or will everyone just take its absurd claim for granted? So I … [Read more...]

Fire At Turners Falls Paper Mill (2007)

May 28, 2007: I drove into Turners Falls about 8:30 a.m. Some folks were already on Avenue A getting things ready for the Memorial Day parade. There were plenty of cars parked in the Shady Glen lot, and the usual coffee crowd at the lunch counter. They had lots to talk about. … [Read more...]

Don’t Bring The Kids (2006)

Many newspapers carry movie reviews that are published especially for parents who want to know if films rated from "G" to "PG-13" have content that might be offensive or disturbing to children. Some of the reviewers, perhaps bored by the task, fashion rather colorful and graphic … [Read more...]

A Nostalgic Trip On New York’s Route 20 (2007)

My wife, Carole, and I took a short October trip to Oneonta, New York, making the three-hour drive from our home in western Massachusetts. Oneonta was where it all started for us almost 40 years ago. We had a blind date, arranged by the first well-known attempt at computer … [Read more...]

The Tulips Are Here (2006)

I met my friend Marylou in Claremont, New Hampshire about three years ago. It was my first visit to the city, and I was just walking around and exploring. Marylou was planting tulips in her front yard, and we got into a lovely conversation. You can read about it in my story … [Read more...]

Porch Stories Captures Beauty And Spirit Of North Adams (September 2006)

The first time I huffed and puffed up North Holden Street in North Adams, I looked at the retaining wall and the three nearly identical houses behind it and wondered if it would all tumble down at any moment, burying me in a mountain of rubble. Finally out of harm's way … [Read more...]

After Ten Years: One Of The Regulars (September 2006)

"That’s what I like about this town. I go out to feed the meter, and three people stop me to say hello." -Gillian Jones, at the Bean in North Adams (1998) A long time ago, I was sitting with my wife in a New Hampshire diner. We were strangers in town, but it was obvious that … [Read more...]

Former Greenbelt Residents Recall ‘Happy Time.’ (2005)

Greenbelt was one of three planned communities created by the federal government during the Franklin Roosevelt administration. Built on farmland in Maryland’s Prince George’s County, near Washington, it began housing applicants, mostly young families and government workers, in … [Read more...]

Love That Country Pie (2004)

Route 116 between South Deerfield and Ashfield, Massachusetts winds like a babbling brook through 13 miles of rural beauty that is breathtaking without being spectacular. I drove it one recent early morning on the way to North Adams, the sun rising behind me, angling its rays on … [Read more...]

Lunch In Springfield, Part Two (2004)

On a dreadfully cold New England day, I sit at a table that looks out on Main Street, browse the Boston Globe, and scarf down a scrumptious breakfast of French toast and maple syrup. Journalists need a good place to hang out, and the Morning Star Café in downtown Springfield, … [Read more...]

Lunch In Springfield, Part One (2004)

When Springfield, Vermont native Lena Kazak graduated from high school in 1938, landing a job wasn’t easy. The Great Depression had its hold on this small factory town along the raging Black River, about 35 miles north of Brattleboro. The town’s machine tool industry was … [Read more...]

Blue Benn Beckons From Green Mountains (2004)

"Man in an apron cooking potatoes, strips of bacon on the side/Smiling waitress comes to help me with her tired, lovin’ eyes/Shiny stainless, neon sign, remind of a day gone by/With steaming coffee in a porcelain cup, rice pudding piled high." The words of singer Bill Lauf are … [Read more...]

Nat 1, Dad 0 (2004)

As a D.C.-area native, I was doomed to be a Washington Senators fan from the time my grandfather took me to the first of many games at Griffith Stadium soon after World War II. Summer days were filled with the voices of Arch McDonald and Bob Woolf. The Washington Senators: … [Read more...]

Rewinding My Life (2004)

I was born in Washington, DC, and lived in the rural suburbs of Prince George’s County, including Greenbelt, before moving 60 miles south to even more rural Solomons Island in 1951. I came from a musical family. My paternal grandparents were string players who had traveled … [Read more...]

Returning To Greenbelt (2004)

I lived in Greenbelt, Maryland, from August 1948 to January 1951. My father and mother, Joe and Betty, married in 1939, but they saw little of each other for a while, thanks to the Army and World War II. When Dad came home in 1945, they moved to an apartment at Calvert Homes, … [Read more...]

Rethinking The Tourist Economy (March 2004)

A few years ago, I was headed toward the entrance to Mass MoCA when I passed two well-dressed women wearing the familiar museum stickers. They were apparently on their way out after visiting the galleries. One woman pointed to several of the buildings and exclaimed to her … [Read more...]

Mom’s Hometown (2004)

My wife and I recently took up temporary residence for a month in my mother’s house, after she was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She spent her final weeks at a wonderful Hospice facility nearby. It was a sad and stressful time, but the friendly people and the comfortable … [Read more...]

Spruce Hill Lunch: A Farewell (2003)

"The past is never dead. It's not even past." -William Faulkner I grew up in Dowell, Maryland, a town so small that you didn’t need a phone very often, because everyone you knew (or needed to know) was within hollering distance. Dowell was just a few houses on one side of a … [Read more...]

Reaching A Milestone (2003)

Last Christmas, with the help of my son-in-law, I learned how to use my computer to make CDs from my old record albums and cassette tapes. Since I was a teenager, I have been an ardent music fan with a wide variety of tastes (jazz, classical, rock, folk, Latin, film scores, … [Read more...]