ARTICLES, STORIES & POEMS - Page 6

Gig At The Amtrak

I wrote this poem after reading the following in the September 1995 edition of Jazz Times. Used by permission. "I had a conversation with Hank Mobley before he died. Hank was a very prolific writer, but most of his songs were in different publishing companies, they’re all over … [Read more...]

Red Sox Poems

Leaving Pedro In was written immediately after the Boston Red Sox lost the American League Championship Series to the New York Yankees in 2003. Goodbye Curse was written the morning after the Red Sox won the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals in … [Read more...]

Hail The Reluctant Hero (2003)

Larry Doby passed away in June at the age of 79. Casual baseball fans may not recognize the name. I met him at Williams College last year when he participated in a panel discussion about baseball. It was a thrill for me, because he was one of my heroes. Doby played most of his … [Read more...]

Poems Inspired By North Adams, Massachusetts: Page One

Seven Steeples was written after a long walking tour of North Adams. Empty House was inspired by a vacant blue tenement house I saw in a rundown neighborhood. Elderly Housing was written while I was sitting across the street from a former Catholic School. Sprague's referred to in … [Read more...]

Rosanne Cash Brings New Voice, New Songs To Latest CD (2003)

Despite eleven #1 singles in the 1980s, and three critically acclaimed albums in the 1990s, Rosanne Cash didn’t think of herself as a singer. From the age of nine, she just wanted to be a writer. Afraid of the downside of fame that she saw her father Johnny Cash experience, she … [Read more...]

Poems Inspired By North Adams, Massachusetts, Page Two

Kitchen Helper was inspired by a conversation I had with a woman in North Adams who was waiting for a bus. Things That Aren't There was inspired by a number of conversations I had with people who told me personal stories about the effects of a huge urban renewal project in North … [Read more...]

Remembering Radio (2004)

Legendary radio personality Eddie Gallaher died recently at the age of 89. For nearly 60 years, he practically owned the morning airwaves in the Washington, DC area. My mother told me about Gallaher’s death during my visit with her in Easton, Maryland over the Christmas … [Read more...]

One More Ride Up St. Leonard Hill (2009)

It used to snow when we were kids, all day, waist deep, pure white. It would start with a few flakes here and there and grow into a windy swirl. When I saw you for the first time in forty years, I remembered the snow. You waiting at the top of the hill, my eyes … [Read more...]

Stories From Hope Cemetery (2010)

"And she became the sad Carlotta. Alone in the great house...walking the streets alone...her clothes becoming old and patched and dirty. The mad Carlotta...stopping people in the streets to ask: ‘Where is my child? Have you seen my child?' Poor thing. And then she died...by her … [Read more...]

Stories From The Dowlin Block (December 2013)

CHAPTER ONE The year this photograph was taken (1911), Jason Braman and his wife Theresa moved into apartment 616, on the top floor of the Dowlin Block, a six-story building which has now been a fixture in North Adams since 1902. About 37 at the time, Jason was working as … [Read more...]

The Internet Archive Time Machine (2007)

As I have noted in several articles on this site, I grew up in the Washington, DC area. I was born in 1941, just several weeks before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. My father was in the US Army, and in 1944, he was sent to the Pacific Islands. My mother and I moved in with my … [Read more...]

Dignifying The Lives Of Ordinary People (2007)

Since last Christmas, my wife and I have been totally absorbed in the series of films often referred to as the "Up" movies. The seven films, all but the first produced and directed by Michael Apted, document the lives of 14 British boys and girls, all born in 1956, who are from a … [Read more...]

Young @ Heart (2007)

My wife and I moved to the small city of Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1999. It's on the Connecticut River, about 100 miles west of Boston. We actually live in Florence, a distinct village with its own post office. But when we get our property tax bill, it's from … [Read more...]

Gershwin And Berlin Never Sounded Better (2007)

"They all laughed at Christopher Columbus/When he said the world was round/They all laughed when Edison recorded sound." -from "They All Laughed," by George and Ira Gershwin I am playing, for the umpteenth time, a CD that I bought several weeks ago. The singer opens track … [Read more...]

Hot Roast Beef With Mashed (2010)

Nostalgia can take you back, but it can't take you all the way back. Not in Salem, Illinois. They tore down the Starlite Restaurant. It was located in Salem, Illinois. I have never lived anywhere near Illinois, and I dined at the Starlite only twice in my life, but this … [Read more...]

Much More Than Meets The Ear (2007)

Knowing my penchant for hyperbole, my best friend is fond of saying, "I've told you a million times not to exaggerate." Well, here I go again. Andre Previn may be the greatest all-around musician since the advent of recorded music. Born in Berlin in 1929, he escaped Nazi … [Read more...]

Crossing A New Bridge (2012)

At the lower end of Rita Street, in Springfield, Vermont, there is a short, steep path through the woods that leads down to the intersection of River Street and North Main Street. Just across River Street is a footbridge that crosses the Black River and connects to the front … [Read more...]

Mancini’s Peter Gunn Score Launched Dozens Of Careers (2007)

On a late summer evening in 1958, at Radio Recorders, a legendary recording studio in Santa Monica, California, a mild-mannered 34-year old conductor, pipe in mouth, gives the downbeat, and a guitarist, also 34 years old, starts grinding out a heavy, rolling ostinato. Two bars … [Read more...]

No Empty Chairs At Milton Hall (2007)

Open Mic In Milltown, a poem by Joe Manning Main Street, Friday evening. I count ninety-six windows in the tall gray building; all are dark except one which reflects the half moon. Two boys in college windbreakers hang out by the clothing store. Several people … [Read more...]

NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS

North Adams is a small city in the Berkshires. This strangely beautiful community is surrounded by hills dotted with rows of large tenements and Victorian houses, and the steep roads that wind up to them. Its incredible skyline of church steeples symbolizes the indomitable spirit … [Read more...]