If Detroit’s Symphony Never Played Again Would Detroiters Really Care?
Should the average citizen of Detroit care that its symphony may be on its last legs? Terry Teachout writes in the Weekend WSJ about the struggling Detroit Philharmonic Orchestra, which now faces such a steep deficit that management is considering cutting the musican’s pay by 30% just to stay in […]
The King of Egypt Looks Wistfully at his Homeland
When Amhed Fouad II was a two-year-old, he was crowned King of Egypt. But today at 58, the man who would be king lives in isolation in the Swiss countryside. Only a few of his Egyptian friends still call him His Majesty, others call him simply Fouad. A story in […]
From Sierra Leone, Marina Goldman Brings Back Sad and Sweet
Marina Goldman is a nurse practitioner from Montague who spends a lot of time in the faraway country of Sierra Leone. Besides my travel webmaster friend Andy the Hobo Traveler, who phoned in from Ivory Coast last week, nobody I know goes to West Africa and nobody but Marina is […]
Turners Falls Soap Box Derby This Sunday!
On Sunday a Montague man named Mik’s dream comes true. I wrote about his dream back in December; he wanted to race human-powered cars down a steep hill in Turners Falls. He recalled doing this as a child, scooting down a hill in Saltaire, NY in a soapbox racer. I’ve […]
The Power and Class of New England…Goodbye George Parks!
“And now, the power and class of New England, the Minuteman Marching Band!” George Parks loved to say that every time his band would get ready to play. Since the 1970s, Parks directed the beloved UMass Band. Sadly, this week, he had a heart attack at age 57, and died […]
It’s Those Little Details That I’ll Live with for a Lifetime
Today I made a bunch of decisions that I’ll be living with for years to come. I decided on a few paint colors, (easy) and then on a carpet, a honey-colored shag, ( easy). But then it got harder when it came time to decide about flooring. I’ve got four […]
Walken’s Clever “$5 A Day” is a Lesson in Trickery
The other night we watched a movie with one of my favorite character actors…who has the distinction of appearing more than any other actor on Saturday Night Live. Christopher Walken. The movie is called $5 a day, and is the story of a father and son road trip where nobody […]
Bravo Peter Heller, Bravo for Kook!
I like it when things turn out the way you hoped they would; even in a long projecting arc from start to finish. Today I read a book review in the Recorder that was syndicated by the Dallas Morning News about Peter Heller’s new book, called Kook. Peter and I […]