The “Elections” page on this site remains a work in progress. (The link to the “Elections” page is at the very top right of this site). Recently, I’ve been adding state election results, year-by-year. Just yesterday, however, I loaded our “political biographies.” That section of the Elections page is divided by the letters of the alphabet. I’ve tried to make an entry for each person from Lowell who has run for office, listing the office, the year and the result. If the person is deceased, I try to include that and the year of death, if available. If a relative is also a local political figure, I mention that, too. Some of the people listed come from places other than Lowell; but they all have appeared on the ballot in Lowell at one time or another. In the coming days I plan to cross-reference these individual biographies with the various election results to fill any gaps. In the meantime, please scan through the biographies and use the comment feature (or send me an email) with any additions or corrections.
Doherty & Donoghue: 3 weeks to go
Saturday I wrote my assessment of the Chris Doherty v Eileen Donoghue campaign for the Democratic nomination in the First Middlesex Senate District. I noted that Doherty had sent me five flyers in less than two weeks while I had received none from Donoghue. That changed today. Eileen’s first flyer arrived. On one side, there’s some biographical information (“raised in a working class family” and “demonstrated commitment to community”). On the flip side, the piece promotes some of Donoghue’s accomplishments as mayor of Lowell (“A mayor with vision who delivered results”).
As election day draws closer, I’ll try to document what I’m seeing and hearing about these two campaigns.
‘Down in August’
I wrote this poem in the mid-’70s, when I was trying to find my way down the writing path. I published it in my first pamphlet (chapbook) of poems. It’s raining tonight, but we’ve had some fine summer days and sundowns this season. This is typical early-stage writing that comes from wanting to put everything into words. I was big into color adjectives at this point. And there’s a tendency in this stage to seize the obviously dramatic subjects, like nature and love, and try to describe them your own way—to find a shred of freshness in the images and words that you choose. The challenge is to see the drama and beauty in places and experiences that don’t have drama and beauty written all over them already. Sometimes the subject is plain or ugly. That’s okay, too. I learned that as I worked at it. Yes, I had a Ford Pinto, a plain brown one that my folks bought new for me in 1972 when I started commuting to college. I think it cost about $1,900 new. I drove it all over New England and kept it for a long time. Think what you want about the Pinto, at least it wasn’t a Chevette, both of which made TIME’s list of the 50 worst cars of all time. My Pinto died when the engine caught fire on its last trip to the mechanic. They were notorious for exploding gas tanks because of the weak protection in the rear.—PM
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Down in August
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Into the Pinto to ride down the sunset.
Driving west: smoky rose and mauve swirls in the pale blue.
The drama of color, rich as Persia.
Turning east, I see how the hills throw a verdant glow on the indigo.
Over my shoulder, cloud-teams of pink and blue horses have rolled to China.
Rounding a curve on a back country road,
I hear the solid singing of a billion crickets working the black grass.
Evening’s pure navy, with star charts up.
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—Paul Marion (c) 1976
Easier Said Than Done: The President Vacations on Martha’s Vineyard
The press coverage of President Obama’s family vacation on Martha’s Vineyard has been a mixed bag of facts, speculation, jibs and criticism. It’s no surprise that our old friend Glen Johnson offers one of the better takes in this piece for the Associated Press. Another former Lowell Sun writer Mark Arsenault also has a good piece in today’s Globe here.
Tewksbury’s Carey On Fox 25 News Zip Trips
Fox 25 News has a popular segment on its morning edition called Zip Trips. Zip Trips sends Fox 25 on-air personalities to various small towns to interview locals. Most recently popular commentator, VB visited Tewksbury where he interviewed former Town Treasurer and Town Historian Warren Carey.
In the video below VB and Carey play “Tewksbury Trivia”. This is a funny segment.
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