Author Archive
Saturday
Oct
11
2:00 pm
Lowell Celebrates Kerouac – Hassan Melehy
For most of its 200-year history, Lowell has been the home of immigrants. While growing up in the city’s Franco-American community, Jack Kerouac knew people from many groups: Irish, Italian, Greek, Eastern European, Asian, among others. Immigrants and their families...
Thursday
Sep
18
6:00 pm
Former Boston Police Commissioner – Ed Davis
Edward F. Davis has been in law enforcement for 35 years. He served as the 40th Police Commissioner of the City of Boston from December 2006 until October 2013. Commissioner Davis was Boston’s lead police official during the tragic Marathon...
Thursday
Aug
14
10:00 am
Latin Sounds – Mariana Iranzi
Mariana Iranzi is a professional bassist, composer, educator, and performer based in New York City. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, she took her first steps into the world of music by the influence of her Great Grandfather Julio De Caro,...
Wednesday
Aug
13
10:00 am
Puppet Show and Comedy – Good News Gus
Singer, emcee, puppeteer, and magician — Harry and his monster friends are always the life of the party. Harry and Good News Gus has received accolades from both party-goers and professional groups alike. With young and old, Harry's high-energy interactive...
Wednesday
Aug
6
10:00 am
Amazing Magic and Juggling – Robert Clark
Robert Clarke (Boston Magician Juggler) trained under "The Suspenders," a juggling group from his hometown in Cape Cod. In 1997, he started street performing seven days a week and understanding how to work all types of crowds - young and...
Thursday
May
15
6:00 pm
Nora Neale
Nora Neale is a beekeeper from Topsfield, Mass., a member of the Essex County Beekeeper's Association, and a familiar face from the bee building at the Topsfield Fair. Geared toward elementary and middle school students, the interactive presentation will include...
Wednesday
Mar
26
6:00 pm
Jonathan Shirland
In a lecture themed “Dynamics of Movement and Dwelling: Whistler’s Sense of Home,” Shirland explores various aspects of James McNeil Whistler’s life and art through various meanings of a “home” (residence, environment, country, household, birthplace, etc.). Shirland’s lecture will be...
Tuesday
Feb
25
6:00 pm
Yale Whiffenpoofs
Every year, 14 senior Yale students are selected to be in the Whiffenpoofs, the world’s oldest and best-known collegiate a cappella group. Founded in 1909, the “Whiffs” began as a senior quartet that met weekly at Mory’s Temple Bar. Today,...
Thursday
Jan
16
6:00 pm
Jeff Belanger
Jeff Belanger is one of the most visible and prolific researchers of folklore and legends today. A natural storyteller, he’s the award-winning, Emmy-nominated host, writer, and producer of the New England Legends series on PBS and Amazon Prime, and is...
Sunday
Nov
3
2:00 pm
Sothea Chiemruom
Sothea Chimruom is the Executive Director of the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA) on School Street in Lowell. His lecture will focus on the CMAA’s programming to commemorate the anniversary of the Cambodian genocide. Beginning in the early 1980s, thousands...
Saturday
Oct
26
2:00 pm
Stephanie Schorow
In July 1891, four intrepid women from Lowell, Massachusetts, set off for an adventure they would remember all their lives. Calling themselves “the Merrie Trippers,” they created a journal of their two-week trip to Great Brewster Island complete with entries,...
Wednesday
Oct
23
6:30 pm
Admiral Michael Gilday
A native of Lowell, Mass., Gilday served as the 32nd Chief of Naval Operations from August 22, 2019, through August 17, 2023. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Gilday held staff assignments with the Bureau of Naval Personnel; staff...
Saturday
Oct
12
2:00 pm
Charles J. Shuttleworth
Charles Shuttleworth is senior editor of Sal Paradise Press. He is the editor of Desolation Peak, published in 2022; he served as co-editor with Paul Maher, Jr. on Self-Portrait, which came out in July; and he is the editor of...
Thursday
Aug
15
10:00 am
Good News Gus
Singer, emcee, puppeteer, and magician — Harry and his monster friends are always the life of the party. Harry and Good News Gus has received accolades from both party-goers and professional groups alike. With young and old, Harry's high-energy interactive...
Wednesday
Aug
14
10:00 am
Ben Rudnick & Friends
Ben is a musician, singer-songwriter and composer who has performed and recorded family music with his band, Ben Rudnick and Friends, since 2000! Some of their hit songs include A Frog Named Sam, Sally Salamander, Chicken Soup Ballad and tons...
Thursday
Aug
8
10:00 am
Trend N Motion
Through hip hop dance, children learn about nature with fun animal facts and follow along to get their own bodies moving in dances that emulate animal movements in this energetic video program for the whole family.
Saturday
May
18
11:00 am
Bruce Rosenbaum of ModVic: “Steampunk Lecture and Demonstration”
Steampunk is more than an aesthetic; it’s a framework for creating, thinking, and living that draws from the past to envision an alternative future. In this presentation, join artist and Modvic cofounder Bruce Rosenbaum for a deep exploration of understanding...
Thursday
May
16
6:00 pm
Andrew Krivak: “Like the Appearance of Horses”
Andrew Krivak is the author of four novels: The Bear (2020), a fable about the last two people on Earth, and the novels of the Dardan Trilogy: The Sojourn (2011) a National Book Award Finalist and winner of the Dayton...
Sunday
Apr
7
2:00 pm
Charlie Gargiulo: “Legends of Little Canada”
On the cusp of being a teenager, Charlie Gargiulo lived through the destruction of his Little Canada community of Lowell in the 1960”s. His memoir tells that experience through his eyes as he lived it. A legendary community organizer, he...
Thursday
Apr
4
6:00 pm
John Kozik: “The History of the Ouija board”
John Kozik’s obsession with collecting and researching Ouija began when he inherited his grandmother’s board in the late 1990’s. He was surprised to discover that Ouija was simply one specific brand of Talking Board, and that they date much further...
Sunday
Dec
3
2:00 pm
Steven Collins & Poornima Kirby: “A Christmas Carol”
Join actors Stephen Collins and Poornima Kirby for a funny, heartfelt journey through Charles’ Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. This 1-hour adaptation shows Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation from a grumpy, selfish misanthrope to a generous, wise and kindly man, full of the...
Sunday
Nov
12
2:00 pm
Meg Muckenhoupt: “The Truth about Baked Beans: how New England was created”
What is included in "New England's Top Ten Foods" lists, and who made the list? Join Meg Muckenhoupt, author of “The Truth about Baked Beans” for a talk about the history of New England's food, immigration, tourism, and how ideas about identity...
Sunday
Nov
5
1:00 pm
David Abel: “Entangled”
“ENTANGLED” is an award winning, feature-length film about how climate change has accelerated a collision between one of the world’s most endangered species, North America’s most valuable fishery, and a federal agency mandated to protect both. The film, by the...
Thursday
Nov
2
6:00 pm
Tom Toohey: “Saving the Stories”
Tom Toohey is a modern day Irish storyteller who has traveled to Ireland 20 times and collected hundreds of stories. Every week more facts become available on the internet about our ancestors. These facts are like the skeletons of our...
Sunday
Oct
22
2:00 pm
Fran Coughlin: “On The Corner of Liberty and South Loring”
Discover the heartwarming tale of the Coughlin family as they navigate three decades of life in a former mill city on the brink of rebirth. Fran will take you on a journey through his family’s experiences, sharing personal and poignant...
Saturday
Oct
7
2:00 pm
Paul Marion: “Jack Kerouac’s Evolving Position in Lowell 1950-2023”
In the Keynote Address for the “Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!” Literary Festival, Paul Marion will discuss the evolving public perception of 20th-century author Jack Kerouac in his hometown, examining the dynamic relationship between an innovative, news-making writer and the city that...
Thursday
Oct
5
6:00 pm
Tom Burke: “Evil must not have the Last Word: The Life of Mary Wygodski”
The life of Mary Wygodski is a first person account of a woman who lost her entire immediate family in the Holocaust. She survived three concentration camps, made her way to Israel where she took part in the War of...
Thursday
Sep
28
6:00 pm
Catherine Marenghi: “Our Good Name”
Our Good Name is the story of Stefano and his young bride Celestina, both Italian immigrants who leave behind the back-breaking field labor in their beloved Northern Italy to find their place in a strange new country. Inspired by true...
Saturday
Sep
23
1:00 pm
Susan Gaylord “Art Meets Nature: The Spirit Books”
Artist Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord made her first Spirit Book in 1992 and coined the name for the series which now numbers 101. The Spirit Books merge her response to the mystery and miracle of nature with the long-standing tradition of...
Thursday
Sep
14
6:00 pm
Erika Nichols-Frazer: “Destigmatizing Mental Health”
In her memoir, Feed Me: A Story of Food, Love and Mental Illness, author Erika Nichols-Frazer writes about learning to cope with bipolar disorder, an eating disorder, and alcohol addiction in her family through the healing power of food and community. She...