I have several boxes of old family photos, from both sides of the family. A few date to the late 19th century, but most of the photos that interest me now are from the first half of the 20th century.
In a sense, we all think that the world began around the time when we became [...]

It’s not often that the town of Wakefield figures prominently in a work of art or literature. But in Israel Horovitz’s The Widow’s Blind Date, the playwright gives his hometown a strong supporting role in this taut drama about the reunion of three Wakefield High School classmates who share an unsavory past.
My review of the [...]

Wakefield Park
Some locals are aware of their significance, but how many people drive through or past them every day without ever wondering why they are there?
In 2007, the stone pillars at Park Avenue and Chestnut Street, next to Temple Emmanuel, are among the least talked about historical landmarks in Wakefield, Massachusetts. But at one time [...]

At last night’s Sweetser Lecture
“The Boston Italian story,” author Stephen Puleo told his Wakefield audience last night, “is a true American success story. It’s a story that, if you are of Italian American heritage, you should be incredibly proud of.”

On September 11, 2007, it will be have been six years since the terrorist attacks.
Call me picky, but can we please not hear that date referred to in speech as “nine one one”?

Wakefield Tonight, 20 Years Later
I know what got me thinking about “Wakefield Tonight,” the weekly live cable TV comedy/variety show that I produced on Wakefield Public Access Television twenty years ago, from late 1985 through the end of 1986.

Sure, it’s been cool so far this summer. The average daily high temperature for July has been 77.6, almost 4 degrees below the normal average high of 81.4. The average mean temperature for the Boston area has been 3 degrees below normal.
You think that’s bad? Try the New England summer of 1816. That’s the year [...]