SLIDE SHOW: New England stone walls by William Hubbell, from Good Fences: A Pictorial History of New England’s Stone Walls (Down East Books, 2006; $29.95) When geologist Robert Thorson came to work at the University of Connecticut in 1984, he was smitten by stone walls. In all his travels–from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest to […]
massachusetts
John Updike’s ‘The Wallet’
NOTE: In memory of Pulitzer-Prize winning author and New Englander John Updike, we share this short story from Yankee Magazine September 1985. Fulham, with a history of hypertension, had taken early retirement from his brokerage firm and managed his own investments and those of a favored few old clients in an upstairs room of his […]
I once read in a guidebook: “Of all the natural regions of the United States, New England is the smallest, the most compact and convenient to get around in, the most homogeneous… ” For four decades now, I’ve lived and worked in New England, the land from which America evolved. There are few nooks and […]
David Cicilline: Mayor of Providence
From Yankee Magazine March 2005 THWAP! David Cicilline, the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, drives a gloved fist into his sparring partner’s gut. SMACK! WAP! BAP! A pair of red Everlasts flashes in the dim early-morning light. Twice a week, Cicilline begins his day in a boxing ring, channeling the pent-up frustration of governing this […]
Writers of the Future
For eight years I’ve taught magazine writing at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. The class is always small, seminar-like, about 12 or 13 students. Over 15 weeks we get to know each other well. They write unflinchingly about their lives in personal essays, they explore the lives of strangers in their profiles, and they […]
Best Chocolate Shops in New England
Choosing the best chocolate shops in New England was a tough job – but someone had to do it. We know it’s more than a bit hackneyed to say, but choosing the best chocolate shops in New England was a tough job and someone did have to do it: An embarrassment of riches indeed. From the […]
If you’re female, live within driving distance of central Massachusetts, are fed up with winter, love to cook, scrapbook, quilt, knit, discuss books–whatever–and have several girlfriends who feel the same way, read on. We’ve found the place for you to spend a fun winter getaway weekend. It’s a 10-room, rose-colored Federal-style home on four acres, […]
White Mountain Guide, Rescuer, Photographer
If you’re lost or injured in a winter storm in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, you want Joe Lentini searching for you. He knows what he’s doing when it’s 40 below and blowing so hard you can’t speak … when lowering a litter down a rock face at night can be catastrophic if there’s a mishap. […]
Erica Wheeler | Music Review
How often do we hear about another old farm being demolished and redeveloped as a subdivision or strip mall? And how often do we write off the fight to stop it with a sigh and a shrug? While studying animal biology at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Erica Wheeler discovered that being right didn’t necessarily […]
Pairings for January/February
To respond, click on the link below. You will come to our Feedback page. Step 1. Fill in “Pairings” as the subject. Step 2. Fill in your name and e-mail address. Step 3. Type your answer in the box. Please include your city and state with your answer. Good luck! Click here to submit your […]
Witnesses reported that at first, it sounded like snow sliding off a roof, a familiar sound on a mild January day in Lawrence, Massachusetts. But on this day–January 10, 1860–the sound was the precursor to one of the worst industrial accidents in the nation’s history. Around a hundred people, many of them women and children, […]
Antiques | Mochaware Pottery
Mochaware pottery pieces are centuries old, yet they look as modern as today’s contemporary art pottery. Learn more about this rare American collectible.