the election of a charismatic African-American to statewide office continues to raise eyebrows in many places, most especially here in Massachusetts. Deval Patrick’s march to the Corner Office drew national attention last year, and rightly so, as he won the governorship of a state where just 30 years ago, state troopers in riot gear were […]
Francis J. Connolly
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Can Boston survive without the Curse of the Bambino
Can Boston survive without feeling star-crossed? It’s time to find a new curse. The Bambino certainly held up his end of the deal. As curses go, the Babe’s was a thing of beauty: 86 years of tooth-gnashing, self-flagellating frustration, punctuated by occasional moments of pure cosmic whimsy. Think about it – Bucky Dent? Talk about […]
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A new book of essays celebrates Boston without glossing over the citys weaknesses
The Good City: Writers Explore 21st-Century Boston Edited by Emily Hiestand and Ande Zellman Boston, Beacon Press, 175 pages. July’s Democratic National Convention did not, as it turned out, produce most of the consequences predicted in the seemingly endless pre-convention hype. Neither the calamitous prophecies of the Boston Herald—which portrayed the coming DNC as a […]
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Tip ONeil man in full
Tip O’Neill and the Democratic CenturyBy John A. FarrellLittle, Brown and Co., New York, 776 pages Back in the Watergate summer of 1974, the syndicated columnist Mary McGrory was waxing eloquent about the men toiling to bring down Richard M. Nixon. “The night-school students are saving the country,” McGrory bubbled. “I don’t think [federal Judge […]
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Southie Without Tears
All Souls: A Family Story from SouthieBy Michael Patrick MacDonaldBeacon Press, Boston, 1999, 266 pages. Myths, even as they are unravelling, can be hazardous to your health. Certainly, the varied myths of South Boston–most especially, the Myth of Whitey–have been unravelling for years now, and the damage has been fearsome. Michael Patrick MacDonald has lived […]