Got back from Lowell Celebrates Kerouac weekend a couple hours ago. We met some interesting people - Charlie and Chris from Michigan, Steve from Ohio, and Cori from Boston at Kerouac's grave. Rick ended up selling 3 books there! Funny. We drank a couple shots of 16 year old Bushmill's and Rick read an excerpt from Dr. Sax and I read Ferlinghetti's poem entitled just 25 or The Smiling Mortician. It seemed appropriate at Jack's grave.
We had a quick dinner at the hotel and joined the tour at the Lowell Public Library led by Roger and Bill. The Library is truly a magnificent building, built in the late 1800s for a mere $175,000. Fabulous woodwork throughout majestic room after room. No wonder Jack was inspired by the place and often skipped school to hang out there. I remember my own little library in Readfield, Maine growing up. Two rooms in what is still their public library, just at the end of the driveway to our house. Not majestic but it was pretty impressive to me from the ages of 5 to 10ish, when we moved out of town. It felt like Christmas every week being able to walk down there with my brothers and sister and come home with an armful of entertainment. Many of those books I probably took out 20 or more times.
After the tour a bunch of us went over to the Smokehouse for some Margarittas then a taxi ride back to the hotel.
Saturday we started at what was supposed to be Kerouac Park but ended up moving to the Lowell Cultural Center because of rain. An enactment of an excerpt from Dr. Sax about the so-called Watermelon Bridge, with David Amran accompanying them on the keyboard and drum. David gave Rick one of his books in exchange for one of Rick's books. Cool.
Later we listened to a lecture by a professor from Notre Dame College and then a tour of some of the places in Kerouac's novels led by Roger. It rained pretty hard during the tour but we warmed up when we got to the poetry reading at Brewed Awakenings, where Rick and I both read an original poem. A quck dinner and then off to a nearby church for music by David Amran, his band, and members of the Lowell Symphony Orchestra.
Malley called while we were in Lowell to say that she's doing a show and including some student pieces and asked if I'd contribute some. I think I'll use some of my tile pieces - the tray and a wall hanging. Maybe one of my funky bowls, too.
The Maine Audobon Society loon contest has all the photos up on line. There are about 250 entries; some really nice photos! Mine hold up pretty well though.
1 comment:
Hope your pic wins the loon contest, baby!
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