The end of an era at the Local

Opinion May 10, 2012 1 Comment

by Pete Mazzaccaro When I first started work at the Local in 1999, the office here was remarkably different than it is today. The editorial department was led by the triumvirate of Marie Jones, Ruth Russell and Katie Worrall, all three with remarkably deep roots in Chestnut Hill. The advertising department was also staffed by [...]
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Enemies of Reading: A personal journey through ‘redneck noir’ concludes

Opinion May 10, 2012 8 Comments

by Hugh Gilmore When you search for books online, either to purchase or simply to research an author, you inevitably run into the “lumping” problem. Yahoo, Google, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other Internet giants use sophisticated computer programs to say, in effect, “If you liked that book, you’ll probably also like this one too.” [...]
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A personal journey through “redneck noir,” Part 3: What we talk about when we talk about “noir”

Opinion April 27, 2012 0 Comments

by Hugh Gilmore  My four-day visit to my friend, the writer John O’Brien, and his wife, Becky, in Green Bank, W.Va., had been both fun and poignant. During the day, John and I would tour and talk, and toward late afternoon we’d sit and talk. John’s porch overlooked a lovely valley that spread far and [...]
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Hoping for the neighborhood school

Opinion April 20, 2012 2 Comments

by Pete Mazzaccaro Being a parent of an elementary school child is chock full of anxiety. When little Johnny or Jane begins Kindergarten, you’ll just then realize that they’ve begun the journey to selfhood. They make friends and play, create works of art and study. They do many things you can’t see and of which [...]
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A personal journey through “redneck noir,” Part 2: Avoiding “Thunder Road”

Opinion April 18, 2012 0 Comments

 by Hugh Gilmore My friend-turned-writer, John O’Brien, and his wife, Becky, were waiting for me with big smiles when I stepped off the Amtrak train at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. We drove up and down hills for about an hour, catching up on just about everything, heading back to their house – just like the [...]
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Dialed in? Or dialed out.

Opinion April 12, 2012 1 Comment

by Pete Mazzaccaro Fans and followers of technology can’t really go a week without someone rhapsodizing about how the spread of information online is enlightening everyone. Not since the printing press has any single technology made the world’s knowledge more available, thus leveling the playing fields. No matter where you are or what you do, [...]
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Forget Hunger Games. Watch Leisure Games

Opinion April 6, 2012 3 Comments

So, the latest teen bestseller-turned-movie is an opus called “The Hunger Games.” It’s about young folks in a future dystopian world who are forced to take part in yearly government-sponsored, fight-to-the-death competitions. The adults in the story, who are all either evil or stupid, watch the games on TV and can contribute food, weapons and [...]
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