Month: April 2008

Tom Lewis, 1940-2008

Tom LewisMy friend Tom Lewis died at home in Worcester yesterday, apparently in his sleep.

Sunday, May 4th, 3pm, there was a mass in memory of Tom at the Mustard Seed Catholic Worker, 93 Piedmont Street, Worcester. Photos and audio from the memorial.

Tom’s Wikipedia page.

Photos of Tom from Jonah House.

Photos of Tom and his art.

Obituaries: Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Baltimore Sun

Other remembrances: HBML, WCCA TV13, Alice’s Grand Adventures, Bruce Russell (Tom’s housemate at the time of his death)

Video: Democracy Now (Text version)

There’s a podcast with memories of Tom:
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Continue reading “Tom Lewis, 1940-2008”

508 #29: Dio has rocked for a long, long time

508 is a show about Worcester. Today’s panel includes Brendan Melican and Charles Washburn.

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Charles talks about an event he’s organizing Saturday: “Nuclear Power is Not Green. Stand Out at the Obama Caucus to nominate delegates to the Democratic Convention Forest Grove Jr. High School, Worcester, MA, 12:30 PM Saturday April 5th 2008.” Brendan offers some defense of nuclear power.

Today is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Charles remembers the first march he attended, which was a response to King’s death.

In Worcester, a police officer shot a dog.

The InCity Times printed a hilarious pull-quote this week.

Chief Dio and Councilor Germain made intemperate comments at recent City Council meetings.

The show finishes with a long interview with Jacob Berendes about the state of his visionary junk shoppe, HBML.

You, too can leave a voice message to be played on the show. Just call 508-471-3897.

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Items

LA Catholic Workers disrupt mayor’s visit to Skid Row
The LA Times has a video of the conference plus a story; the LA Catholic Worker has a story too.

Maybe Adam knows more about the background of this. The Times says the mayor was “Not easily intimidated,” but the protesters sure seem to be bothering him. How can the mayor of Los Angeles be such a lousy performer?

Pacifism and WWII
Nicholson Baker’s latest book is about WWII. NY Times:

It seems that he wishes to stir up an argument as much as settle one. In his afterword he says of the pacifists: “They failed, but they were right.” It is an aspect of the subtlety of his book that the reader is entitled to wonder if it’s true.

I have loved at least half the stuff he’s written, and am looking forward to reading this one. (I still have to read his article about Wikipedia first. “It’s like some vast aerial city with people walking briskly to and fro on catwalks, carrying picnic baskets full of nutritious snacks.”)

1958 Village Voice piece on the Catholic Worker
Caroling with Dorothy Day:

I was singing with Catholic Workers, tourist, sailors, Villagers, actors, and a drunken woman who also felt the magnetism. We sang ourselves to tears to a bunch of tough girls we would never see.

April Fools
South Bronx schoolkids pay tribute to Improv Everywhere: