You have to be an old timer to know who he is. He was a band leader from way back. There were so many, too many to list: Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw to mention a few. Sammy Kaye wasn’t even one of my favorites, but that saying “Swing and Sway” has become such a part of our lives. …

If Galileo, the “Father of Modern Science,” were alive today, he might tell us that a suffering America is at the mercy of a serious psychological disorder as well as a deadly disease.

If the past few months have taught us anything, it’s that we live between outrage and joy. We are seeing both all around us, and how we practice each makes all the difference. Our species is given to both.

The term “cooped up” during the threat of the coronavirus has a special meaning in the Deane household, for back in the early 1950s, our home was constructed by dragging a chicken coop out of a line of sheds to add to the side of an old tractor barn as part of a four-room house layout.

When I first heard that Rep. Joe Kennedy announced his bid to unseat Sen. Ed Markey, you may have overheard my reaction.

I admit it, I was as guilty as the next person about taking the arts for granted before I wised up. I’ll even go as far as to describe myself as an arts’ parasite; a culture vulture, if you will.

When the Indianapolis Colts accused the New England Patriots of deflating footballs five years ago, no one who knows anything about the sport thought it meant taking all, most, or even very much air out of the ball.

Noticeable changes in town include the expanded occupation of city property by outdoor restaurant seating. The Council began debating this in early May.

“Sachems on three. One, two, three. Sachems!”

To the editor:

Ending racism necessitates ending segregation on a personal level. I know of no other way to accomplish this than to maintain a friendship with someone of another race.

To the editor:

Pity the poor Democrats, putting forth one deplorable candidate after another. Their latest, Joe Biden, is living proof of how far a smile and a handshake will take even a person with dementia.

On April 20, the price of oil fell to a minus $37. Oil producers were paying to have the stuff hauled away! Black gold lost its shine. This event has no precedent.

There’s no such thing as contradiction. Truth is garbage. Logic is a joke. Ethics are for losers. All that matters is what his base believes.

While waiting in my dentist’s office awhile back, I looked at the pile of magazines and found The New Yorker, December 2019. Not bad, it could have been 2018. As I got to Page 69, I saw a picture of a man I hadn’t seen in 65 years: Moondog.

Uncertainty inhabits much of our lives, especially now. Periods of uncertainty can be episodic or indeterminate.

Editor’s note: This is one in a continuing series of guest opinions about fostering environmental stewardship. The series is coordinated by ACES, the Alliance of Climate and Environmental Stewards.

During this time of social distancing, some people have discovered a silver lining: While forced to physically be apart from family and friends, there are creative ways to connect with one another, even rekindling friendships and strengthening bonds previously taken for granted. For some, th…

Experience, our best teacher, is giving us expensive lessons while dealing with the invisible threat of a deadly illness. Rich and poor, young and old, healthy and weak, celebrity and nobody, all share the same risk.

Editor’s note: This is one in a continuing series of guest opinions about fostering environmental stewardship. The series is coordinated by ACES, the Alliance of Climate and Environmental Stewards.

Anomie is defined as “social instability caused by a steady erosion of standards and values.” Using that definition, I have previously written in this space about anomie in the context of Trumpism, and its adverse impact on our standards and values.

Remember the days when someone would ask, “How are you?” and the response would be, “Fine thanks, and you?” We would hardly wait for the answer. What do we mean when we say it now? Are we offering support and encouragement? Are we asking for reassurance for ourselves?

At a special meeting on April 8, the City Council adopted an emergency ordinance setting “social distancing” rules for Newburyport streets and city-owned property. Violators will receive a warning and then fines.

It’s been quite awhile since the days my wife and I were dancing. There were dance halls when I was much younger.

A democratic government has problems, but nevertheless most of us are convinced that democracy is incomparably the best.

Since my first column, the City Council met specially on April 6, on eight hours notice, to consider a proposed emergency ordinance to set “social distancing” rules for city streets and property, with violators subject to civil fines.

Palm Sunday started with the cries of a pair of courting osprey wheeling and diving overhead.

This is not about what you may think it is. When I was 7, during a complicated recovery from an appendectomy in a Brooklyn hospital, I heard an intern by my bed say to the attending nurse, “I think we should put him in an oxygen tent.”

In going through some old sea captain’s logs and memorabilia left to us 20 years ago by the elderly descendant of that captain, I was struck by the role of a captain in leading the ship to the completion of its mission – bringing home the crew and cargo for the benefit of the investors.

As millions across the globe shelter in place, I wonder how many are pondering the state of our world, our accomplishments and failures, life and death in this uncertain time, and our understanding of the universal spirit energy that connects us all.

Gov. Charlie Baker’s declared state of emergency is in its fourth week. Mayor Donna Holaday is pumping out news continually as city departments cope. A resident called me to suggest that I start a column to tell more.

I was a boy of the polio generation. I was born in the late 1940s, the polio scare was real and frightening at that time.

Thirty years ago, the White Ribbon Campaign began after one man killed 14 women in what is now known as the “Montreal Massacre.” 

It’s rational that adolescents, especially in the high school age range, would balk at the notion of social distancing.

Breathe deeply. What do you smell?

"The cure must not be worse than the problem!"

A recent interactive national map from Education Week showed that more than 50 million K-12 students are unable to attend their school because of the coronavirus outbreak and that number will continue to increase. The suddenness of it all is having an impact on student and parent populations…

I have been self-quarantined since Feb. 17, in a fashion. A shoulder surgery has temporarily robbed me of the ability to drive, type or do the farmwork that is part of my life as regional manager at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury.

With the specter of risks increasing relative to the COVID-19 threat, regional supermarkets should voluntarily implement new protocols to enhance public safety and improve equitable distribution of needed supplies.

Any visual or performing arts organization thrives on the shared experience of the artist and the audience – the co-creation of art that occurs when a gift is given and received.