If you ask her how she used to spend her Sundays, she would tell you about Cellar Stories. “This isn’t going to be you writing about how many books I have, is it? Because I have a lot of books, but I have to get rid of some. I don’t want to–The thing is, I […]
If you were living in Providence in 2004, it’s possible you may have been invited to a party. “My friend asked me to go with her, and she got sick last minute, and couldn’t go, and she tells me, she tells me, ‘You should still go! Go and have fun.’ I was not the type […]
If you were walking down Benefit Street in Providence a few years ago, you might have seen an old woman standing outside a house asking to be let in. “She was insisting. She was insisting that she lived at the house.” The resident of the house was a family made up of two parents, a […]
If you ask when anyone last saw her, you’ll get a variety of times and places. You’ll get assurances that she looked happy. That she seemed fine. That she was always doing this sort of thing. Appearing and disappearing. Cutting ties with people for no reason at all. There’s only one friend who doesn’t buy […]
If you were awake one night on Providence’s north side, you might have heard the scream. “It was long. It was a long scream. I popped right up in bed. I popped up and my wife– My wife never wakes up. Not for nothing. I look and her eyes are open, and she asks me […]
If you live in Rhode Island, you’re used to defiantly referring to things and people by their old names. I was once at a party where the person I was talking to rolled her eyes when a gentleman from across the room began calling out a name. “He’s calling to me,” she said. “Oh,” I […]
Last week, Trinity Repertory Company announced that it would not produce in-person theater until late next year. While all of us have watched the hoped-for timelines for live entertainment get pushed further and further back, many theater organizations are still anticipating a safe window in winter or spring to begin performances again. Other theaters around […]
If you live in Providence, it may seem as though we’re always finding a reason to mourn. For what’s happening across the country, here in the state, and internally as we all grapple with a pandemic that is six months in with no signs of letting up. On Friday, we found another reason to mourn, […]
If you know who she is, then you call her The Sheriff. “That was a cute name they came up with for me. I’d come back this time of year and pull up to a party or something and they’d go ‘Here she is. The Sheriff is here.’” She was born in Providence in the […]
A year ago this week, I stepped onto the Pedestrian Bridge in Providence. I was going to write a column about Providence. It was going to be a fun column. Lots of fun, I thought. So much fun. Like a modern Truman Capote, I was going to galavant around the city I love so much, […]