Arts & Life
Around and About with Richard McCarthy: Pondering my life’s habits
By RICHARD MCCARTHY
This past fall, I was bicycling in Hadley and I came up on a dead squirrel in the road. I got off my bike and used the instep of my foot to move the remains to the edge of a field on the side of the road. Two other cyclists approached me as I was...
Get Growing: The importance of talking to plants
By MICKEY RATHBUN
A few years ago I was having coffee with my two sisters-in-law at a family gathering in North Carolina. Both of them had recently built new houses and were quizzing me about how to create gardens in the bare dirt surrounding their homes. The question...
Best Bites 2022: A taste of the finest the Valley has to offer
By ROBIN GOLDSTEIN
With a new year of dining ahead, it’s time to boil down all of my last year’s recommendations into a cheat sheet that you can clip or print and stick on your fridge: the best of Best Bites. I’ve picked 40 amazing places to eat and drink in the area...
She sings the hair electric: Photographer uses tintype technique to re-imagine female portraits
By STEVE PFARRER
Time was when Rachel Portesi did much of her photography using Polaroid film. She loved the immediacy of the image, the way each photo was different and often didn’t quite match what her eye had seen, and what she calls “the feeling of Christmas when...
Spreading his wings: Former WRSI radio host Monte Belmonte heads to New England Public Media
By STEVE PFARRER
SPRINGFIELD — Last month, when he stepped down from WRSI 93.9 The River after nearly 17 years hosting a morning show at the station, Christopher “Monte” Belmonte said he was not stepping away from radio. But the popular radio personality wasn’t ready...
Valley Bounty: Put the market where the people are
By JACOB NELSON
‘I’m a junkie for rutabagas,” admits Cathleen O’Keefe. “I love their tanginess and making fries with them. And winter greens. Knowing what goes into growing them in New England in the winter — they’re amazing!” O’Keefe has owned and managed the Winter...
In hiding in Hadley: Novel plumbs perils and politics of Englishmen on the run after the regicide of King Charles
By STEVE PFARRER
Robert Harris is the author of a slew of bestselling thrillers and historical novels, covering ancient Rome, World War II, contemporary politics and more. According to one report, he’s sold over 10 million copies of his books, a number of which have...
‘The Little Mermaid’ swims into view: Amherst Community Theater play on after two years of shutdowns
By STEVE PFARRER
It’s been almost three years since Amherst Community Theater has presented its annual musical at Bowker Auditorium at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, given a little problem called COVID-19 that prevented the group from returning to UMass in...
From ‘humble’ beginnings: A fully-vegan cafe is growing its roots in downtown Amherst
By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL
AMHERST — The Humble Peach, located at the former site of the Henion Bakery on Amherst’s North Pleasant Street, lays claim to the first fully vegan establishment in the socially conscious town. But the owners say that their mission isn’t merely to...
In their own words: Couple helping guide Deerfield oral history project
By CHRIS LARABEE
While sitting at the kitchen table with her husband in their Sunderland home and sharing their decades of experience in recording American folklore around Appalachia, Carrie Kline found herself looking out at the birds on their porch.Over the course...
Best Bites: Hadley, Amherst among best in Valley for Korean food
By ROBIN GOLDSTEIN
In the universe of Asian cuisines that are widely available in America, Korean is an anomaly. Chinese, Japanese and Thai restaurants came of age earlier in the 20th century — and with them, the sticky-sweet, Americanized dishes that became associated...
Back Porch Festival announces part of its lineup: Expanded roots music festival takes place in Northampton March 3 through 5, 2023
By STEVE PFARRER
The Back Porch Festival, which is set to expand to multiple venues in downtown Northampton in early March, has begun to fill out its lineup.Among numerous bands and artists that will play at the roots music showcase, begun by Signature Sounds in 2014,...
The Beat Goes On: Ushering in the new year with Bach and bluegrass in Northampton, young performers in Amherst, and more
By STEVE PFARRER
Live music typically takes something of a breather at this time of year: After all, musicians and club owners usually want to spend time with family and friends at the holidays.But starting today and proceeding through the first few several days of...
The sorrow and the laughter: Amherst writer’s first novel for adults explores the mixed emotional terrain of dying
By STEVE PFARRER
Like so many people, Catherine Newman’s life has been touched by cancer. In 2015, Newman, an Amherst writer, lost a close friend, Ali, whom she’d known since childhood, to ovarian cancer.As painful as that was, Newman also recalls Ali’s passing as a...