Archive for August, 2007

Wakefield native’s play returns to Gloucester Stage Many critics consider The Widow’s Blind Date to be Israel Horovitz’s finest work. It has long been a favorite of mine (and not just because Horovitz set the play in his hometown of Wakefield, Massachusetts). The current revival at Gloucester Stage Company, where it premiered in 1983, has […]


Wakefield Park Some locals are aware of their significance, but how many people drive through or past them every day without ever wondering why they are there? In 2007, the stone pillars at Park Avenue and Chestnut Street, next to Temple Emmanuel, are among the least talked about historical landmarks in Wakefield, Massachusetts. But at […]


Joseph “Puck” Sardella was my uncle. He was my father’s kid brother. I was his first nephew and he was my godfather. In Italian families, especially of Puck’s generation, that meant something. As a kid, I knew him as Uncle Joe. But as I grew up and became an adult, I learned that to the […]