Carol Procter was only the third woman cellist hired by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Boston Symphony Orchestra year was 1965, and Procter was in her early 20s, recently graduated […]
Books & Poetry
BOOKS
Humanizing the People Behind an Epic Case
Joshua Prager’s The Family Roe is praised by both sides of abortion debate
Joshua Prager was hitting one dead end after another in 2010. A former senior writer for the Wall Street Journal and the co-founder of Provincetown’s Twenty Summers series, Prager was […]
BOOK REVIEW
Meditations on the Tangled Cords of Jewish History
Dara Horn reckons with an anti-Semitic past and present
Organizations including the Pew Research Center, Anti-Defamation League, and American Jewish Committee all report an increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the last several years. These incidents have ranged from Holocaust […]
HUMANITY
The Wondrous Words of Hilde Oleson
At 98, she is still inspiring others to write
“I’m almost a hundred years old,” says poet Hilde Oleson from her room at Seashore Point in Provincetown. “I’m not going to make myself a famous author, and that doesn’t […]
BOOK REVIEW
For Alan Cumming, Fame Is Part and Parcel
Baggage, his second memoir, has plenty of stories
I remember reading long ago that actor Alan Cumming threw great parties. This bit of trivia tucked in my brain re-emerged as I dove into his second memoir, Baggage: Tales […]
BOOKS
Capturing ‘Our Provincetown’ in Words and Brushstrokes
A collaboration between Barbara E. Cohen and local writers
Among the distinguished contributors to Our Provincetown: Intimate Portraits, a book of painted Polaroids by Barbara E. Cohen published last month by Provincetown Arts Press and edited by Dorie Seavey, […]
PURSUITS
During Covid, Michael Hartwig Turns to Writing Gay Romance Novels
It’s just another creative outlet for the Provincetown painter and professor of sexual ethics
Michael Hartwig is not one to let Covid cramp his style. During the pandemic, he and his partner, Steve Ridini, who split their time between Boston and Provincetown, chose to […]
NEW COMPANY AT FAWC
Fine Arts Work Center Welcomes Its 2021-2022 Fellows
20 visual artists and writers take up residence in Provincetown
Nineteen writing and visual arts fellows arrived last month at the Fine Arts Work Center for seven-month residencies in Provincetown. One more fellow, Ellen Akimoto, is in Germany dealing with […]
MEMOIR
Alexandra Marshall Puts Silence Into Words
A suicide and its aftermath
Alexandra Marshall was just 26 when her husband, Tim Buxton, normally joyous and enthusiastic in the face of challenges, committed suicide. It was 1970 and the couple was in Ghana […]
BOOK REVIEW
Women Who Rocked the Boat
Siân Evans tells stories from above and below deck
In Maiden Voyages: Magnificent Ocean Liners and the Women Who Traveled and Worked Aboard Them, Siân Evans provides a lively account of the experiences of female workers and travelers aboard […]
THE STORYTELLERS
Poet in Residence
The writer’s fantasy: that words can have an enormous effect
One spring morning, my wife, Valerie, found a column in the San Francisco paper about Weed, Calif., which was getting ready to capitalize on its merchantable name. I e-mailed my […]
WRITERS
Francine Prose Reads Your Amazon Reviews
Her new novel, The Vixen, is a comedy about the Rosenbergs
Simon Putnam, the young protagonist of Francine Prose’s newest novel, The Vixen, is still figuring out who he is. Fresh out of Harvard, having studied folklore and mythology, he has […]
BOOK REVIEW
Meg Lowman’s View From the Treetops
Her newest memoir reflects on adventures in advocacy and science
By now, American field biologist Meg Lowman deserves to be a household name. In the 1980s, Lowman — sometimes known as “Canopy Meg” — pioneered the use of spelunking equipment […]
CHANGING HANDS
Buyer Is Found for Provincetown Bookshop
Barbara Clarke hopes to open in a new location in summer 2022
It didn’t take Barbara Clarke long to decide she wanted to buy the Provincetown Bookshop. The store has been a beloved fixture in the lives of Clarke and her two […]
TIME AND THE TOWN
David Dunlap Is Endlessly Building Provincetown
A reissue of his 2015 book highlights a feast of local color
David W. Dunlap’s Building Provincetown is an ongoing project with a worthy aim: to create a comprehensive history of the town — that is, its residents, year-round and part-time, and […]
