Speaking of Nature: Watching sparks fly: The brilliant, yet deadly truth behind summer’s favorite bugs

US Sen. Ed Markey fends off challenge from Moulton in Democratic primary

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts secured the Democratic nomination in his bid for a third term in office Tuesday, fighting off a challenger who argued that it was time for a generational change. Markey, 80, defeated U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, in the Senate primary. Moulton, a moderate, was among the many Democrats who […]

Book Review: In 'Half a World Away' Northampton author Jonathan Wright's 10-year-old self begins a lifetime of wonder

When Jonathan Wright was mining memories for his new book, “Half a World Away,” he went first to his journal, written when he was 10 years old and on an intercontinental trip with his family in 1963. The diary was full of gems that captured a sense of wonder — and, at times, horror — about the state of the world and young Wright’s place in it. There were the black-and-white images, too, that he had taken throughout the nine-month venture, photographs that he and his brother supplemented with a stack of colorful postcards. As an adult now in his 70s, […]

Reframing the monsters: New musical show redefining classic literary villains to debut Sept. 12

What if some of the world’s most famous literary monsters aren’t so evil after all? Performance trio Shadow, Sound, Spectacle will bring their show Literary Monsters to Easthampton Media on Saturday, Sept. 12, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., followed by a Q&A. The trio features Jess Martin on music, Amy West on shadow puppetry and Abby Hanna on cinematography and special effects. The show uses those mediums to revisit the stories of monsters in works by authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Washington Irving, Bram Stoker, Emily Dickinson and Anne Rice — characters like Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula and the Headless […]

A pattern of success: A Valley illustrator has designed her way onto the shelves of retail stores

What do a navy blue blanket with lobsters, a leopard-print blanket with pink bows, a sage green blanket with geese in costumes and a light purple blanket with kittens wearing slices of bread and pizza all have in common? They are available nationwide through retailers like Target, Ross Dress for Less and HomeGoods, but were […]

Guest columnist Gene Stamell: The ties that bind

My Dear Readers, I am replacing humor in this month’s column with some tips on how to maintain and deepen family connections. More important to me than golf, the Red Sox, Dylan, or the daily NYT Spelling Bee, family is the cornerstone of my life. And by family, I mean my wife and three grown […]