Tag: Springfield newspaper

springfield newspaper features ‘louie’

The Springfield Republican, the newspaper for which I used to work — in its Westfield bureau covering the hill towns as well as Southwick, Massachusetts, and in its Springfield office while covering West Springfield — graced me with a story about Louie on the Rocks which explored the political polarization which stressed and already-fragile father-daughter relationship that was on the edge of complete rupture.

It also gave a shout-out to the March 6, 7 p.m. book event I have slated in western Massachusetts, in South Hadley’s Odyssey Bookshop with one of my beloved former newsroom colleagues: Suzanne Strempek Shea, who’ll be in conversation with me at the event.

If you’re interested in attending the March 6 Odyssey Bookshop event, please RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meredith-obrien-in-person-tickets-1254916221199?aff=oddtdtcreator

springfield newspaper covers ‘mr. clark’s big band’

the-republican-springfield-ma_largeThe newspaper for which I used to be a reporter, The Republican (in Springfield, MA), was kind enough to run a large piece about Mr. Clark’s Big Band.

Here are the first two paragraphs:

When Meredith O’Brien’s son, Jonah, was a seventh-grade drummer in the Trottier Middle School jazz band in Southborough, 12-year-old trumpet player Eric Green died in his sleep from an undiagnosed heart ailment. The members of the jazz band were shaken to their core.

From the throes of his own grief, the Trottier Big Band’s director, Jamison Clark, became the children’s guide, their catalyst for healing. With a face resembling Santa’s, coupled with eyebrow-raising antics ranging from bathroom jokes to poking fun at his own girth, Clark coaxed the children to pour their grief into their music through a challenging year of mourning.