Asher Pucciarello
Considering loss
My father is dying.
I sit with his 95-year-old body as it, moment to moment, lets go.
White flight
The Newark riots in New Jersey in 1967 were not a Black problem. Our culture was saturated with racist values that made life easy for white people and unsafe for people of color.
When I was a boy of 5, in 1967, my family, white and poor, was living in a neighborhood of Linden, N.J. that was otherwise occupied by people of color. Linden was two towns away from Newark, N.J. where my parents had grown up and lived most of their...
‘I am here, breathing and speaking. George Floyd is not.’
Thanks to our institutional racism, Derek Chauvin very likely believed that he could continue to suffocate George Floyd to death and still maintain his own safety — and that he would be free from punishment
When I was 10 years old - the same age as two of my three children - my mother left me at home alone with my father, who had repeatedly proven that he was a menace to his own children. Probably upset by my mother's momentary freedom, my father...
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Bos-Lun: passionate about equity and access for all Vermonters
I have known Michelle Bos-Lun for well over a decade and I strongly support her upcoming run for a Windham-4 state representative seat. I met Michelle through her work with local youth who were threatened with homelessness. Michelle has decades of experience addressing issues of unequal privilege: at an individual and group level, on the streets, in classrooms, and at the level of agency board participation. She is versed in this work both locally and internationally. This varied experience has...
More insistent belonging
We live as if we inhabit the Earth but forget that we, as part of the Earth, are inhabited as well. We have stood in the face of climate science virtually unmoved but then finally, slowly, awaken when we learn of a virus that, from our point of view, intrudes. I am a humane sort of nihilist, taking no joy in people being ill and wishing no one dead. Everyday, I wish for life and love and music. But I...
Son experiences honest emotional and intellectual depth with Windham Orchestra
This past year, my 10-year-old son, a violin and piano student, has led me to the Latchis to see as many operas, live in HD from the Met, as possible. An unusual interest for a child, yes, but when I read that the Windham Orchestra was looking for choral members for a production of Puccini's Turandot, I asked him if he might be interested in participating. He responded by jumping up and down a few inches from me and nodding...
‘Omissions and erroneous descriptions’
I want to acknowledge Dan Axtell's intelligence and his commitment and long years of hard work on our school board. I believe that when he served on the school board, his intentions were honorable. I am, however, concerned that readers of his opinion will be unable to recognize the omissions and erroneous descriptions and will think they are being offered a narrative that is historical rather than emotional and whimsical. As a father of three young children and as a...
Preserving an important educational resource
An open letter to Westminster School parents, and community members: At an Oct. 14 meeting, the Westminster School Board announced the closing of the Westminster West Elementary School. We, a group of concerned parents and community members, believe that this is not in the best interest of our Westminster students, families or its taxpayers. We, therefore, want to reach out and make ourselves clear to all people of Westminster as our attempts to help our schools and town take shape.