Commentary

The Internet came about at a time when I was trying to develop a column for the Berkshire Eagle, unaware that the local paper, once respected and beloved, had already peaked and would soon become the disreputable, widely hated property of a media conglomerate based in Denver, CO. When I began discussing my ideas for […]

(Originally published in the Berkshire Eagle, 1996) Like some giant, mutant plant burst full-blown overnight, Altresco dominates the newspaper, as it does the Allendale neighborhood of Pittsfield. Now that its foreboding ugliness is plain to see, the people are saying they’ve seen enough; thye want it stopped before it becomes something they can see smell […]

(Originally published in the Berkshire Eagle, 1996) I’d like to weigh in on the new issue that is growing in popularity in the Berkshires and may go on to replace the north-south connector question as impetus for most letters to the editor. I refer to the question of whether or not Berkshire County ought to […]

Article updated June 27, 2017 by Dave Read 780 Holmes Road Revisited,* or, Where’s the Art, Bob? Throughout his career, Bob Dylan has been an exponent of the “folk process,” wherein an artist appropriates an extant song, modifies it to the degree that now there are two songs, which may appear to be siblings, but […]

Article updated Nov. 4, 2016 by Dave Read giving baseball another shot? Since it was an off-night in my fandom, I tuned in to game 7 between Chicago and Cleveland, and grew more and more irritated as the game continued way past bedtime, until I tuned out and went to bed at midnight when they […]