Rhode Island Culture

Creatures of a Rhode Island Halloween: What Lies Beneath Broad Street?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 31, 2007 |

In the novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, H.P. Lovecraft tells the story of Doctor Marinus Willet’s 1928 exploration of an underground crypt near the city of Providence…Since the existence of some vast crypt beneath the bungalow seemed virtually beyond dispute, some effort must be made to find it. Willett and Mr. Ward, conscious…

Creatures of a Rhode Island Halloween: The Ghost Ship Palatine

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 31, 2007 |

Trick-or-treaters in the vicinity of Rhode Island’s southern coasts may also want to watch the ocean very carefully, in their case, for signs of a ghost ship said to haunt Block Island. A source no less credible than the New York Times reported on this legend in its edition of November 20, 1899…During the month…

Creatures of a Rhode Island Halloween: The Sakonnet Sea Monster

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 31, 2007 |

Trick-or-treaters of the East Bay should be forewarned about getting too near the shore, lest they come face-to-face with the Sakonnet Sea Monster. The August 1, 2002 edition of the Fall River Herald News describes a recent encounter…A fun-filled day of swimming and fishing for one local group of friends and family turned into a…

Creatures of a Rhode Island Halloween: Prologue

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 31, 2007 |

Last year, Anchor Rising assisted local trick-or-treaters by preparing them for some of the more unusual creatures they may encounter on Halloween night in Rhode Island. There was Bigfoot, once observed in the woods of Charlestown…Beside the tall fractured stump stood what looked like a large white (yellow white) ape. It was maybe 6 to…

A State in Which You Have to Be an Insider Just to Get Where You’re Going

By Justin Katz | October 24, 2007 |

I grew up a fifteen minute drive from the George Washington Bridge into New York City. I lived in Pittsburgh for a year. And I’m a wanderer. That is to say that I’ve been lost in some of the most confusing areas that the (expanded) East Coast has to offer, but tonight I discovered a…

Just in Case You’re Finding the Day’s News Too Cheery

By Justin Katz | October 17, 2007 |

Here are two additional rankings across which I’ve recently come: Rhode Island is one of six states that spends more money from the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) on adults than on children But perhaps that’s because the states ranks 44th (that’s bad) on the Milken Institute’s Chronic Disease Index. How many horrifying rankings,…

Stunned by the Ray of Light in the Shadows

By Justin Katz | October 15, 2007 |

Rhode Island, where the unbidden friendliness of a stranger is front page news: … neither motorists nor pedestrians could ignore the man in the pale blue shirt and bright white sneakers yesterday morning standing between the Providence Biltmore and The Westin Providence hotels. Why, he wasn’t asking for a thing; their befuddled faces finally began…

$300,000,000 OBO

By Justin Katz | October 1, 2007 |

Mark Patinkin’s hypothetical auction summary for Rhode Island (as in auctioning off the state) had me laughing out loud yesterday: Founded 371 years ago by a difficult cast of characters expelled from neighboring states, it was the first of 13 colonies to renounce the crown. It later became the last to ratify the Constitution. This…

Anachronistic History: Ruth Simmons on George Washington

By Marc Comtois | August 22, 2007 |

In a ProJo story about the annual reading of George Washington’s Letter to the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Brown University President Ruth Simmons is quoted thusly: She touched upon the moral contradictions underlying the noble desires of past leaders who were eager to uphold freedom, despite an indifference to the injustice of slavery. “We all…

RE: Who’s Making Way for Buddy? Nobody

By Marc Comtois | August 16, 2007 |

According to 7to7, who got this from WPRO Station Manager Paul Giammarco: Program Director Paul Giammarco said the details of the station’s line-up of talk show hosts will be announced later. Giammarco said that the station’s four existing hosts, St.Pierre, John DePetro, Rush Limbaugh and Dan Yorke, will all remain at the station. “Ron, John,…