Today I met Jim Powers in County Mayo on the Famine Trail in the Doolough Valley. Jim attended Umass Amherst between 1984-1990. Jim and his wife own Glen Keen Farm, a very successful visitor attraction in the middle of the Famine Trail. I called it home of Shaun-the-attraction. Daniel and I are retracing a 20Continue Reading Umass in the House

Here’s what the other side of the pond looks like (the Atlantic Ocean from Western Ireland).

Today Daniel and I were invited to meet the regional Sinn Féin MP, Elisha McCallion. She congratulated us on the success of our peace walk from Belfast to Derry which has deep symbolic meaning here to the Nationalist or Catholic community. To the best of her knowledge she believes we are the first two personsContinue Reading Meeting Regional MP, and Former Speaker of NI Assembly

Here’s a picture and story about our Walk to Freedom in the Derry Journal.

“Dia dhuit a chara” (Hello, my friend) That was the opening message I received today from my Irish language teacher, Chip Costello. I wrote him to say thank you for his going away gift. At the end of class last night, Chip presented me with a gift he knew I would need. An Irish/English pocketContinue Reading “Dia dhuit a chara”

Ida B. Wells-Barnett is an unsung heroine of the early 20th Century. She was a Civil Rights advocate, journalist and suffragist who dedicated her life to documenting and crusading against lynchings across the United States. During my recent walk across Northern Mississippi I passed through Holly Springs, Mississippi, the town in which she was bornContinue Reading Remembering Ida B. Wells