Story Archives of 'Salem'

The pitch-black nights and scuttling leaves of autumn make for prime reading weather. Over the gloomy weekend, I tucked into The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti and was transported to a grim 19th-century orphanage in a dark New England town.

There we find twelve-year-old Ren being passed up for adoption. He’s too young for field work, too old to be adorable, and missing a hand. Ren’s story unfolds when a spirited grifter posing as his brother whisks him away, knowing that Ren’s pitiful deformity will open more wallets than a gun.

It’s a briskly-paced novel with suprising turns and a cast of scoundrels, grifters, murderers, outcasts and victims straight out of a Charles Dickens novel. Hannah Tinti’s writing has been compared to Dickens, and to Robert Louis Stevenson. It’s high praise for a first-time novelist. Hannah Tinti grew up in Salem, Massachusetts. Her story collection, Animal Crackers, has sold in sixteen countries and was a runner up for the PEN/Hemingway award. She is co-founder and editor-in-chief of One Story magazine.

Click here to read the first chapter of The Good Thief

And if The Good Thief doesn’t get you in the mood for the macabre, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Alu just might. She creates ambient soundscapes for her captivating fantasy stories about casket salesmen and circus cosmos. Producer John Diliberto brings us this profile, as part of the series Echo Location: Soundings For New Music.

If Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has his way, casino gambling will be on the Bay State’s political agenda this year.

The Governor has proposed bringing three huge casino resorts to Massachusetts, and he’d like one of them to be located in the Greater Boston area.

Coincidentally, New Hampshire lawmakers have also been looking at proposals to allow video slot machines at Rockingham Park in Salem.

But it’s not clear what affect a Boston area casino would have on the Rockingham plan.

Waters are slowly receding from New Hampshire communities flooded by the rains this past week.

Governor Lynch has been touring towns in Southern New Hampshire to get a sense of how extensive the damage is.

In parts of Salem, residential and commercial neighborhoods have been soaking in several feet of water for days.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Kerry Grens toured some of the worst parts of the town and filed this report.

Jeffrey Zygmont is a technology writer from Salem, New Hampshire and author of Microchip. It?s the story of the invention and development of the microchip- the breakthrough that made possible the information revolution and the modern American lifestyle. Today, chips can be found in everything from toys, to toasters, to cars and trucks.

This interview originally aired in the Spring of 2003.

New Hampshire Public Radio is traveling around the state to see how the presidential primary is unfolding in different regions.

In the Massachusetts border towns of Salem and Nashua people tend to agree Howard Dean and John Kerry are running the strongest campaigns.

But to the surprise of many, the southern tier has yet to become what many predicted a year ago would be a Kerry stronghold.

With recent polls suggesting a growing Dean lead, the Kerry campaign and its supporters understand the Massachusetts Senator must win big here, if he wants a shot at the Democratic nomination.

Dan Gorenstein has the story.