From the time Mel Allen published his first stories in Yankee Magazine in 1979, to the day he retired in 2025 as only Yankee’s fifth editor in its storied 90 year history, his work, both as editor and author has captured New England’s unique sense of place and the people who call it home. That feel of New England lives within the covers of his book, “Here in New England: Unforgettable Stories of People, Places and Memories that Connect Us All.”
Next Thursday, September 24, Allen brings that feel to the Mill City as part of the Moses Greeley Parker Lecture Series at Pollard Memorial Library in Lowell.
Listening to New England is a 45-50 minute talk by Allen, featuring PowerPoint images. Drawing from his nearly half century of reporting and writing about our region, Allen will let the audience see and feel the region in a unique way. He will also share how Yankee Magazine has survived for 90 years since its founding in 1935.
A Q&A and book signing will follow the talk, which begins at 6pm.
“I see the stories in these pages a little like that—miniature pictures of New England that reveal a larger life around them,” Allen says. “To tell these stories, I have entered the lives of people for hours or days—and when they open their own lives, their hearts, the words they speak become intimate albums. They tell me details of their lives that they may not tell anyone else. And it is up to me to treat those words with deep respect.”
Allen taught fourth grade in Maine for three years and believes that his education as a writer began when he had to hold the attention of 27 children through months of Maine winters.
He authored his first two stories in the December 1977 issue of Yankee and became the famed publication’s fifth editor in the summer of 2006, after previous roles as senior editor and executive editor.
In 2018, he was inducted into the Folio Magazine Hall of Fame for editorial excellence. Mel has taught magazine writing and creative nonfiction for the past 25 years, divided between the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and MFA Bay Path.
His previous book is A Coach’s Letter to His Son. Allen lives and writes in New Hampshire.
“We live now in a time where division has become the backdrop to our lives,” Allen adds. “But when I look at the stories here about people overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles, of others reaching out to help their neighbors, of entire communities pulling together when all seems lost, or of thousands of people searching a wilderness for a lost child, I see a common humanity that has always been part of the New England landscape.”
Established in 1917, The Moses Greeley Parker Lectures is a series of lectures in Lowell, featuring music, dance, history and much more. Last September, former Boston Police Commissioner and Lowell Police Superintendent Ed Davis was the featured speaker. In October of 2024, retired Navy Admiral Michael Gilday was the the keynote speaker.
Admission is always FREE.
