Life & Culture - Portland Press Herald

Deep Water: ‘Late December, Early Winter,’ by Cait Vaughan

December 26, 2021December 23, 2021

Maine poems edited and introduced by Megan Grumbling.

‘The King’s Man’: Comic book meets history book

by Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post December 26, 2021December 22, 2021

Matthew Vaughn’s ‘The King’s Man,” a prequel to the filmmaker’s two entertainingly comic-book-y action-adventure spy-larks “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” is at once more bonkers and more staid than either of its predecessors (if a film that features a dancing, omnivorously bisexual, murderous Grigori Rasputin as one of its villains can […]

Arts & Entertainment

Twin sisters who grew up dancing in Gorham now part of ‘West Side Story’s’ legacy

by Ray Routhier December 26, 2021December 25, 2021

Leigh-Ann and Sara Esty, who have danced professionally in ballets and on Broadway, are featured in the new film’s gym dance scene.

Arts & Entertainment, Books

Bedside table: A book that ponders, what if?

December 26, 2021December 23, 2021

“I am head of the new Read Between the Spines Book Club hosted at the Bibliophile Bookshop & Coffeehouse in Raymond. We currently have 45 ladies and one man in our book club. Bibliophile is also a new locally owned bookshop that our entire area has fallen in love with. “Anyway, Read Between the Spines […]

Maine, Religion and Values

‘A light has shone’: Portland cathedral celebrates Christmas Eve

by Megan Gray December 25, 2021December 25, 2021

And they all wore their masks.

Nation & World, Religion and Values

On Christmas, pope prays for pandemic’s end, peace

by NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press December 25, 2021

The Vatican secretary of state imposes a new vaccine mandate on staff.

Arts & Entertainment, Nation & World

New Year’s Eve in Times Square still on, with smaller crowd

by Associated Press December 23, 2021December 23, 2021

Viewing areas that normally accommodate about 58,000 people will be limited to about 15,000, and attendees must show proof of vaccination and wear a mask.

Arts & Entertainment, Books, Nation & World

Joan Didion, peerless prose stylist, dies at 87

by COLLEEN LONG Associated Press December 23, 2021December 23, 2021

Joan Didion, the revered author and essayist whose provocative social commentary and detached, methodical literary voice made her a uniquely clear-eyed critic of a uniquely turbulent time, has died.