Archives: Media Room

From Louis Armstrong’s hot jazz through Nirvana’s grunge, Parisians have treasured American music exports.  Their return gift to us is Fete de la Musique.

Harvard Square is rallying around an incoming Harvard College freshman North Carolina, determined to give the once-homeless student a sense of community when she arrives in Cambridge.

For a few minutes, Denise Jillson was homeless, pregnant and HIV positive.  However, when time was up, Jillson went back to being the executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association.  On June 2, members of the Harvard Square Business Association gathered with homeless advocates at the Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church to gain a better understanding of what life is like for homeless youth during an educational training session.

Make Music Harvard Square, a street music festival organized by the Harvard Square Business Association and the Québec Delegation, will feature 71 bands on 11 different stages throughout the Square on Saturday.  The fifth annual event, which will bring eight hours of live music to the Square, was inspired by the Fête de la Musique, a street music festival celebrating the summer solstice. Founded in France nearly three decades ago, the Fête has spawned similar events in more than 300 cities across the globe, including Cambridge.

Curious George Books & Toys, a once-popular specialty store located at 1 JFK Street, reopened last Wednesday under new ownership.  Owners Adam S. and Jamie S. Hirsch have sought to reinvent the store, which has been a fixture in Harvard Square for decades, as a fresh and dynamic destination for tourists and residents of the Boston area.

Visitors to Harvard Square were unhappy when the bookstore Curious George and Friends closed last year.  So were Roslindale residents Adam and Jamie Hirsch, who are reopening the store at 1 JFK Street today as The World’s Only Curious George Store.  (The grand opening is April 28).

The Man with the Yellow Hat and his inquisitive monkey put down roots in Massachusetts nearly two decades ago, after a trans-Atlantic trek took them from Paris to Lisbon to New York, and finally, into a Harvard Square bookstore.

After closing last summer, the Curious George bookstore in Harvard Square Cambridge, Mass., is getting ready to reopen, with a new name, new owners, and a different product mix. The World’s Only Curious George Store will launch on April 28 at the same location with a selection of books for children up to age 8 and a lot more merchandise, all dedicated to the mischievous monkey created by longtime Cambridge residents Hans and Margret Rey.

A stationary store might seem like an unlikely place to find love. But Bob Slate is where self-described “pen addict” Laura Donohue spent her Harvard undergrad days in the early ’80s, lusting after cards and swooning over school supplies. Donohue became a loyal customer — and she wasn’t the only one. Last March, she stopped by the Mass. Ave. spot for a new Cross pen, only to be confronted by crying patrons who were dismayed that the shop, which opened its doors in 1933, would be closing.

Last Saturday, Laura E. Donohue ’85 opened the doors to the new home of Bob Slate at 30 Brattle St. Even though the store was not fully stocked and they could not accept credit cards, word had spread that a new Bob Slate would be opening, and it was quickly flooded with old customers.  “I decided to let people walk in and believe Bob Slate was real,” Donohue said.