Charlie Gargiulo

Charlie Gargiulo is the author of "Legends of Little Canada," a memoir told through the voice of his 13 year old self in the 1960's as he watched an urban renewal plan destroy his world by forcibly displacing his family and friends from their poor but tight-knit French-Canadian neighborhood in Lowell. The book gives witness to the final days of the community around Moody Street that Jack Kerouac recalled in many of his Lowell stories. His writing has appeared in Resonance, Merrimack Valley Magazine, the Lowell Review, the New Lowell Offering and the book compilation "Atlantic Currents: Connecting Cork and Lowell."

Following the destruction of Lowell's Little Canada, Charlie Gargiulo grew up in public housing. After serving in the military, he graduated summa cum laude from University of Massachusetts Lowell. Gargiulo became a legendary community and human rights activist and stopped forced displacement efforts like Little Canada from happening to others. In 2019, he was honored by the International Institute as one of the 100 most important figures in Lowell history who has worked on behalf of the city's immigrant population.

"I can put my hand on this old heart of mine and safely say Kerouac himself would have laughed and cried and absolutely loved this book."

-Kevin Ring, Publisher of Beat Scene Magazine