NEWBURYPORT – Howard Fairweather, who died of heart failure at age 84 a few days after the New Year, cast a long shadow not only in the Boston banking world, but as chair of his hometown historical commission and a builder of Japonika, an exotic Japanese house and...
Stewart Lytle

Stewart Lytle is the lead reporter for The Town Common newspaper. Before joining The Town Common, he was a national correspondent for Scripps-Howard Newspapers in Washington, D.C., covering the Pentagon and Congress. He has also written for newspapers in Dallas, TX, and Birmingham, AL.
As a national reporter for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain, Stewart wrote the inside story on military life of soldiers and sailors and their families. He landed on aircraft carriers, experienced oxygen deprivation for high-altitude flight training and crawled through the mud with Marine snipers.
One of his proudest achievements outside of journalism was assisting USAA Chairman Robert McDermott in securing federal legislation that mandated air bags in vehicles.
Stewart is also a novelist and has written non-fiction books. He is currently working on a non-fiction book and screenplay about an incident that occurred in Boston.
His first novel, Iron City Conspiracy, explores power in a city. It features a black newspaper editor solving the bombing of a historic black church in a tough Alabama town.
Following in the footsteps of his idol, Ernest Hemingway, Stewart has completed a new novel about a love affair in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. The book, Montserrat, is based on a true story and has been made into a screenplay that will become an international feature film.
A graduate of Phillips Academy and Princeton University, Stewart lives with his wife, Mary, in Newburyport.
Bruins Skating Faster on North Shore-made Blades
AMESBURY – If your favorite Boston Bruin seems to be faster this season and looking less fatigued in the third period, it might be because he is skating on an experimental titanium blade that is about half the weight of stainless-steel blades and slides smoother...
Trade Alan Truck Stop To Be Redeveloped
AMESBURY – What To Do With an Old Truck Stop? The city of Amesbury is taking the next step to find out. It is asking for proposals from private developers for how best to redevelop the once popular Trader Alan’s Truck Stop on Pond View Avenue near Interstate 495. The...
Newbury Town Hall Fight
NEWBURY – Politics are heating to a boil here this spring with an upcoming Town Meeting on April 25 where residents are expected to spar over the proposed new, multi-million-dollar Town Hall. The Board of Selectmen election will follow on May 9 where two seats will be...
Black Neighborhood Honored
NEWBURYPORT — This city is good at preserving and honoring its history, honoring its Coast Guard heritage and preserving its downtown historic buildings, said Northeastern University professor Dr. Kabria Baumgartner last week. What the city did not preserve and honor...
More Housing Coming
REGIONAL – Towns and cities in eastern Massachusetts last week took the first step toward creating thousands of new multi-family homes to reduce the chronic housing shortage. A new economic development law includes a provision that requires communities served by the...
Kassner Wins – Finally
BOSTON — Almost three months after the election was held, the state House voted to seat Democrat Kristin Kassner of Hamilton as the representative from the Second Essex District. Kassner won the election by one vote after a recount over 10-year veteran Lenny Mirra of...
Tough Warrior Princesses Deliver ‘Joy’ Baskets
Tough Warrior Princesses Deliver ‘Joy’ Baskets By Stewart Lytle, Reporter REGIONAL – Since the first of the year, the Tough Warrior Princesses has created and delivered one basket of “joy” per day for cancer victims. That’s about 30 baskets in the last month, each...
Officials Accused of Working Against Town’s Best Interests
Officials Accused of Working Against Town’s Best Interests By Stewart Lytle, Reporter GEORGETOWN – In his resignation letter as the town’s Conservation Agent, Steven Przyjemski accused town officials last week of conducting “an all-out attack” on the Conservation...
CATCH Opens Doors for Therapy
REGIONAL – The Center for Children and Teen Center (CATCH), which addresses the mental health challenges of youth, officially opened for business last week with 42 clients and 60 more on the waiting list. Such is the need, said program director Carolyn Gayler-Romero....
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