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Posts published in “Essays”

L’Opera è Mobile: Rigoletto in Berlin

Opera thrives on competition as much as collaboration—on who can sing higher, louder, longer, more passionately; what production can seduce or scandalize most abundantly; which company can hoard the most prestige while staving off bankruptcy…

What’s A Senior To Do?

At a recent local party a woman from Oakland approached me to ask, “But what do seniors DO here? It’s so rural!“ The quick answer is that we socialize a lot. That answer doesn’t really…

Wanda Tinasky And Related Matters

Correspondence With Kipen On Nov. 29, 2000 S.F. Chronicle book editor David Kipen wrote a rave review of Donald Foster’s book “Author Unknown.” Kipen especially liked the chapter in which Foster identified Tom Hawkins —not…

Never Enough Money

Is it possible to spend enough money to solve the homeless crisis, now in its Elevendy Seventh decade and showing no signs of getting better? Is there enough money to fix it? No. A research…

The Lake Pillsbury Dilemma

A couple of weeks ago, Fred Gardner asked what my thoughts are about the Lake Pillsbury dilemma are, and here is my reply: I have followed the Lake Pillsbury dilemma since 2006, and during the…

Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart

Youth is lousy preparation for old age. Everything boys learn from ages 5 to 30 is likely to result in scores of accidents, dozens of injuries, multiple trips to the emergency room and death by…

Assignment: Ukiah – Any Problem Can Be Made Worse

There are small but growing problems besetting the county’s Planning and Building Services (PBS) department, an agency that enforces rules and regulations around the county. What’s wrong? An (anonymous) troublemaker has been wallpapering the PBS…

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