By the time readers peruse this issue of the AVA, yours truly should be embarked on a 75-mile section of the John Muir Trail (JMT).…
Posts published in “Essays”
Thirty-odd years ago, the Simple Living Workshop made its debut at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds - a weekend-long event which had its origins at the…
I moved to Sacramento in 1980. I was 31 and experiencing a bit of success with my writing. I bought a piano and an old house in a quiet neighborhood and thus began my fifteen-year residency in that river town. I still own the piano and play her every day.
It was one of those days. No, not one of those. Those are spoken of, and occur, often enough that we may as well just…
Mischievous Hendrik Hertzberg emailed, “Have you seen my friend Clara Bingham’s oral history of 1969-70? Jane Fonda talks about you in it. Curious about your…
There was no way I was qualified to take over the position of Bilingual Resource Room teacher. I had no training in special education. None.…
Dan Kuny went to work in the woods as a high school kid, and he's been out there ever since. A Mendocino County native, Kuny,…
I was in the streets of Chicago in 1968 during the Democratic Convention. It was only a few months after Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther…
When I was earning my living fishing, I, just as you, got pretty good at predicting weather by looking at clouds, waves, the behavior of…