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Posts published in “Essays”

The (Almost) Book on Prozac

I’m saying goodbye to books we won’t have room for in the beautiful wine country. (Brer Rabbit was jiving when he said, “Please don’t throw me in the briar patch,” but I sort of mean…

A Valley Wedding In The 1870s [1936]

I think I will tell you of an early Anderson Valley wedding. This wedding was brought to mind by a recent mention of Grandpap McGimsey, Justice of the Peace, and Ex- Confederate soldier. This wedding…

Gathering Of The Tribe

A year ago on Valentine’s Day, my work-exchange tenant Dee moved back to Los Angeles to stay with an ailing friend, and my experience of living off-grid in the redwood forest in Philo changed. When…

Herb Caen, The Chronicle & The AVA 

I first started reading the ‘San Francisco Chronicle’ in the ‘70’s, picking up a copy in town with breakfast and my weekly cuppa coffee at The Woodrose Cafe. I remember the day in 1977 when…

At Home With The Trumps

Donald and Melania Trump are seated at a secluded table awaiting lunch on one of Mar-a-Lago’s shaded patios. The worst of the unforgiving Florida sun is blunted through the scarlet Bougainvillea bower above the round…

What’s In A Name?

A lot more than we thought. Take Fort Bragg. Driven by the pique of social-justice activists, Fort Bragg’s in trouble, because of its name. Philip Zwerling, BA, MFA, PHD—born in New York, here via academia,…

Baby Bach Will Be Heard

Even frivolous fictional characters have found a convenient whipping boy in the youngest son of J. S. Bach. The late, lamented Dr. Peter Schickele’s send-up biography of P.D.Q. Bach quips that the talentless rogue had…

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