My mother didn’t allow television or sugar in our home, so other kids’ houses were magical places with Saturday morning cartoons and Skippy peanut butter. I still remember the kitchen where I had my first…
Posts published in “Essays”
Longtime readers may recall that when the Spousal Unit leaves the house and the dog and I are alone with our brandy, we often have conversations, mostly about me. Being a journalist I am by…
Honolulu -- Hawaiian bonefish, called o’io here, have shoulders. They’re bigger, beefier and warier than their Caribe cousins. Not to worry If one of these silver wraiths of the coral flats breaks your line and…
When all else fails, when you are clueless about how to halt a 7.5% inflation rate, when your Build Back Better bill is gutted, when you renege on your promise to raise the minimum wage…
My odd job for the morning was from a voice mail that came last night, in the early evening. A man said he was calling from a donut shop in the Sunset, and the guy…
The Johnnie Pinoli funeral at Evergreen Cemetery on a warm winter afternoon two weeks ago was a remarkable celebration of his life and roots in Anderson Valley. At least a hundred family and friends attended,…
Remember those bumper stickers years ago that read “He Who Dies With the Most Toys Wins”? It was a catchy, relatable sentiment that appealed to the acquisitive, competitive beast within us all, especially at a…
A Review of “Bewilderment,” By Richard Powers. (WW Norton 278 pp. $27.95.) Movie screens are often tinged with it these days. Fiction and non-Fiction authors seem intrigued by it, when not immersed in the genre.…
As with many mistakes in life and a few smart moves, this story starts with a girl. Shari was her name, or it might have been Sharri. All my life has happened since then, so…