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Posts published in “Essays”

True Crime in the 1910s

For those who think stagecoaches went out with the turn of the twentieth century, think again. As late as the onset of World War I, while “Little Willie,” the first British tank, rolled out and…

Biloxi Days: The Barracks Visit

I arrived at Lackland Air Force Base outside of San Antonio for Officer Training School in November of 1967. For reasons known only to my recruiter in Fresno, I was two weeks early for 90…

Pops’ Grandson

My wife and I were back at Evans Stadium in Cal Berkeley on Mother’s Day, April 12, mainly to watch Cal first baseman

Neighbors Behaving Badly

There are few things in life worse than your next door neighbor hating you, and you hating him. It's not just a one day thing, it's every day. Whenever they drive by you have to…

Going to See the Planners

While not falling into the “Lost Cause” category, attending a County Planning Commission meeting when you KNOW your side is going to lose, eats up a day and leaves you disappointed. I have nothing but…

Book Sale for History Lovers

In what’s becoming an annual tradition the Kelley House Museum in Mendocino is hosting a book sale of history books Saturday May 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the west porch. Book donations…

Dinosaurs Among Us

In the 1930s Sinclair Oil’s advertising execs and assorted flaks put their heads together to create a company logo. As the story goes, at the time the New York-based corporation’s oils and lubricants were refined…

Kerouac Meets McCarthy on TV

Think of the 1950s and it’s hard not to think of the bomb, blonde bombshells like Marilyn Monroe, Beat Generation writers and that all-American ogre, Senator Joseph McCarthy who burned himself up and burned out…

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