I once described my family as “six abrasive oddballs” led by “parents from Neptune and three siblings I never knew. All the kids ignored each other except when tormenting younger ones, while mom and dad…
Posts published in “Essays”
I was a delegate representing the Noe Valley to the founding of the Peace and Freedom Party at the Richmond Auditorium in 1968. For the three days that strange assembly had gathered to organize opposition…
On June 22, 1938 thousands of boxing fans poured through the turnstiles at Yankee Stadium. Most couldn’t wait to to boo Max Schmeling, the German fighter they viewed as Hitler’s white hope against African-American heavyweight…
A Friday night search for ice cream in Hades… On a warm Friday afternoon in late May 1974, Terrence and I decided to take “the Raiz Diabolicum,” the diabolical or devil's root, the conquering Spanish…
Ray Charles distrusted people, naturally. But it was, well, eye-opening to realize how his blindness lead to his distrust. We recently had a chance to re-review the movie-biography of Ray Charles, simply called “Ray.” It…
Intro: I voted for Jill Stein, of course, but I was rooting for Kamala Harris. Not for any noble reason, like “the lesser evil,” but for a crass reason: a possible book contract. Kamala was…
Here comes Thanksgiving, a once-grand holiday of sharing and gratitude, slowly having the joy wrung out of it by the usual mob of angry dimwits who spend their days moaning and weeping over the fact…