Unable to attend the forum on the homeless that was held in Mendocino near the end of January, I did read the three articles in the Mendocino Beacon that reported in some detail and with…
Posts published in “Essays”
Anybody foolish enough to spend much time reading online comments on any remotely controversial article or news story knows that this is one way to despair of modern humanity.
Mom and pop gold panning is enjoying a rebirth in California. I examined a few videos about stream panning, and decided instead to renew my interest in ocean beachcombing after Googling, “What’s more expensive than…
It’s Friday afternoon. An unseasonal sun bakes the city with a gratifying if alarming tropical malaise. Tiny birds sing in the trees. There’s a case of frozen corn dogs in the freezer and half a…
It's Black History Month, a good time to honor the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, one of the most important yet too often overlooked leaders in the long struggle for racial equality and union rights.…
An appeal of the Reggae on the River festival’s county permit was denied by a majority of the Board of Supervisors but traffic flow conditions at the event’s main entrance remain a concern. Capping a…
In the fall of 1970, my family — version 3.0 — was winging its way to Europe. To explain the “upgrade,” which it was in no wise at all, I'll take a stab at revisiting…
From the age of twenty-one until I was fifty, with only a few brief respites, I wrote many novels, most of them never published.
I left my baggage at a hostel in central Cuenca and rode east, on a small quiet highway that climbed into the beautiful green hills and would eventually lead over a small mountain range and…