A Thousand Lives — The Untold Story of Jonestown by Julia Scheeres isn't what the mighty AVA would recommend as must reading, but for those of us who remain fascinated by a mass murder that…
Posts published in “Essays”
“If there’s a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” -- Toni Morrison They haunt me, the dozens of novels and novellas and stories I’ve…
Mendocino Redwood Company, the largest timberland holder in Mendocino County, has applied for permits that would run for eighty years. History stands in opposition to this corporate pipedream. Mendocino Redwood Company has submitted thousands of…
"Little sister,” he’d say to me, “put BOTH a them teeties back in your blouse and move on… you don’t need to be nursin’ no man… not when you’ve got your mystery baby to take…
From October 6, 1866, until February of 1869, the nation's newspapers carried headlines covering the saga of the world's first train robbers and the apparent lawlessness of Jackson County, Indiana. The Reno gang's fame was…
I am, and have always been since I first became acquainted with his body of work, a huge fan of comedian/actor/writer/producer/director Albert Brooks. I find myself thoroughly entranced with his uncanny ability to relate the…
The NY Times arrived this morning with the Sunday magazine devoted to "The Lives They Lived," an extra round of obits for people who exited in 2012. Guess who wasn’t mentioned? I suppose if they'd…
On Christmas Day, several new movies hit the big screen. The most notable this year was the latest version of Les Miserables, which opened to critical acclaim. I sat in seat K2 at the 10am…
On May 20th, 2011, a confused and nude Claudia Pedreros was found wandering on a remote Trinity County road. Her two and a half year old daughter, Sophia, was missing and later found drowned in…