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Posts published in “Essays”

River Views

Last week’s AVA contained a letter to the editor from a spokesperson for a group that calls itself “Friends of Enchanted Meadow (FOEM).” FOEM presently…

Homeless Forum

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 Wonderful World Of Online ‘Debate’

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.

Ambergris

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…

Diary Of A Numb 49er Fan

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…

The Pioneering Black Porters

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…

Reggae Fest Gets Go-Ahead

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…

Continental Drift

In the fall of 1970, my family — version 3.0 — was winging its way to Europe. To explain the “upgrade,” which it was in…

Muse Rides Again

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.

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