I’ve started a new series on some classic old bars of the East Bay.
Here’s the first one, published on Berkeleyside:
From bait shop to beloved dive: Oakland’s Kingfish Pub and Café has a fascinating history
Category Archives: Oakland
Fighting off worry in the midst of beauty
The counties to the north–Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino–are still on fire as I write this. Some people, unable to go back to check, still don’t know for sure if they have homes anymore. All those affected by these raging fires have been on my mind over the past few days. Living in the Bay Area,… Continue Reading
The Case of the Reclaimed Redhead
If you were a fan of the old Perry Mason show, you might remember that the episodes usually had titles like this, with a clever (or not so clever) alliteration that let you know what was about to happen. This story doesn’t have anything to do with Perry Mason, and it’s not really a “case”… Continue Reading
Aunt Augusta’s Chair
An excerpt from my book, in which a special chair follows our family through many transitions. This is from one of the “artifact” chapters that are woven into the story of the fire’s aftermath. There is only one black and white photo in the book, but there are so many more… I first saw this… Continue Reading
Memories of The Full House
As the phrase goes, “there is no there there.” And as every Oaklander knows, Gertrude Stein’s famous reference to the loss of her childhood home and the discovery that the city of Oakland had changed dramatically during the years she lived abroad (and more about that here in an excellent piece by Matt Werner), is… Continue Reading