Previous Journeys
The act of writing is a journey, and these are some of the journeys I’ve taken.
An Inadvertent Revolution: Women on the World War II Home Front. I interviewed Emily Yellin, author of Our Mothers’ War, for the Berkeley Daily Planet in 2007. Yellin was to speak at a nearby event to commemorate the work of women known collectively as Rosie the Riveter, or sometimes Wanda the Welder, during that war. It’s a very fine book, informative and easy to read.
Chevron Access Needed for Richmond Bay Trail Link. This news article for the Berkeley Daily Planet began as a failed travel piece on the unexpected beauty of the part of the Bay Trail that moves through the beleaguered and much maligned city of Richmond, California. A few days after this story’s publication in Berkeley, the San Francisco Chronicle published a related story.
A Flashing Heaven of Luck. This interview with publisher John Martin of Black Sparrow Press was published in the North Bay Bohemian. I had wanted to walk into Martin’s publishing company to apply for a job for years while living in Santa Rosa, California. I finally got the courage to talk to him after landing the interview assignment, as the press was closing its doors for the last time. Martin was very gracious.
A Patriotic Act: The U.S. Patriot Act’s effect on booksellers. This article, written for OP magazine (later renamed Fine Books & Collections Magazine), was my first political piece. It required hours of research and interviews. What amazed me was that professionals — lawyers, booksellers — were very willing to talk to an amateur with almost no press credentials, simply to get the word out about an issue that they were passionate about.
Word Surprise: Gertrude Stein. I wrote this thesis over two long years, writing five pages by hand at my desk every day, in hopes of putting an end to my career as a perpetual student at San Francisco State University. One Saturday afternoon, a friend called to ask if I’d like to go see a movie with her. I declined, saying I had to work on my thesis. “When is it due?” she asked. “Two years from now,” I answered. She told me that was the worst rejection she had ever heard from anyone. We went to the movies.
Related post: Introduction: Background and Context
