Monthly Archives: August 2008

IT doesn’t much matter whether you’re going to vote for him or not. The nomination this week of an African American as a major party presidential candidate marks an indelible moment in American history. Forty-five years to the day from … Continue reading →

It’s been a few years since I did a real backpacking trip into the Sierras. So we set a lofty goal last winter of finally scaling the lower 48′s highest peak, but failed to win the Mt. Whitney lottery, which … Continue reading →

Pasadena-born author David Ebershoff came back to town last week for a standing-room-only Vroman’s reading and signing of his new “The 19th Wife,” a fictional retelling of the life of Ann Eliza Young, the 19th bride of Mormon patriarch Brigham … Continue reading →

If the chilaquiles were not so spicy as in his home state of New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson was not heard to complain Thursday morning. The former Clinton administration UN ambassador held court in the gardens of Carolyn and Craig … Continue reading →

Michael Beck was introduced to Pasadena as its new city manager an hour ago in a short City Hall meet-and-greet. Unlike 17 years ago, the last time an outsider — Phil Hawkey – was selected to lead the troops here, … Continue reading →

It’s hard to find my review today of Pasadena novelist David Ebershoff’s new book, “The 19th Wife,” online, so I’ll post it here. (We’re working out some technical problems to better get our feature stories on the Web site.) Ebershoff … Continue reading →

At my mother’s family’s annual O’Brien reunion last week in the Palo Duro Canyon of the Panhandle of Texas, friendly fire broke out between supporters of the two presidential candidates. First the young people of our cabin papered the front … Continue reading →

Rarely is there good news on the endangered-species front. It’s all gloom and doom all the time, just like climate-change news: The critters are always dying off faster than we thought. The icebergs are always melting at double the previous … Continue reading →