Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith is a Reader contributor. See staff page for stories and blog entries.

Comments by jsmith

A Clipper what?

Imagine a team with Cage, Bill Walton, Swen Nater, and the late Jerome Whitehead banging the boards. Bring ON them Lakers! Bring ON them Celts!
— January 2, 2013 12:47 p.m.

A Clipper what?

And don't forget Randy Smith, and Freeman Williams (who never missed), and Sidney Wicks (though in decline), and Bingo Smith, and Kobe Bryant's dad Joe, and...
— December 20, 2012 10:50 a.m.

A Clipper what?

Hey, the way the Aztecs're playing, THEY may need a new arena. I'd love to see a game, and see the Show. But they're sold out, most likely from now on.
— December 20, 2012 10:46 a.m.

RIP Reader cover artist and underground comix legend Spain Rodriguez

I just heard this sad news. One of my prized possessions is a pristine copy of Zap Comics #2, and the immortal "Hog Ridin' Fools," in which the Checkered Demon pulls into a gas station offering six free tumblers - glasses, he assumes - if he fills his tank, and he says, "yeah - 6 free tumblers. That's just what I need when my anarchist buddies drop by - to drink lemonade."
— December 6, 2012 10:44 a.m.

Unforgettable: The Trail of Torment on Gold Mountain

A cliche but true. That was the problem I had with the various endings. Each was determined to conclude with a personal world view: they lived happily ever after; oh no, tragedy for sure. As if to make the story say "here's how life really is," rather than here's what actually happened. To the victor goes the dominant world view. I tried to track down leads in the Santa Clara Valley (census records, etc.) and in LA newspapers at the time and found nothing. Ah Chee and Tun Yow may have changed their names, which could explain why they disappear from public records.
— October 20, 2012 10:06 a.m.

Unforgettable: The Trail of Torment on Gold Mountain

No one knows. But that's not "fictive history." Fictive history would be to tag one of the contradictory endings to the story and tie everything up in a tidy little bow.
— October 19, 2012 noon

Letters from the End of the World, Part Two

Twister, I make it a habit never to read writers who preach.
— September 21, 2012 10:10 a.m.

Letters from the End of the World, Part Two

Jayallen, just the two parts. The books and articles listed in the "Sources" section are a place to go. Esp. Joanne Oppenheim's Dear Miss Breed. And the Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego has much to offer, including a current exhibit at the Museum of Man( that has the nameplate Tets carved for Clara Breed). I'm probably not supposed to say this - authorial distance and whatever - but I really connected with Tets. His intelligence, his humor, his love of books, and most of all how he faced adversity head-on.
— September 18, 2012 9:40 a.m.

Another Iliad

AW T - man it hurts to hear that. Isn't there some penance, some act of expiation you could do? Wait. Got it. Read Weil's pamphlet. With all your heart. Then pass it on. And hey, if that doesn't absolve you, the world's even harsher than she imagined!
— August 29, 2012 10:02 a.m.

Another Iliad

I like that. Someone asked theater director Anne Bogart if she chose plays for their political content. She said no. She chose the ones with the most "friction."
— August 26, 2012 10:03 a.m.