Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Missive in a bottle

A couple of ex–Point Loma High teachers find a book in a bottle of wine.
A couple of ex–Point Loma High teachers find a book in a bottle of wine.

Nice Legs is the title of a collection of short stories published by guitarist Jack Beddows and a songwriter-producer named Larry Zeiger. Each of the stories, they tell the Reader, was inspired by the drinking of a type of wine, hence the title. “It’s when you have a glass of wine,” explains Zeiger, “and you swirl it around and hold it up to the light and see ‘legs’ running down the insides?”

“That’s an indication of quality,” Beddows says. “You say, ‘Nice legs!’”

The wine-drinking was a form of after-work therapy during a time when both men were employed as teachers at Point Loma High School. “We each wrote our own stories,” says Beddows. “The idea of the book was how the writing process took place. We’d pick a theme based on a bottle of wine.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

“For example, the first story,” says Zeiger, “‘Migration Pino Noir’ — that reminded me of when I moved to San Diego, first time in California, and the culture shock I experienced.”

Beddows says that the drinking and story-telling became a weekly meet-up. The two would select a wine and then challenge each other to come up with a true and personal tale.

“And pretty soon into the process,” Zeiger says, “we knew we had a book. This process started during my last year at Point Loma High, when there was all sorts of political stuff going on in the school administration.”

“All kinds of craziness,” echoes Beddows. “It was through wine that we had these revelations.” With the publication of the book, had their creative socializing come to an end? “No. We still get together and drink.”

“Not heavily,” Zeiger cautions. “Only two glasses.”

Zeiger retired in 2007 after 33 years of teaching cinema arts, musical theater, and language arts. He once told the Reader he gave pop star Adam Lambert his first studio break in 2000 when the then-teen recorded a song for Zeiger’s musical Sweating Palms — A Steamy Tale of Passion with a Coffee Aroma.

Jack Beddows is a classically trained composer with a pair of self-released guitar albums to his credit. He’s working on a new novel and teaches guitar, piano, and yoga. He was a San Diego Book Awards finalist in 2011 for his memoir titled The Amazing Adventures of Captain Immunity. Is there a Nice Legs Volume 2 on the horizon?

“A TV series is what we really want,” Beddows says.

“A million copies sold,” Zeiger grins. “Movie deals.”

For more information about Nice Legs and a schedule of signing events, go to facebook.com/larry.zeiger.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Encanto girl who wouldn’t give up writing

From True Confessions to Oceanside massage parlor
Next Article

World Naan Festival, Central Valley Reptile Expo

Events November 16-November 20, 2024
A couple of ex–Point Loma High teachers find a book in a bottle of wine.
A couple of ex–Point Loma High teachers find a book in a bottle of wine.

Nice Legs is the title of a collection of short stories published by guitarist Jack Beddows and a songwriter-producer named Larry Zeiger. Each of the stories, they tell the Reader, was inspired by the drinking of a type of wine, hence the title. “It’s when you have a glass of wine,” explains Zeiger, “and you swirl it around and hold it up to the light and see ‘legs’ running down the insides?”

“That’s an indication of quality,” Beddows says. “You say, ‘Nice legs!’”

The wine-drinking was a form of after-work therapy during a time when both men were employed as teachers at Point Loma High School. “We each wrote our own stories,” says Beddows. “The idea of the book was how the writing process took place. We’d pick a theme based on a bottle of wine.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

“For example, the first story,” says Zeiger, “‘Migration Pino Noir’ — that reminded me of when I moved to San Diego, first time in California, and the culture shock I experienced.”

Beddows says that the drinking and story-telling became a weekly meet-up. The two would select a wine and then challenge each other to come up with a true and personal tale.

“And pretty soon into the process,” Zeiger says, “we knew we had a book. This process started during my last year at Point Loma High, when there was all sorts of political stuff going on in the school administration.”

“All kinds of craziness,” echoes Beddows. “It was through wine that we had these revelations.” With the publication of the book, had their creative socializing come to an end? “No. We still get together and drink.”

“Not heavily,” Zeiger cautions. “Only two glasses.”

Zeiger retired in 2007 after 33 years of teaching cinema arts, musical theater, and language arts. He once told the Reader he gave pop star Adam Lambert his first studio break in 2000 when the then-teen recorded a song for Zeiger’s musical Sweating Palms — A Steamy Tale of Passion with a Coffee Aroma.

Jack Beddows is a classically trained composer with a pair of self-released guitar albums to his credit. He’s working on a new novel and teaches guitar, piano, and yoga. He was a San Diego Book Awards finalist in 2011 for his memoir titled The Amazing Adventures of Captain Immunity. Is there a Nice Legs Volume 2 on the horizon?

“A TV series is what we really want,” Beddows says.

“A million copies sold,” Zeiger grins. “Movie deals.”

For more information about Nice Legs and a schedule of signing events, go to facebook.com/larry.zeiger.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Economical freezer-filling rockfish trips

Long-range season begins with a bang
Next Article

The White-crowned sparrow visits, Liquidambars show their colors

Bat populations migrate westward
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader