John Chun

John Cox, a fifty-one-year-old marine engineer who lived in Japan, now lives in El Cajon with his wife Taneko. “When I get up in the morning, I look at my go board, and every day I oil it. ”

• Go solves the problem of most board games

• In San Diego most go players get that practice on Tuesday nights at the Balboa Club building at Sixth and Ivy. Here the Go Club meets, using the same room as the larger Chess Club. The weaker players, who tend to take longer in their games, arrive around seven, and the dan-level players usually come an hour later. (Feb. 8, 1979)

Richard Latrobe-Bateman

• Craftsman Richard Latrobe-Bateman rants at Mesa College

• "I can't just talk about my subject," began Richard Latrobe-Bateman. "I must talk about my view of the world is that I think we're actually doomed." This got the attention of the audience. A man with white hair rolled his eyes and looked at his wife. She stared at her hands. A student looked up from the book he was reading. The two dozen people who gathered at Mesa College on March 27 weren't anticipating such an introduction. ( April 2, 1987)

The Margrave of Brandenburg, since he was only a Margrave, had a rather small court and a rather puny lot of musicians.

• Introduction to Bach

• For someone brought up on rock, spoon-fed by the Stones. Beatles, and lesser luminaries of the musical tradition of the sixties, Bach is hard to approach. The instruments are all different (where is the guitar?). the tempo is strange. and the only dance that fits the beat is the minuet. How does one go about introducing himself to the world of Bach? (Feb. 15, 1973)

Jess Lopez: “That old man is not actually a Mexican; he is an Indian and very poor. He could never afford to pay his bills, so…”

• The last harvest

• Do not call them chicanos; they dislike the word. They are Mexican-Americans: the first, because their roots lie to the south; the second, because their sons and fathers have lived and died here. Most of the families along Second Avenue have lived in Escondido for forty or fifty years. (Nov. 3, 1977)

“The profit comes from the specials.”

Photo by Robert Burroughs

• Bingo: It won't get you to heaven, but it sure pays the rent

• My hands are a little clammy, and there is a marked beat at the temples. It is the last game of the night—a Blackout special—and on three of my four boards I have only three spaces uncovered. I actually have a chance. ( Aug. 18, 1977)

The courses are listed subjectively from best to worst.

Ian Dryden

• A guide to miniature golf

• La Mesa Rec Center may be the closest the San Diego area comes to an amusement park. It has five golf courses, 19 trampolines ($1.50 for adults), eight baseball batting cages (50c for 20 pitches), a couple dozen bumper cars ($1.25 per ride), and almost 200 games ranging from pong to traditional pinball. (Oct. 6, 1977)

Karl Keating, who wrote for the Reader from 1973 through 1987, worked as an attorney in downtown San Diego and then founded the apologetics organization, Catholic Answers.