Escondido 7-11 clerk writes on his experiences

• A page or two out of Clifford Newman's book

• “Then these three guys come and I’m still on the phone with the dispatcher. And they’re standin’ there — with the gun and the burritos — and she goes, ‘Well, do you still want us to send somebody out?’’ (April 12, 1990)

• Book-lovers chew the fat at the Mission Hills Library

• “Mysteries,” says the sign above the shelves. From rows of books below, John Parker removes one hardback, examines the cover, opens to a page, not the first page. He reads a few lines." (September 21, 1989)

• Meet El Cajon garage band Psychotic Waltz

• "Some people are naturally rude,” Norm says. “Being in El Cajon here, everyone’s a crystal fiend, except for us. Every day we deal with weirdos and sketchers comin’ up that we can't stand.” (August 3, 1989)

• George Mitrovich's friends on reading — Gary Hart, Ben Bradlee, Richard Reeves, Gloria Steinem, George Plimpton

• "My library, which is more than a couple of thousand volumes, has been accumulated over a 35-year period. It’s the most diverse personal library that I’ve ever seen, and that includes the libraries of friends." (April 25, 1996)

• Sandra Dijkstra, literary agent, tells of her success with Amy Tan

• "I think that I have a sort of natural editorial tropism; it’s sort of innate in me. I have a sort of irrepressible publicist in me. I help my authors get the word out." (April 26, 1990)

• La Jolla artist Andy Lakey in the words of friends and famous

• Andy Lakey: 'I was born in '59. My mother and I moved to the United States in 1963. We're from France. My mother was an artist — and her mother, and her mother's mother." (April 25, 1991)

Mani Mir was a gifted writer invited to come from Berkeley to San Diego by Judith Moore. He wrote feature stories in the late 1980s and 1990s for the Reader.