Feature Stories
I am not dying of any particular disease; I am dying, like all of us, a day at a time. Yet, the dialogue with death that I severed when I was an adolescent has begun …
Unlike, say, rock-and-roll bands, classical musicians in a quartet are not required to exhibit personalities as they perform. A tuxedoed homogeneity and a serious sameness of expression will do nicely, thank you. If the performers …
The Life of a MinerIn August of 1870, when Louis Redman went to pick wild grapes along a creek over the mountain from Julian, he happened upon the American Dream. Something glinted in the rust-colored …
When he was ten miles from Placerville, in 1851, gold fever struck J.D. Borthwick hard. Five men slung heavy pickaxes by the roadside. They looked like “so many grave diggers,” but much more determined. Borthwick, …
Bella has just finished telling me that, yes, she absolutely does believe in racial color-blindness. “I live it every day,” she says. “I’m married to a white man, and I don’t look at him and …
Albert Seeley ran the U.S. Mail stage line from San Diego to Yuma and Los Angeles. In 1868, Seeley bought the Bandini residence in Old Town. When Alonzo Horton heard Seeley wanted to convert it …
San Diego may be unique in American history as the only city that changed locations. In 1871, the county seat moved three-and-a-half miles south, from Old to New Town. The change, literally, tore the city …
At 10:25 a.m. on the last Wednesday in October, the auditorium at Adams Elementary School in Normal Heights buzzes with the voices of parents and children waiting for the student-recognition assembly to begin. The parents …
In last week’s cover story, we described how two of America’s richest and most powerful oil barons took a small La Jolla hotel called Del Charro and turned it into an unlikely base for their …
Partiers began to arrive at Hector Cortes’s San Marcos home about 5:00 p.m. His common-law wife had decorated the garage with a “Happy Birthday” banner and set up chairs and a big table for food …
Burning bright for seven years, a Depression-era venture in Tijuana lit up the blueprint that Las Vegas would follow. The old Agua Caliente is the subject of Satan’s Playground: Mobsters and Movie Stars at America’s …
I still live for the holiday season. I love hearing The Nutcracker Suite. But it’s a different feeling now. I am not jolted by adrenaline but filled with sadness because something is missing. People still …
Whenever I say, “I am from the Faroe Islands,” the most common reaction I get is “Sorry, what, where is that?” So here is a brief description of the Faroe Islands before we continue: The …
PrologueNow that I’m getting into my late 60s, I’m developing a gag reaction to jewelry in particular and sales in general. Just one problem: it’s how I’ve made my living since 1975. But writing is …
For almost 30 years Mike has helped build casinos and hotels in San Diego, Las Vegas, and even Honolulu. For several Gucci stores, he has handcrafted shell-shaped archways surrounded by exotic veneers. His work is …
What’s in the sack? That’s all they care about.Is it a rock or a rolled-up giraffe?Is it pickles or nickels or busted bicycles?And if we guess it, will you give us half?Do they ask where …