Ta-ta Toronado
Memories and forgotten memories of North Park’s departing beer hub
Ian Anderson 8 a.m., Feb. 28
Bill Manson
Bill Manson writes cover stories and features for the San Diego Reader.
Some samples of his early writing:
July 25, 1996:Song for the Uprooted (mariachi music in TJ's Zona Norte)
March 19, 1998: Larry's Best Gal (interview with Larry Lawrence aide Norma Nicolls)
March 16, 1995: Coyote, Tarantula, Silence, Sea (the four corners of San Diego County)
Sept. 24, 1998: Cunanan's Last Laugh (computer game based on gay serial killer)
March 25, 1999: Kidnapped! (Georgina Crespo's abduction from Coronado Cays)
Articles by Bill Manson
The sex lives of Fred Clarke’s black orchids
“He has called it the ‘FredClarkeara After Dark.’”
What is it about orchids that turns sane people into obsessed collectors and fanatics? Especially the legendary black orchid? If you look, black orchids are everywhere and nowhere. Movies such as Black Orchids — a ...
How to write a sex scene like Tom Barry’s When the Siren Calls
Use hard expletives sparingly
“Restless and neglected, Isabel is suffocating in a stagnant marriage. An invitation to visit Jay’s resort in the hills of Tuscany sparks Isabel to imagine a life of freedom and excitement. She abandons herself in ...
Fear not, last-minute Lotharios
“On the day, it starts getting busy from 7 am and goes straight through to 7 pm”
At least one flower stand will be open early St. Valentine’s Day: The Flower Lady on Isabella and Orange in downtown Coronado. Shanel Albert and her partner and husband, Steve, will be up and making ...
Climate change candidate John Brooks frozen out
“Voting itself should be mandatory, just like going to the DMV to qualify for your license”
It has been hard going for John Brooks, the environmentalist candidate for San Diego’s Congressional District 53 since we talked with him last October 19th. As the elections have been getting closer, he has become ...
Ambling with San Diego Beach Rides
Hire a horse and ride through the river bottom lands.
Partly because it was International Wetlands Day last Saturday (February 1), I thought I’d do a hard-hitting investigation into how we are doing in San Diego. I got down to the Tijuana River Sloughs, famous ...
How California Gray whales make love
We call it “seeing Pink Floyd.”
Dominic the crewman throws the hawser aboard. “Clear!” he calls out. The Legend is outward bound, whale watching, 20 souls aboard. Fifteen minutes, a coffee, and a blueberry muffin later, I am climbing up to ...
Best Reader stories from 1999
Jesse Ventura, La Costa, amateur astronomers, beachside dwellers, TJ poets, father of jogging, Andrew Cunanan, Bompensiero, kidnapped at Coronado Cays
Was Jesse Ventura a SEAL or a UDT guy? Well, I thought, Jesse certainly looks and sounds like many SEALs I’d known during my 16 years in the Teams. But I’d never known or even ...
Marshall Saunders: creating an army of citizen lobbyists
How to address a congressman face to face
In a couple of days they’ll be memorializing Marshall Saunders, the San Diego man who tried to save the world. I considered him a dear friend even though I knew he had hundreds, maybe thousands ...
Michael Connolly Miskwish’s history of wildfires
By stopping the domination of any single species, you keep diversity open
Fire, as in the monstrous mega fires we’re seeing in Australia, has been front page news for weeks. But it is also something the Kumeyaay people have been speaking out about for years. Michael Connolly ...
