To commemorate Father's Day, this issue contains a collection of reflections from Reader writers about their fathers:The Last Tag Sale — Jeanne SchintoAn Air of Exoticism — Duncan ShepherdKinder Than I Would Think Possible — …
June 20, 2026
In 1985, Judith Moore, a Berkeley writer, was brought to San Diego to write feature stories for the Reader. In 1986, Moore began to take on the role of senior editor. Moore conducted and wrote a weekly interview with renowned writers.
Her own books include The Left Coast of Paradise: California and the American Heart (1987), Never Eat Your Heart Out (1997), and Fat Girl: A True Story (2006). Judith Moore was awarded two NEA Fellowships for literature. In 1995, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship. She died in 2007.
Some of her early Reader stories included:
Mananimal (philosophizing about the San Diego Zoo — Moore's first story written for the Reader, Jan. 27, 1983)
The Girls of Summer (interviews with teenagers on the beach, Aug. 28, 1986)
Angel of the Apocalypse (Herbert Marcuse's years at UCSD, Sept. 11, 1986)
Her Little Girl (Moore's grandmother, Aug. 27, 1987)
In the Beauty of the Lilies (interview with John Updike, Feb. 29, 1996)
How Far We Came To Be Here and How Much Along the Way We Lost (Thanksgiving dinner, Nov. 26, 1997)
Articles by Judith Moore (RIP)
The Reader's Father's Day extravaganza
California improved Okies at Balboa Park
An August Sunday afternoon, lemonade weather. Leaves drooped on Balboa Park's giant eucalyptus. The Home States picnic, an annual event of America's Finest City Week, sponsored by the San Diego Junior Chamber of Commerce, drew …
May 26, 2026
San Diego's famous tomatoes
The ripe round red tomato sitting on the kitchen table is alive and busy. While we are asking, “How shall I eat it?” the tomato is huffing and puffing, sending signals throughout its meat and …
March 23, 2026
San Diego Reader writers tell their dream stories never written
STEPHEN ESMEDINAStephen EsmedinaA number of years ago, I was persuaded by a guileful siren with designs on the music biz to share my lowly downtown apartment for “a couple of days” with the great but …
March 5, 2026
The real San Diego Zoo
The Reader has started this series of its best stories from the past 52 years — 2600 cover stories and some remarkable interior features — to help make up for the loss of its physical …
February 16, 2026
The elusive Putnam sisters behind Balboa Park's Timken Gallery
The Reader has started this series of its best stories from the past 52 years — 2600 cover stories and some remarkable interior features — to help make up for the loss of its physical …
January 26, 2026
San Diego's short people
The Reader has started this series of its best stories from the past 52 years — 2600 cover stories and some remarkable interior features — to help make up for the loss of its physical …
December 31, 2025
Judith Moore's favorite winter writing
The Reader has started this series of its best stories from the past 52 years — 2600 cover stories and some remarkable interior features — to help make up for the loss of its physical …
December 29, 2025
San Diego's Prince and Pauper bookstore – the minds behind it
The Reader has started this series of its best stories from the past 52 years — 2600 cover stories and some remarkable interior features — to help make up for the loss of its physical …
December 19, 2025