In 1972, Tony Tarantino was a street evangelist. A thin, gentle kid of 20 with bushy reddish hair, he roomed with his older sister up the street from the Spring Valley house where Laura and …
May 16, 2026
Kuhlken wrote feature stories for the Reader plus a column in the 2000s called Driven, interviewing car owners about their vehicles.
He was also the subject of a 2002 cover story by Judith Moore: "He Turns Out Hometown Heroes."Articles by Ken Kuhlken
Life at El Cajon Blvd.'s Hitching Post motel
Judith Moore's tough-fisted regime at the Reader
"Moore wants more," I would joke to myself.Busy Fingers Are Happy Fingers — Joe DeeganI couldn't find an angle to get my story started, I told her. "Forget all about angles," she then said with …
May 12, 2026
Reader writers – music that shaped their lives
The Woes Of A Woman In Love — Barbarella....We've reached the end of the line. I hope your dreams turn out fine.Notes Give Pathos to Clouds — Laura McNeal.... I played Beethoven's sonatas until the …
May 5, 2026
San Diego State not much different from the 1960s
At the risk of losing my job and alienating about half the people I know, I'm going to make a few observations about colleges and universities, San Diego State in particular.I would park, jump out, …
April 22, 2026
More good writers in San Diego than you thought
God’s Country RememberedMy wife and I are driving up El Cajon Boulevard. It hasn’t changed much, not really. Businesses come and go (there wasn’t anything remotely like the Hung Vuong Pho restaurant back then), but …
August 25, 2025
Tomato people say that tomatoes have 'no legs'
San Diego's best tomato breeds: Better Boys, Early Girls, Yellow Taxis The ripe round red tomato sitting on the kitchen table is alive and busy. While we are asking, “How shall I eat it?” the …
August 7, 2023
My friend's letters from Vietnam and the aftermath
I Quit, Love Clifford The army assigned Cliff to an infantry company. After basic training at Fort Ord, he visited home before his journey to Vietnam. One of those days, on the drive to Ocean …
October 17, 2022
Author Richard Rodriguez crosses turnstiles into Tijuana
Taken together as one, Tijuana and San Diego form the most fascinating city in the New World My first trip across: the late 1950s. We were on our way to visit relatives in Ensenada. We …
September 11, 2022
Serious Christian gets through the Akiki trial
Inside Faith Chapel and through the Akiki trial I wanted to jump up and shout the truth, that several thousand people go to Faith Chapel, and lots of them might believe in literal demons, while …
September 4, 2022