It was one of those days when the beach is living cloisonne. Luminous layers of smooth gold, dappled brown, and rippling indigo. San Onofre State Beach on a bright February afternoon. To the north of …
June 16, 2026
Neal Matthews is a former Navy diver and parachute rigger who studied photojournalism and filmmaking at San Diego State University, then worked for ten years at the Reader. He moved on to be a contributing editor for New West/California Magazine, Boating, Travel Holiday, and Popular Photography. He has also written for the New York Times.
Matthews has worked on stories and shot photographs in about 20 countries plus Antarctica, and has won many journalism awards. He is married and currently lives and writes in San Diego, California, where he continues practicing underwater photography, a passion he developed in the Navy. His website is nealmatthews.com.
Articles by Neal Matthews (RIP)
How well are San Onofre nuclear plants run?
Randy Cunningham: what it's like to shoot down Russian MiG
Randy Cunningham taxied the F-4 Phantom onto the catapult aboard the USS Constellation, and both he and Bill Driscoll, the radar intercept officer in the back seat, turned to look at the spinning fingers of …
April 1, 2026
San Diego Padres inimitable pitcher Eric Show
To understand Eric Show, you must meet his dog Willie. The white bull terrier has a stout, compact body and the pointy face of a pterodactyl; and if he likes you, he’ll kill for you. …
March 6, 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
Teamsters man Rodger Whitehead mysteriously dead on K Street
About 5:15 Wednesday evening, March 7, Will Vukmanic arrived home from his job as a mail carrier and heard a strange sound coming from his locked garage. It was a low rumbling, like an idling …
March 4, 2026
Tight-lipped on the diesel sub Bluejack
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 28, 2026
Bob Hannibal was one of San Diego's good cops
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 7, 2026
Cucumber farmers gamble in Otay Mesa
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 22, 2025
He served as border gatekeeper for Mexican steers
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 …
November 7, 2025