Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Stephen Meyer and the Reader
Mary Alice Hill, the Butcher Shop, Ron Mix, USIU, Gagosian mansion, Barrio Logan trouble, UCSD Med School, SD Historical Society origins
“Early in my marriage, when I came home from bike races, my wife would meet me right at the airport gate. Then a year later she'd be in the lobby. Then at the baggage claim. Then out front. Then it was, ‘Take a cab.'"
Stephen Meyer wrote for the Reader from 1984 through 1987.
Editor's picks of stories Meyer wrote:
James Gibson saw the police before they saw him, and his walk turned out to be a run — straight south from Imperial Beach to Mexico.
You can run but you cannot hide (at least not in Tijuana)
- When two Mexican police officers and two FBI agents showed up at his beachfront Playas de Tijuana apartment on October 17, James Gibson had reason to suspect that his attempt to start a new life. (December 4, 1986)
Mary Alice Hill was the first woman who had ever been athletic director at a major college that plays football.
The Butcher Shop — Las Vegas glitz and mafia aura
- Roberto DePhilippis, the owner of the Butcher Shop Steak House, got very angry one night last spring. In fact he had been seething since November of 1985, when his landlord, the Plaza International Hotel in Mission Valley, sent him an eviction notice. (November 13, 1986)
The fall of Mary Alice Hill
- At 11:00 a.m. on July 24, 1985, a day one local writer called “Black and Blue Wednesday,” San Diego State University athletic director Mary Alice Hill abruptly fired two staff members and severed the contract of the athletic department’s promotional consultant. (September 25, 1986)
Willam Rust and the early troubles of USIU
- Between 1966 and 1971 Rust had taken a small liberal arts college, California Western University on Point Loma, and expanded it into an international phenomenon called USIU, with campuses in England; Kenya; Mexico City; Hawaii; Steamboat Springs, Colorado; and Scripps Ranch. (April 24, 1986)
La Jolla's storied Gagosian mansion
- Gaze due north along the Torrey Pines Cliffs from Scripps pier and it captures your eye. The Gagosian mansion, a gargantuan monument to conspicuous consumption, is marked by a bright green roof of oxidized copper and a 15-year history as bizarre as it is dense. Most recently appraised at $20 million, it is the biggest, most expensive house in La Jolla. (March 28, 1985)
The Tribune's Barry Bloom is probably disliked most for searching out “dirt” on players.
San Diego Padres vs. the Union and the Tribune
- "Sports writers have tremendous penis envy" says San Diego Padres catcher Terry Kennedy. “They're envious of our position, and they’re envious of our salaries. Every time they write about us, they rip us.” (July 3, 1986)
Mystery of the Gypsy Song
- Franke knows he won’t find the men, dead or alive. His one overriding desire is to find some shred of evidence that the Gypsy Song did in fact sink. “I just want to put that lady’s mind to rest,” he says time and again. “I’d like to find a piece of the mast, a lifejacket, some sign of the dinghy — anything to indicate the boat went down at sea.” (August 21, 1986)
Jess Haro, Rachel Ortiz, Chunky Sanchez
Bad blood in Barrio Logan
- As Alvin Ducheny and I roll through Barrio Logan in his dirty white Mercury Lynx, I ask him. “Why do so many people hate your guts, Al? You’d think you were a Communist or something.” (June 12, 1986)
"Do you think they consider who you really are? No. They look at MCATs and GPAs."
Don't be surprised if UCSD School of Medicine turns you down
- "The pre-med nerd sits in the front row in his classes and asks questions all the time to display his knowledge;' explains Hu. "Usually he already knows the answer. He takes furious notes and carries a tape recorder." (May 9, 1985)
His well-stretched muscles are long and sinewy — except his thighs, those bulging quadriceps. Like Popeye’s forearms, they are hyperbolic, curvaceous caricatures of the human thigh.
The calculated risk
- Phone call. Long distance. Late one night in September. “John,” said a female voice John Howard recognized as that of his ex-wife in Houston. “I’ve been having these dreams, John.” “Dreams?” “Bad dreams. Dreams that ..." (November 15, 1984)
Rick Crawford, Gregg Hennessey. “When did San Diego finally connect with the East by rail?” “Eighteen eighty-three, of course,” replies Crawford.
Why we even have the San Diego Historical Society
- There is something eminently civilized about standing downtown at Broadway and Fourth Avenue and knowing who Alonzo Horton was, knowing that when he arrived from San Francisco in 1867 he commented that San Diego Harbor was the finest he’d ever seen; that he surveyed the flat sagebrush dustbowl that is now downtown, a vast expanse of southwest desert hardpan, and had a great vision. (October 4, 1984)
Ron Mix. Over a three-year period, the former Charger had left 150 telephone messages at McKee’s office.
The long trial of Charger Hall of Famer Ron Mix
- Those who know Mix find it hard to believe he is capable of wrongdoing; one attorney says, “He’s known for paying attention to the little guy. I’ve never heard anyone say anything bad about him.” (October 31, 1985)
Pal of Hemingway, Peron, Cardenas, and B. Trevan ends up in San Diego
- Ernest Hemingway was good company, but his drinking and hard living were difficult to keep up with. Argentinian president Juan Peron was either a tad insincere, or he didn’t dare challenge the will of his legendary wife, Eva. (January 8, 1987)
Here's something you might be interested in.
Stephen Meyer and the Reader
Mary Alice Hill, the Butcher Shop, Ron Mix, USIU, Gagosian mansion, Barrio Logan trouble, UCSD Med School, SD Historical Society origins
Stephen Meyer and the Reader
Mary Alice Hill, the Butcher Shop, Ron Mix, USIU, Gagosian mansion, Barrio Logan trouble, UCSD Med School, SD Historical Society origins
“Early in my marriage, when I came home from bike races, my wife would meet me right at the airport gate. Then a year later she'd be in the lobby. Then at the baggage claim. Then out front. Then it was, ‘Take a cab.'"
Stephen Meyer wrote for the Reader from 1984 through 1987.
Editor's picks of stories Meyer wrote:
James Gibson saw the police before they saw him, and his walk turned out to be a run — straight south from Imperial Beach to Mexico.
You can run but you cannot hide (at least not in Tijuana)
- When two Mexican police officers and two FBI agents showed up at his beachfront Playas de Tijuana apartment on October 17, James Gibson had reason to suspect that his attempt to start a new life. (December 4, 1986)
Mary Alice Hill was the first woman who had ever been athletic director at a major college that plays football.
The Butcher Shop — Las Vegas glitz and mafia aura
- Roberto DePhilippis, the owner of the Butcher Shop Steak House, got very angry one night last spring. In fact he had been seething since November of 1985, when his landlord, the Plaza International Hotel in Mission Valley, sent him an eviction notice. (November 13, 1986)
The fall of Mary Alice Hill
- At 11:00 a.m. on July 24, 1985, a day one local writer called “Black and Blue Wednesday,” San Diego State University athletic director Mary Alice Hill abruptly fired two staff members and severed the contract of the athletic department’s promotional consultant. (September 25, 1986)
Willam Rust and the early troubles of USIU
- Between 1966 and 1971 Rust had taken a small liberal arts college, California Western University on Point Loma, and expanded it into an international phenomenon called USIU, with campuses in England; Kenya; Mexico City; Hawaii; Steamboat Springs, Colorado; and Scripps Ranch. (April 24, 1986)
La Jolla's storied Gagosian mansion
- Gaze due north along the Torrey Pines Cliffs from Scripps pier and it captures your eye. The Gagosian mansion, a gargantuan monument to conspicuous consumption, is marked by a bright green roof of oxidized copper and a 15-year history as bizarre as it is dense. Most recently appraised at $20 million, it is the biggest, most expensive house in La Jolla. (March 28, 1985)
The Tribune's Barry Bloom is probably disliked most for searching out “dirt” on players.
San Diego Padres vs. the Union and the Tribune
- "Sports writers have tremendous penis envy" says San Diego Padres catcher Terry Kennedy. “They're envious of our position, and they’re envious of our salaries. Every time they write about us, they rip us.” (July 3, 1986)
Mystery of the Gypsy Song
- Franke knows he won’t find the men, dead or alive. His one overriding desire is to find some shred of evidence that the Gypsy Song did in fact sink. “I just want to put that lady’s mind to rest,” he says time and again. “I’d like to find a piece of the mast, a lifejacket, some sign of the dinghy — anything to indicate the boat went down at sea.” (August 21, 1986)
Jess Haro, Rachel Ortiz, Chunky Sanchez
Bad blood in Barrio Logan
- As Alvin Ducheny and I roll through Barrio Logan in his dirty white Mercury Lynx, I ask him. “Why do so many people hate your guts, Al? You’d think you were a Communist or something.” (June 12, 1986)
"Do you think they consider who you really are? No. They look at MCATs and GPAs."
Don't be surprised if UCSD School of Medicine turns you down
- "The pre-med nerd sits in the front row in his classes and asks questions all the time to display his knowledge;' explains Hu. "Usually he already knows the answer. He takes furious notes and carries a tape recorder." (May 9, 1985)
His well-stretched muscles are long and sinewy — except his thighs, those bulging quadriceps. Like Popeye’s forearms, they are hyperbolic, curvaceous caricatures of the human thigh.
The calculated risk
- Phone call. Long distance. Late one night in September. “John,” said a female voice John Howard recognized as that of his ex-wife in Houston. “I’ve been having these dreams, John.” “Dreams?” “Bad dreams. Dreams that ..." (November 15, 1984)
Rick Crawford, Gregg Hennessey. “When did San Diego finally connect with the East by rail?” “Eighteen eighty-three, of course,” replies Crawford.
Why we even have the San Diego Historical Society
- There is something eminently civilized about standing downtown at Broadway and Fourth Avenue and knowing who Alonzo Horton was, knowing that when he arrived from San Francisco in 1867 he commented that San Diego Harbor was the finest he’d ever seen; that he surveyed the flat sagebrush dustbowl that is now downtown, a vast expanse of southwest desert hardpan, and had a great vision. (October 4, 1984)
Ron Mix. Over a three-year period, the former Charger had left 150 telephone messages at McKee’s office.
The long trial of Charger Hall of Famer Ron Mix
- Those who know Mix find it hard to believe he is capable of wrongdoing; one attorney says, “He’s known for paying attention to the little guy. I’ve never heard anyone say anything bad about him.” (October 31, 1985)
Pal of Hemingway, Peron, Cardenas, and B. Trevan ends up in San Diego
- Ernest Hemingway was good company, but his drinking and hard living were difficult to keep up with. Argentinian president Juan Peron was either a tad insincere, or he didn’t dare challenge the will of his legendary wife, Eva. (January 8, 1987)