Florence Chadwick in and out of the water Many years earlier, on her return to San Diego from a trip abroad, Chadwick had been greeted by city officials with considerably more pomp - a jubilant …
July 1, 2023
Amy Chu served as calendar editor and wrote feature stories for the Reader in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Articles by Amy Chu
Florence Chadwick wants to lose 50 pounds
What's left of San Diego's Chinatown
The Climb to Gold Mountain: San Diego's Chinatown Joe Quin has a wholesale produce business at 431 Third Avenue, between Island Avenue and J Street. He and his family live above the lugs of vegetables …
April 23, 2023
Rudford's blue plate waitresses
Blue plate special "I’ve worked at Rudford’s since 1965. Twelve years altogether — I left three times. I used to get mad at something and I'd go back and quit. Some of the girls have …
May 7, 2022
San Diego's eccentric craftsmen
Arts and crafts and controversy "In the beginning, when the group was smaller and more homogeneous, it was possible to have a unanimous vote on a new member, but now, with the active membership numbering …
April 16, 2022
Spreckels and the train over Carrizo Gorge, Ike and S.D. Country Club
140-Mile Mistake Ritz calls the Chinese the railroad’s “unsung heroes,” but new evidence suggests that labor problems were perhaps the major reason why the railroad took so long to be built. The route of the …
January 17, 2022
Jamul townies vs. Indians, Santa Ysabel honors Steve Ponchetti
Jamul Residents Wage Indian Blood Battle over Gaming Site Back in 1963, Shipek says, the Jamul band asked her to assist them in establishing their California Indian ancestry. “I took oral histories from some of …
January 8, 2022
San Diego actors' worst stories, he guards Volcan Mountain, community college adjunct
Break a Leg In 1993, Hal Holbrook was performing King Lear in the title role. Tom Hall, a San Diego actor, likes to tell the story. Hal came on too soon and started a completely …
October 24, 2021
Alexander Theroux's father and brothers, Amy Chu's mother, Matt Lickona's grandparents
Decent Life Led by the Ordinary Man I will never forget the time a monsignor from our church, favoring our simple household with a visit, stopped by and in the course of dinner, sat back, …
August 21, 2021
Sky diving above Otay Mesa, roller blading at Civic Center garage
Just Flop The camaraderie among skateboarders goes beyond advanced skaters tolerating beginners and into the realm of solidarity. “Totally,” he said, “because there’s an us-against-the-world feeling. It’s the last kind of rebel-spirited outlaw activity that …
July 31, 2021