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Joe Applegate

Applegate wrote feature stories for the Reader from 1976 through 1990. He is married to another former Reader writer, Jane Weisman Applegate.

Stories of note:

Dec. 2, 1976: Hillcrest (writing contest winner — Applegate's first story in the Reader)

May, 1978 Did Somebody Call a Cab?

July 13, 1978 Locked Up and Let Loose (TJ vs. San Diego jails)

Aug. 3, 1978 A Bump on the Head Could Kill Chris O'Rourke

May 24, 1979 Travels with My Father (author goes to Baja)

March 12, 1981 A Young Man A Troubled Life (a visit to the reformatory)

Aug. 6, 1981 Fire in the Valley (arson and a boy named Angel)

Dec. 10, 1981 Postcards from Western Civilization (tests of friendship)

March 4, 1982 Nobody Disturbs My Peace (on patrol with Sergeant Anderson)

June 3, 1982 Two by Two (author's wife gives birth to twins)

Dec. 2, 1982 What on Earth Am I Settling For? (reflections on domestic life)

April 14, 1983 Requiem for a Rebel (death on Encinitas train tracks)

Sept. 15, 1983 The Growl of Bulldozers Is the Sound of Money (boom in University City)

Sept. 29, 1983 They Oughta Be in Pictures (kids talent agency)

March 15, 1990 Everybody on Stage for the Forgiveness and Reconciliation Number (the story of Lamb's Players)

April 6, 1990 Plays in Words (interview with Neil Simon)

Articles by Joe Applegate

Reader writer and writer wife marry in Las Vegas

The Bride Wore Black LinenI can locate our Hour Farthest from God as being on the AstroTurf patio of the Little Chapel of the Bells. Cynthia had been expressing what I considered an eccentric fascination …

February 10, 2024
Bodysurfer zealots – from Tia Juana River mouth to Oceanside championship

Bodysurfers from Oceanside to the IB Pier A little further up the coast from Cartwright and Bye is the hermetic Boomer Beach crowd of La Jolla, with guys like "Dolphin" Don Riley, "Freeway" Dave Freeman, …

July 3, 2023
Florence Chadwick wants to lose 50 pounds

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
From the Pt. Loma Women's Club to the Spirit on Buenos

He brought punk rock to San Diego The patrons heading into the Spirit club shortly before nine on a recent Saturday night might have thought it peculiar that a large, paint-splattered wooden stepladder would be …

June 26, 2023
San Diego's experimental hobo

Harry Partch – San Diego's most famous musical rebel Each instrument looks more like a piece of sculpture, yet each is capable of producing the sounds inside of a normal musical sound. They are made …

June 24, 2023
Why the pelican eggs were thin and de-formed

The effect of DDT on the Coronados Islands pelicans I’m not sure why the birds on the north island of the Coronados are making such a racket. They're screaming so loudly it seems like the …

June 19, 2023
Best surfer to come from Windansea in years

A bump on the head could kill Chris O'Rourke Here at Windansea Beach in La Jolla, surfers prefer the Vespa motor scooter for solo transportation. This is a low, fat motorcycle that you'd be crazy …

June 17, 2023
Poolside shooting near UTC involving Selis and Wilf clans

University City massacre done by developer family donor They are the crème de crème of San Diego business and political society, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to both Democrats and Republicans, and in turn …

March 20, 2023
What they built in the trolley suburbs – Ocean Beach, Hillcrest, North Park

San Diego bungalows: Tudor, Dutch, French, Moorish, Egyptian, Spanish, and Mission Ron Wigginton, a young landscape designer who leads a well-ordered life, was out roaming the streets of Hillcrest one day four years ago, suddenly …

February 18, 2023
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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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