Please understand my cousin P. and how she landed in the church and singles group that became notorious on account of Dale Akiki’s trial. P.’s a hero of mine. She got raised by a stern …
September 22, 1994
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Stories by Ken Kuhlken
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Inside Faith Chapel and through the Akiki trial
Living on my own at 16 in a La Mesa house
We later drove up Mount Helix and paced around the cross in the mountaintop park, staring all around, and every few minutes one of us would offer a reason why Eric couldn’t possibly die.
September 15, 1994
Rough sketch: rattlesnakes, outlaws, and hardship didn't deter Painter Charles Fries
I learned to write by watching my grandma at her easel. First she’d sketch, then stroke on the base colors, then dab until details began to appear. Around that time she’d step back, gaze, meditate, …
April 7, 1994
The Giveaway: Some Spring Valley Hippies Hit the Jackpot
A bushy-haired kid was hitchhiking on Sweetwater Road. I picked him up at the crest of the hill, just past the light at Kenwood. He mumbled something, hung his head crookedly so he could watch …
December 23, 1993
See Stephanie Steal. Watch Wyatt Smoke Dope. Hear Amber Cuss. See Vanessa Stab Her Sister. Watch Mom Call Toughlove.
Chester phoned and asked what I knew about Toughlove. I told him I’d look over a book somebody’d loaned me, call the person I got it from. Find out all I could, and get back …
September 30, 1993
Reporter Ken Kuhlken interviews novelist Ken Kuhlken
At the height of my ambition, I could write 12 or 14 hours straight. Afterward, I’d collapse and daydream while my mind decelerated. I might relive old times, check in on lost friends, brood about …
May 27, 1993
Mother Teresa's Tijuana legacy
A couple of years ago I was coming home from a wedding reception in Tijuana, in winter, about 2:00 a.m. While I waited in line at the border in drizzle and showers, a boy around …
January 7, 1993
Loss: what San Diegans left behind In 1992
Unlike 1984, when Ronald Reagan made it a point to finish his campaign at a giant rally in the parking lot of Fashion Valley, George Bush came to see the All-Star game and was booed by the locals.
December 23, 1992
A story of World War II Tijuana
Long ago, while my friend Steve, a cartoonist, and I sat lamenting our poverty, he suggested I write a short story for the swinging singles’ magazine to which he'd agreed to contribute a weekly strip. …
May 21, 1992
A guide to deep inside San Diego's golf courses
Seeking Tranquility in Bonita My father died on Christmas night 1961. The next day I went to Singing Hills Country Club and smashed balls until my arms, legs, brain, and the rest felt like bubble …
May 7, 1992