Early on a foggy morning in the mid 1950s, Jim “Mouse” Robb stopped by the Ocean Beach lifeguard station. The men on duty were his friends. Until the year before, he had worked beside them …
August 17, 2016
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Stories by Rick Geist
Ode to O.B.'s Jim “Mouse” Robb
Reader writers: the story I wanted to write... but didn't
Sandy and a girlfriend had gone into a liquor store, robbed the clerk, They locked the clerk in a walk-in cooler. Sandy started feeling bad about the guy. She went back and let him out.
October 5, 1989
Whales of Baja's San Ignacio Lagoon
The Pacific Ocean swung at anchor several miles inside the entrance shoals of San Ignacio Lagoon. I hadn’t expected this place to be so big. Neither had I expected so many whales, such abundance of …
May 18, 1989
Sea urchin blackouts are gone at Point Loma, but now Japanese want them
Each urchin is worth about 75 cents to the divers, and by the time it reaches a sushi bar in San Diego, the five pads of sex organ from a single urchin are worth 15 to 20 dollars.
March 9, 1989
Frost Hardwood does its lumber number
Al Frost was a shrewd businessman. By specializing in hardwoods with their myriad uses, the company has avoided the up and down cycles of the construction and softwood lumber businesses.
November 17, 1988
Firemen on Southeast San Diego's Engine 12
Firefighters in this city have a 100% injury rate. That means everyone gets hurt sometime. Their profession is more dangerous than coal mining, which is more dangerous than being a cop. Maybe this is part of the appeal.
October 22, 1987
The San Diego-San Ysidro trolley, late at night
On the San Diego Trolley, the decision to buy a ticket or not is up to you. It's called the honor system. When I first heard about the trolley in 1981, the implications of honor …
June 25, 1987
San Diego's New Hope went down with all hands. Except one.
For an instant, Benny heard them again, those last shouts. He saw the sea leaping. He’d survived. Benny sat on the straight-backed chair under the single light at his desk. The shotgun stared at him, …
March 19, 1987