The Reader has started this series of its best stories from the past 52 years — 2600 cover stories and some remarkable interior features — to help make up for the loss of its physical …
April 16, 2025
Roger Anderson grew up in El Cajon, was part of early San Diego rock scene, wrote for alternative weeklies, and served as art director for the Washington Post.
Articles by Roger Anderson (RIP)
I was with Lester Bangs the day the music died
Short-lived writer Roger Anderson – author of this week's Midweek and Weekend Read
Roger Anderson, who wrote Wednesday's story on Lester Bangs at Altamont and Friday's on Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona, grew up in El Cajon, was part of early San Diego rock scene, wrote for alternative weeklies, …
April 14, 2025
Dead dolphin off La Jolla Cove
Every dive around San Diego yields discovery One of the oddest of these noises, an irregular bumping sound heard frequently in the rocks and ridges off the beaches from the La Jolla Caves south to …
July 23, 2023
With the Rolling Stones 500 miles north of El Cajon
Lester Bangs and me on Altamont the day the music died "We’re getting word that the free Rolling Stones concert planned for San Francisco is on,” the radio DJ said after spinning some platter. “The …
November 20, 2022
San Diego cops talk about prostitutes after the Stingaree
San Diego prostitutes after the Stingaree shut down When Guthrie joined the police force back in ’29, his superiors explained to him that sex was “nice and necessary” but needed to be kept quiet. “If …
October 3, 2022
I-15 mimics L.A traffic, when there were quail in Bonita
Traffic spares no one “People say, ‘You got a real transportation problem on the 15.’ Well, it’s less a transportation problem than it is a land-use problem. A lot of the people, because they can’t …
January 24, 2022
Early San Diego Italians, Grandmother hosted the Marstons and Fletchers, La Mesa as Hollywood
India Street and Beyond: A history of the Italian Community of San Diego, 1850-1980 Pietro Lusardi came to San Diego with his brother, Francesco. They ran sheep on Mt. Palomar, then built a 3000-acre sheep …
May 22, 2021
Been to Guatay, Buckman Springs, La Posta, Live Oak Springs, Boulevard, Bankhead Springs?
Dots on the Map Bankhead Springs is wholly owned by Helen, an 87-year-old woman who purchased it m 1939 with her husband Alvan. (The place is named after Senator John Hollis Bankhead of Arizona, who …
May 16, 2021
Beat Farmers, Norteno, Psychotic Waltz, Altamont with Lester Bangs
Birth of the Beat Farmers “Somewhere along in there, Herrera became partners with Jim Pagni, who brought in a lot of concerts in those days, and the Palace changed its name to JJ’s. Glory ended …
May 3, 2021