Inside the Self-Realization Fellowship The temple sits on the bluffs at the southern edge of Encinitas, perched beside the ocean and the community like a kind of 25-acre transplant from India, uprooted halfway around the …
June 10, 2023
Back to profile
Stories by Steve Esmedina (RIP)
Who's behind Encinitas' Swami's?
Overnight at San Diego's Full Gospel Rescue Mission
Scalding shower, green nightgown, beans and rye cocktail bread, and an offer from older man to "keep him company" I know I was supposed to stay overnight at the City Rescue Mission on Saturday. An …
June 5, 2023
1976 guide to surfspots, poetry, dance bars, Navy slang, where to park
1976 San Diego guide to surfing spots Tamarack, Swami's, Black's, Windansea, Ocean Beach, Needle's Eye, Ralph's, Tijuana Sloughs 1976 San Diego guide to sailing Mission Bay, Navy Sailing Club, Southwestern, Silvergate, Seaforth, Coronado and San …
September 19, 2022
1975 Reader guide to fishing, street theater, public bathrooms
1975 San Diego guide to fishing Freshwater, offshore, deep-sea 1975 San Diego guide to public bathrooms Downtown, night spots, La Jolla 1975 San Diego guide to street theater Where to find them and rules they …
September 18, 2022
Early San Diego Punk, Muzak all over town, exhibitionist Disco, Penetrators at the Hong Kong Cafe
Why Those Little Punks By Jeff Spurrier, Aug. 3, 1978 | Read full article The Zeros, in typically unpretentious fashion, have assumed the empty throne as San Diego's best New Wave band, and they show …
January 30, 2021
Golden Hills' Lomas gang vs. Barrio Logan's Red Steps; Lao vs. Cambodian gangs
Huero Walks Dopey and his friends flashed Red Steps hand signs back at the occupants of the white car as it headed toward Crosby Street. Dopey goes on to tell the jury that one of …
January 25, 2021
Best Reader stories from 1976
Who Are the Rosicrucians? The Rosicrucian Fellowship International Headquarters is located on top of Mount Ecdesia. just outside of downtown Oceanside. It’s a garden spot in an otherwise gritty town that makes its living hustling …
November 3, 2019
Best Reader stories from 1975
I tell them my name is Ernie Klein, I'm 42 years old, and I'm unemployed It's the day after Thanksgiving and I'm standing in line at the unemployment office. I'm near the end of my …
November 2, 2019
My admiration for Jerzy Kosinski's Painted Bird and Nelson Algren's Walk on the Wild Side
College professors strain to convince novitiates that the boring "masterpieces" of Western literature (Hemingway, Melville, James, etc.) deserve their reputations solely from the "test-of-time" standard. But I, for one, do not believe any worthwhile art …
December 20, 1990
You’ll see Crips, Bloods, and the Mickey Mouse Club driving around in circles
It is a humbling experience to return to the ghetto at night. To expect a few inconveniences on the way back to paradise has become a doleful routine for any denizen who resides in Southeast …
July 5, 1990
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
Pop music in San Diego, 1980
Beat Albums Releases Special Edition Peter Gabriel Get Happy! (Elvis Costello and the Attractions) Doc at the Radar Station (Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band) Full Force (Art Ensemble of Chicago) The Up Escalator (Graham …
December 18, 1980
1979: San Diego's year in review
Rape of the Earth Medal of Dishonor The year's most infamous award goes to the voters of San Diego, a majority of whom agreed to exchange 39 acres of prime canyonland in Balboa Park for …
December 20, 1979
Reader writer goes on the road with the Penetrators
"If I've had a nutritional meal in the last year, it’ll come as a surprise to my stomach," quips Dan McLain in between resounding burps. It is almost midnight and we are sitting outside a …
October 18, 1979
Inside NASSCO workers' lives
Ernie Ernie, 23, is a musician disguised as a milkman. He's an aspiring percussionist who makes his living in a drive-through dairy. By his own admission, the chores are elementary and tedious: stocking, waiting on …
May 19, 1977
1976 San Diego guide to Chicano slang
Al rato. So long; see you later. Bad Jam. Great song. Bunk. Anything false. Carnale. Buddy; friend; partner. Chavalo. Young guy. Chingazos (also Cabrongazos). Throwing mean blows; exchanging derogatory remarks. Cheeva. Heroin. C/S. Unimpeachable truth. …
October 7, 1976
1976 San Diego guide to dance bars
Serious bar-hopping in San Diego is an experience akin to reading a Raymond Chandler detective novel. Those who attempt to make their way through the different hot-spots around town are likely to feel, besides drunk …
October 7, 1976
Desolation row – Market Street from 12th to 14th
Toni Toni needs to get well real bad. He’s had the shakes all night, he’s sweating profusely, and he hasn’t slept in almost a week. The day before, a dealer named Eddie burned him with …
May 6, 1976
Lost In Logan Heights
He could get arrested for beating up kids he never saw before. He could spend a week in the National City Jail for shoplifting a can of spray paint. He could join the Marines.
March 11, 1976
Helen Copley works a change at San Diego's dailies
"No one can think for the American people. We believe it is our responsibility to ring out the truth loud and clear and to stimulate thought at the close personal level of the individual and …
November 6, 1975
1975 San Diego guide to bar bands
Usually, whenever anyone brings up the subject of a local pop music community, apology, bitterness, rationalization, and skepticism filter through the conversation. Everyone hits the chestnuts: San Diego is a musical desert. San Diego is …
October 9, 1975
Tijuana clubs – Mexican Disneyland
If film directors like Altman and Fellini ever run out of suitable sites for their confettilike pageantries, they might do well by turning towards Tijuana. The rolling hills, crippled streets, lopsided architecture, high pressure street …
September 4, 1975