Chained

UNITED STATES—The advent of the chain store, Long’s, just a block from his Main and East Lake corner, caused my dad a great deal...

Drug-Store-Go-Round

UNITED STATES—The drug store was a place where the community manifest itself. People could make any old comment about the weather and it would...

Remembering Dad

UNITED STATES—Whenever we were on a trip my dad would get anxious and phone the drug store. This seemed a gross interruption of our...

Small Pharma

UNITED STATES—When I was in Mexico, a place where time-capsules have a better life expectancy than in California, I would come across these drug...

John Steinbeck Schlepped Here

UNITED STATES—Anybody who can take a cross-country trip with a dog and write a book has my respects. Mine is barely learning to let...

The Bitter End

UNITED STATES—Newton was in the mist of a siesta, recovering from a rigorous morning of sun and much traffic, dropping off a screenplay with...

The End Of The World Part II

UNITED STATES—The Grimes had a neighbor who had no manners. It was embarrassingly obvious even to the youngest Grimes, Max. Any fool with eyes...

The End Of The World

UNITED STATES—As the youngest of his children prepared to leave the nest—not tomorrow or the next day, but inevitably it would happen—the old vices...

A Week With Two Mondays

UNITED STATES—The national holiday fell on a Tuesday. It was not one of the movable holidays, so there was a buoyant Monday, that felt...

Julia

UNITED STATES—Well, I had an English student named Berta in a class I was substituting. She had a motto that she got from her...