He was a man. Take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again. — William Shakespeare, Hamlet WHEN I FIRST MOVED INTO an Oakland apartment in 1986 with John Woods “Wheels” “Spoonhead” “Calvin Biggins” Wheeler,…
Tag: In the Shadow of the Mountain
Tales of a quasi-spent youth.
Who Is This Prosatio Silban, And What Does He Want?
IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA’S DIABLO VALLEY c. 1978, Dungeons & Dragons was barely known outside the fantasy-and-science-fiction community. I first learned of it around that time via David Hargrave‘s Arduin: a created world not unlike J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, C.S. Lewis’…
Seeing Her
ALL I REMEMBER NOW ARE images, and the intimate passion of an infinite love. I remember the room of globes, of maps of worlds and wonders, soft with pillows and draped scarves. And She was there. And She knew me.…
Letter To A Dead Friend
Dear Sputnik, The attached photo of you arrived from a mutual friend two days ago, on what should have been your 48th birthday. I say “should” because it’s a primate conceit that the world be arranged according to our convenience.…
eulogy
This is what I said about Jim at his funeral: When studying to be a rabbi, I learned a tradition that says one should begin every public discourse with a jest. So here?s Jim?s and my very favorite shared joke…