MERCURYNEWS.COM: Jan 3, 2014
If you’re an American, you’ve somehow been touched by the Mississippi River. From the musings of Mark Twain to the birth of the blues and Dixieland jazz – the Mississippi is part of the patchwork of our nation’s history. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: January 1, 2014
Let’s start the year on an upbeat note – a musical note, at that. Readers have solved the greatest who-done-it in the history of 45 rpms. Or not. Continue reading
MERCURYNEWS.COM: December 6, 2013
As we get ready to deck the halls, we look to an old friend who keeps her Christmas lights up all year round. It’s San Francisco, the city of skyscrapers, Victorians and candlelit cafes. This holiday season she’s more brilliant than ever, thanks to a convergence of art called Illuminate SF — six eco-friendly light-art exhibits that are drawing visitors like moths to a flame. The seduction starts with the world’s largest LED light sculpture on the north side of the Bay Bridge’s western span. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: August 23, 2013
It’s Friday night and it looks like a street fair on Piedmont Ave. The line at Fentons Creamery snakes out the door. Ditto for Bar César and a half dozen other eateries. Add to the mix a new restaurant called Homestead (4029 Piedmont Ave.) – which can only intensify the buzz. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: April 26, 2013
Half the country is mad at a groundhog and the rest of us are celebrating spring. Mother nature sure has a sense of humor.
Of course, the weather is one of our drawing cards in California. It’s why we have so many Midwestern transplants. At some point, folks throw up their hands and say “Nine months of winter is too much.” And the other three months make up the second season — called road construction. Continue reading
OAKLANDTRIBUNE.COM: April 26, 2013
Marin County’s slick PR piece invites visitors to “step out to the end of the earth.” Consider yourself lucky that the end is near.
San Rafael’s famed Lucas Valley Road off 101 is a portal to a place seductively frozen in time. Almost immediately, you’ll enter a storybook setting of white picket fences and sprawling old oaks. Carmel-colored horses graze lazily on endless acres of velvet grassland punctuated by red barns and the occasional wooden sign marked “Winery ahead.” Continue reading
HILLS NEWSPAPERS: March 28, 2013
Some things in life come full-circle. Take acorns, for instance. Once used by early Californians for flour, these tannic oak offerings are making a comeback in one of California’s culinary hot spots — Sonoma. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: February 22, 2013
It was 1923 when a real estate agent nailed up a sign at the top of a dusty ridgeline road that read “Oakland, the Greatest City on the Pacific Coast — INVEST!” Continue reading
MONTCLARION: Nov. 21, 2012
It’s Black Friday. Honestly, couldn’t we have picked a more cheerful term for the kickoff to holiday shopping season? Black Friday sounds like the day aliens took over our planet. On second thought, maybe it’s apropos, considering the scene at the malls today.
But I digress. What I’d really like to ponder is the generosity of two East Bay men and a church group from St. Paul’s Episcopal in Walnut Creek. Together, they’ve given us a holiday gift. All we have to do is hop on a BART train to see it. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: November 1, 2012
Halloween is over. We don’t have to worry about things that go bump in the night. Or do we? With each passing week comes a new concern — something you can’t even see that is lurking underground, threatening homes, cars and even human life. It’s a dangerous thing called root damage. Continue reading
Ginny Prior 