Oakland, Diesel Books

This is a drive we know, from Santa Barbara to San Francisco. During our two years in Santa Barbara we would drive up to see Aki and Brian (of Oblong Books post, way back in Rhinebeck) to visit them at the Union Street School of Acting and Cooking.
This are familiar views, of ocean and vineyards, and those soft yellow hills with dark green live oaks.

It's a sunny, breezy Saturday in Oakland which has not seen much sun this Spring, and Rockridge feels festive. Diesel Books is very well prepared for our visit. Here's John pointing at the window full of his books. Dressed in his travel attire.

And the table displays remind the store's visitors. It's simple, but not everyone does it.

Grant welcomes us. The team will clear away the movable shelves to make room for the audience.

In the meantime, John and I take a stroll through the pretty neighborhood with my sister Mary Jo and her good pal Rebecca who have come down from Santa Rosa for the fun.

John goes to do an interview with Ed Guthman for the SF Chronicle while we ladies share delicious pizza at Oliveto.
It's a very good crowd, all the seats full and SRO and Grant does a very good introduction.(Grant, will you send it so I can post it?) John reads "On the Hip" which involves opium, to a crowd that loves it.

John's Q& A is always good, but here he has some local observations. As we walked the neighborhood I saw the street sign "Manila Street". Then there was Taft, Lawton and Shafter, and it was of course John who knew that Taft was the first US appointed Governor of the Philippines, and Lawton and Shafter were US Generals in the Fil-Am War. Impressive?
We have just driven through Milipitas where AMIGO will open on August 19 because of the large Filipino population there, so we aren't surprised to find Fil-Ams in the audience. We ARE surprised and so pleased to meet Abe Ignacio and Jorge Emmanuel, authors of THE FORBIDDEN BOOK:The Philippine-American War in Political Cartoons. This was one of John's sources and I know that Abe and Jorge will be pleased to see the way John uses cartoons and illustrations to tell A MOMENT IN THE SUN.

I know that Abe and Jorge will help us get people in to see AMIGO and I can't wait to introduce them to our distribution team. It pleases me to introduce Bing to one of his elders, two generations of Fi-Am activists, meeting in a great bookstore, around a book that means a lot to them.

Sorry for the poor focus. Bing, be in touch?
And then the old friends!

OMG. Next to me in Caroline Mitchell Hall from Williams College Class of "73, Our PGW boss Elise, and her college pal Deborah Hall. Then Ita Roberts' pal Ann about whom I have heard so much

And the new partners, Caroline's Michael Mitchell, and Marta MacDonald's JB Lowe. Sweet.
Here we are with lots of McSweeneys

Elise Cannon of PGW, Adam Krefman  from McSweeny's and finally the Editor of A MOMENT IN THE SUN, Jordan Bass. Thank you, Diesel Books. It was one of the best nights of the tour.