Alexander Stuart

Courtesy of The Union Democrat. Many thanks to Gary Linehan and the Union Democrat for their excellent piece about the Writer's Retreat in Columbia this weekend, and for writing so generously about me. Anyone interested in attending the retreat should contact Jill Klajic-Ryan on 209-743-8097. I am speaking at a lunch at the Columbia House Restaurant (recently The Black Bart Skillet) on Main Street in Columbia on Sunday September 30, from 12:30-2:30pm.

WATCH this brilliant and hilarious SIMPSONS VOTING VIDEO - and also fight to ensure that everyone is actually allowed to vote, even if they don't have ID...or are black...or poor...or students...or yellow cartoon characters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArC7XarwnWI&feature=player_embedded Since requiring ID to vote is a Republican idea, I think only registered Republicans should be required to show ID! Thanks to @RafalcaRomney, Mitt's dressage horse, for this one :)

Two children walk up a dirt road in Chavez Ravine in 1950. Photo Leonard Nadel, courtesy of the Southern California Library for Social Studies & Research. There is an absolutely fascinating article about a lost chapter of Los Angeles history on KCET's website, as part of Hispanic Heritage Month.   KCET is the Los Angeles-based community television station for southern and central California. Chavez Ravine, now known best as the hillside above which Dodger Stadium perches, was once the site of a thriving Mexican-American community, dating back as far as 1844, when Julian Chavez acquired 83 acres encompassing a narrow valley northwest of the city center. Chavez was a native of New Mexico who had arrived in Los Angeles in the 1830s, and who promptly became a leading political figure. The story of how the community developed (actually as three distinct neighborhoods: Bishop, La Loma and Palo Verde), with goats grazing on hillsides and residents raising domesticate

Photograph copyright 2012 Alexander Chow-Stuart. We have our own Sonora Democratic HQ - not bad for some pretty Republican territory. Does Romney even have an office here?  (Maybe he has 53% of an office - minus the 47%:)   There's a grand opening ceremony this Friday September 21 from 5-7pm.  The address is: 47 Washington Street, Sonora, CA 95370 - tel: 209-588-9288. Major kudos to Barbara Farkas on this one! And remember to vote for President Obama - and a Democratic Congress - in November!

Many thanks to the Union Democrat. I am speaking on Sunday September 30, 2012 at a lunch from 12:30pm-2:30pm at the Sonora Writers' Group's first Tuolumne Writer's Retreat , which runs from Friday through Sunday, September 28-30, at the Columbia State Historic Park. The retreat includes a ghost walk on Friday, open mic sessions with poems, stories, music and a Native American poetry and drum circle on the Saturday, and "Author's Row" on the Sunday.  Guests include Blanche Abrams and Charity Maness. I will be speaking during the lunch about my career as a writer and my experiences both as a novelist, non-fiction writer and children's author, and as a screenwriter for the major Hollywood studios and independents.  For more information about my career, please visit the Biography page of this blog. Advance registration is required for the workshops and meals. The registration fee is $145, with a 20% discount for students. Please contact Ji