Writers of fiction, poetry, lyrics, screenplays and life stories come from diverse backgrounds. For the past three years a small group has met weekly to write together, offering criticism and support to whoever stopped by. Over 200 different people have dropped by; we learned something from each one of them. Most of the people who found us had already written for years- some even published.

If this is something that interests you, join us! We meet every Wednesday, from 9 AM - 10:30 at the Jesus Center on Park Avenue.



Thursday, June 27, 2013

A Drag Queeen, A Pair of Sociopaths, and Two Unsolved Murders--Portraits in American Integrity



A true story in the spirit of Utah Phillips:

We knew him as ‘RH’, short for Runninghorse; no, he’s not Native American. He was a presence at Diablo Valley College in the 1990s, a loud mouthed presence. Nobody ever challenged his leadership of the Frank Little Club. He was full of energy, a zeal for organizing, a megaphone voice, and a confrontational attitude; he started the club, chaired meetings, and actually cooperated, to a modest extent, with the college Administration. He did a lot of heavy work.

But we also knew that he was an absolute creep. Women in the club did not care to work alone with him, and they had good reason. That’s an odd situation for the leader of a left-wing political action club.

Now I have to relate one story to his credit—sort of.

It’s a complicated saga of local politics that starts thusly:

The Reverend Lloyd Mashore, of a fundamentalist congregation in Concord, waxed wroth over the rising tide of the supposed ‘Homosexual Agenda’, specifically the idea that ‘Christians’ were being forced into politically correct tolerance of whatever the Lloyd Mashores of the world fear. His big outrage was that Christian property owners were being compelled to rent homes to gays and lesbians, people certain to engage in unbiblical activities inside these Christian owned bedrooms.

Proof positive, to Lloyd Mashore, that True Religion was under persecution. The Secularists must surely be ready to bring back the popular sport of feeding the lions.