Limited Seating for Houseboat History Talk

Joe Tate and Saul Rouda will provide firsthand accounts of the houseboat wars and other waterfront escapades on Tuesday evening, August 26 at the Sausalito Cruising Club. Here’s a preview of one of the stories these grizzled veterans will tell, about the Marin Sheriff’s attempt to confiscate Joe’s houseboat. The...

Waterfront History at the Cruising Club

Two waterfront legends will be sharing tales of local hippie history on August 26 at the Sausalito Cruising Club. Saul Rouda, producer of the docudrama Last Free Ride, and Joe Tate, star of the movie and leader of the notorious Redlegs pirate band, will share footage from Saul’s films and...

A Wild Journey, Indeed

East Pierian Wilford Welch has written a memoir entitled Values & Circumstances That Shaped A Life: A Wild Journey. I wondered how he arrived at that title until I read a few chapters. Maybe it was the time he broke his neck playing polo in Mongolia (see cover photo). Or...

At Marin Lately, the Laugh’s On Us

Thanks to the Pacific Sun for shining a light on a new satirical website called Marin Lately. Marin Lately describes itself as a unserious publication with a provincial focus and limited ambitions. The site proclaims, “We are controlled by shadowy interests and thus unable to disclose any additional information.” Pacific...

The Houseboat Summit of 1967

In February 1967, a short-lived underground newspaper published a discussion between four 60s icons, recorded aboard the ferry Vallejo at the time Alan Watts owned it. Here’s how Watts introduced his companions: “I’m this evening, on my ferry boat, the host to a fascinating party sponsored by the San Francisco...

Alan Watts after the Vallejo

Zen philosopher Alan Watts is fondly remembered for the days he spent aboard the beached ferry Vallejo, along with flambouyant artist Jean Varda. But he moved off the waterfront in the mid-50s and eventually found another unconventional home, at Druid Heights on the southeast flank of Mount Tam in the...

Upcoming Readings

Two local authors will be reading from their works this month. Tonight, John Byrne Barry will discuss his novel Pirates of Sausalito at Sausalito Books by the Bay, 100 Bay St., Sausalito. Starting at 6:00 p.m., John will speak about the waterfront skirmishes that inspired his houseboat wars murder mystery,...

New Book by Jim Woessner

Issaquah Dock’s Jim Woessner has published the second book in his microfiction series. This one is titled Latté with Extra Foam. Like the first book, No More No Less, it is a collection of one hundred microfiction stories, each one exactly one-hundred words in length. Microfiction attempts to convey complete...

Marin IJ Reviews Last Voyage of the Redlegs

Last week Marin IJ correspondent Paul Libertore reviewed Joe Tate’s memoir of his days with the pirate rock band the Redlegs. The Last Voyage of the Redlegs, which the Floating Times announced back in December, recounts the days before and after the houseboat wars of the mid-70s, and Libertore’s review presents...

No More No Less

Jim Woessner, long-time author and Issaquah resident, has just published his new book of micro fiction. No More No Less is a collection of short, short stories (each story is exactly 100 words!) that range from evocative observations on life and nature to comedic musings on the trivial and absurd....