My family migrated here from Croatia a long time ago, like 1910 or something like that. And they originally went from New York to Detroit, hung out in Detroit for a long time and then migrated to the L.A. area, but then something came up and property in Morgan Hill was being sold super, super cheap and my grandmother purchased a huge parcel of land over on the east foothills, which is where the Frys Golf Course is now located. They owned a lot of property. Read more…
I was born in Oakland in 1989. I grew up around hip hop music, fell in love with it even after we moved to San Jose. It was just me and my mom then. Our relationship was good though she had her bad moments (Laugh). She was a very religious woman, brought me to church every Sunday. We had family back in Oakland, so we used to spend the day with them after church. They were cool, my uncle really filled in cause my dad wasn’t really in the picture. Other than that, my life was like any kid’s, went to school, did stupid stuff, played football, yada yada. I always liked hip hop, but didn’t think of it as a career path, just something I enjoyed. I think I started rhyming after high school ended. Read more…
Moving should be in harmony with your internal self. The problem only happens when the person who should move, don’t, and those who shouldn’t – do. From our side, so many former Soviet citizens who, kind of, move to Israel, or United States, they say “oh, how bad it here, they don’t understand us, their culture is suck.” Everybody is complaining. Read more…
My childhood could be summed up in one word: outdoors. Growing up in Vermont during the 60’s and 70’s, I spent a lot of time outside regardless of the seasons, from spring to winter. Other than school, a lot of my time was spent swimming, fishing, hunting, skating, skiing, golfing, and playing baseball. I also worked on a neighbor’s dairy farm and for my father’s lumber business where I made golf tees.
When I started university, I attended the University of Vermont with a major in Forestry. In 1974, I went to join the Army as an engineer officer where I stayed active for twenty-three years. Read more…
Hundreds of SJSU students rely on Myra Latson’s services every day. Students exit her vehicle one-by-one saying “thank you” and an occasional “have a good day.”
The 54-year-old African-American woman has been driving for 25 years with the last decade at San Jose State University. After learning they were hiring, Latson applied on a whim and has enjoyed driving for SJSU students ever since. Read more…
Sometimes I forget that I am a real man. I mean I know I am a man, but sometimes I walk past a mirror and catch a glimpse of myself not just my body. Like catch my face in a mirror, and I think…oh that that’s what I look like.
This interview was mostly conducted through a series of slow moving instant messages, e-mails, and short reluctant phone calls. The interview was cut off one day when the e-mail account was deactivated, and phone calls were no longer answered. I have found certain ads on craigslist that I believed belonged to my faceless interviewee, but I was unable to get a positive response. Read more…
A newly half-century-old man spots me as he is rolling back the sleeves of his name-brand button-up business shirt, which tells me he is done with his chef, waiter, or cook role and is switching to his owner/manager role for the purpose of this interview. His graying hair shows the signs of a formerly formal coif, recently altered by the busy wave of a 350 people catering order and the dinner rush. He sits at the chair across me and despite his formal efforts, it is clear this basic dining chair feels like an Olympian throne to his aching body. Although his eyes are tired he manages a smile and with as little introduction as necessary takes a breath and in a mixture of Spaniard Spanish, Mexican slang, and proper English tells me of the Silicon Valley he came to know and prosper in. Read more…
I am a graduating senior, and will be graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering in less than two weeks. I’ve been dying to be finished with school for a long time, but now that the time is finally approaching, all I can think is that I’m not ready. It’s a mixed feeling. I’m half excited to move on with my life and half dreading the future. Read more…
This young man is a 20-year-old lifelong Bay Area resident, born in Santa Clara and now living in San Jose. Like so many have done, his parents moved here from another part of the country for the jobs, and decided to stay and raise a family. Unlike most though, his family has decided to homeschool their children, a practice in their family that he himself began when he asked to be schooled at home beginning in the 4th grade. Here, he talks about his family moving to the Bay Area, how he chose to become homeschooled, and how he feels about the Bay Area. Read more…
I moved to San Jose from Iowa in 1955, when I was 40 years old. Most of my wife’s people had already moved out here; her brothers Pat and Ben had a couple of drugstores in the bay area. Back in Iowa, Mary’s brothers had been coal miners, working for her dad who was one of four private owners of a mine in Centerville. After they moved to Knoxville, mining wasn’t profitable anymore and so they left for California. In ’54, we came out to California for a visit with Mary’s brothers and I told her, “Mary, by the time I’m 50, we’re gonna be living in California.” I just liked the weather so much. A year later, in January of 1955, I was on a job in St. Louis. I traveled a lot in those days, with my job as a manager of operations and sales for Merchants Motor Freight. It was the third largest shipping company in America, you know. I came back from that trip, it had been so cold, and I told Mary, “We’re moving to California!” Read more…