Originally Published in the Adelaide Literary Magazine Awards Anthology, 2018

Somewhere in San Diego, California
If the woods are haunted, but the forest merely enchanted by shadows and soft light, into […]

A. M. Palmer Literary Nonfiction

Thunderheads rolled in this morning, taunting the seekers of rain with their gray coolness. It’s monsoon season, but most locals are skeptical about the a […]

Newsletter Portfolio

Newsletter creation is wonderful for writers, allowing us to explore graphic design and layout development. I was fortunate to have such an opportunity while working as a park ranger […]

Throughout various ages, and for innumerable reasons, people have returned to nature, the landscapes and fauna that endure our influence and thrive in our shadow. Everyone who ventures into this […]

One night, while searching for information on private libraries—and there are quite a few of considerable scope and merit—I discovered the collection of Richard Macksey, the Johns Hopkins prof […]

 
Remembering my Years as a City of San Diego Park Ranger
 

The other day, a friend — also a municipal park ranger, but younger and at the start of her career — asked me a question I had never befor […]

Play invigorates the mind and informs our design work, opening the way for countless new projects to unfold. The exploration of ideas, the discovery of new forms and colors, can occur when least […]

First published in Belle Ombre, fall of 2019

For those of us who grew up during the 1980s, the indoor mall—first etched into the landscape by architect Victor Gruen three decades earlier—was a hub […]

It was a strange year, 2020. Thankfully, during the interlude of lockdown riots and “protesting,” Maxwell’s House of Books survived, the owner standing watch through the night, ready to defend his busine […]

Posing as a dialog with oneself, the journal entry records the movements of life, day by day, with stories, amusing asides, and the occasional wink and nod. How many commonplace occurrences would be […]

Author Photo: Brian Black, Palomar College Art Teacher

Shadows and strange histories, indigenous lore and personal memories, the mythic qualities of Chollas Lake Park inspired educators Brian Black […]