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Illustration by local artist Caitlin Fowler, based on “A Perfect Stranger,” winner of this year’s Flash Fiction contest. Once again, our readers are the writers in the annual contest of narrative brevity judged by a team of story lovers: Booklegger owners Jennifer McFadden and Nancy Short, retired children’s librarian JoAnn Bauer, Eureka Poet Laureate and College of the Redwoods professor David Holper, and myself. The influence of the pandemic is visible here and there in the haul of entries, including our winner. But isolation and a storm of real-life drama hasn’t stifled entrants’ imaginations. In 99 words or fewer, they’re wrestling with heartbreak, parenthood, jealousy, magic, the pitfalls of time travel and how to tell a story. ....
Editor: Your Dec. 10 issue included four articles that I enjoyed. Ashley Harrell s cover story, The Last Howlers, gave me hope because Shelby and Alexis Wickizer are vocally keeping alive when the nightly hubbubs . . . have largely faded out community support for folks in many front-line occupations dealing with COVID. Linda Stansberry s autobiographical piece, Please Don t Cry in the Big Girl s Store, touched my heart, as her stellar style covered the important personal ground of fear vs. self-acceptance we bring from our childhoods. Rod Kausen s succinct The Death of Leo Gallagher brought to life a tragic event from 1928. Coach Kausen aptly described the impact of Gallagher s death on the Fortuna community and high school sports, and provided a perspective on local history for newcomers (I ve lived in Humboldt County for only 43 years) like myself. Rain and Steelhead Both on the Horizon, well, it shows why even non-anglers regularly read Kenny Priest s c ....