Matt's Writing

The following is my introduction to Oakland in Popular Memory , which I read an excerpt of in my Authors@Google talk . In Defense of Oakland When I was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, I remember talking with a sorority girl at a party about where we grew up. She was from Orange County. I replied that I was born in Oakland, California, and I grew up in Alameda, Oakland, Berkeley, and Palo Alto. She stared at me in disbelief. One word stood out to her. “Oakland? Oh, we don’t go  into  Oakland.” When I prodded her some more, she said that Oakland was so violent, and that there were so many murders, that her parents warned her never to go into Oakland. Eventually, I got her to admit that she goes to Zachary’s Pizza only a couple miles south of UC Berkeley and to Fentons Ice Creamery. But she insisted that she didn’t venture any further into Oakland than Fentons. It was clear that the mere mention of “Oakland” triggered something of a fear response in her. Her use o...

Oakland Landmarks: An Artistic Portrayal of History is an ideal coffee table book for Oakland residents and fans of the city. The elegantly designed book features watercolor paintings of famous buildings and locations in Oakland by Heidi Wyckoff . The text in the book was written by Annalee Allen, the Oakland Tribune columnist and Oakland Tours Program coordinator. This book is a great entry point for those interested about Oakland's history. What separates this book from other Oakland history books is that it covers 34 landmarks in just 80 pages. The beautiful watercolor paintings provide a new way to look at familiar landmarks, and Allen's one-page descriptions of the landmarks focus on the key details, showing familiar locations in a different light. Her descriptions give you just enough history to pique your curiosity, and make you want to read more about Oakland history. Take for example her section on Oakland's oldest bar, Heinold's First and Last Cha...