Blog Posts for Douglas R Keister

More Oz than you can possibly digest in one sitting

Douglas R Keister — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:06:46 -0700

My 38th book Forever L. A. : A Field Guide to Los Angeles Area Cemeteries and their Residents (Spring 2010) will have a chapter titled Reprised in Respose where I put together in text and photographs pairings and ensembles and tell you where to find those buried in the L. A. area. You'll be able to find out where Laurel and Hardy are buried, Burns and Allen, the cast of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, ...

Growing Up in Oz

Douglas R Keister — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:53:15 -0700

Growing up in Nebraska, I was more than a little familiar with the monotonous terrain and lifestyle of our neighboring state, Kansas. And, the promise of Oz. In fact all of us carried Oz around with us. It was something called imagination. Oz, you see, is a state of mind. I’m not sure how Frank Baum came up with Kansas as the habitat of Dorothy, Toto and Auntie Em’. ...

Musings at Walmart

Douglas R Keister — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:53:15 -0700

Walmart Do you know how sometimes you just know that you shouldn’t say what you want to say because there’s going to be a karmic retribution price tag that goes along with it? Well, this is one of those times. In a perfect world, I’d be kind and understanding and sensitive and accepting and non-judgmental of other people. As long as they’re not doing something strange ...

You Can Always Trust Bad Manners

Douglas R Keister — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:29:31 -0700

When the Red Room topic of Bad Manners was proposed a couple days ago I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, well, I don’t have anything to say about that. No need to waste time on manners, bad or otherwise. Better to spend time writing my GREAT NOVEL, Desiree. Only 40,000 words to go (according to my agent). Then I caught myself. I always have something to say. Even if I don’t have something ...

A Couple of Pieces of News

Douglas R Keister — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:51:07 -0700

Just got some news about my new book, Forever L. A.: A Field Guide to Los Angeles Area Cemeteries and Their Residents (Spring 2010). I just got the cover this week. The publisher is ready to send it to the printer as soon as they bury (inter) Michael Jackson so I can add that info to his bio. He is supposed to be laid to rest on September 3rd, but you never know for sure until it happens. I made ...

No Religion, no politics, a hint of sex

Douglas R Keister — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:27:46 -0700

Sex, Religion and Politics? The thing about religion and politics is very few people really discuss them. What I see and hear is people pummeling others with their views. I don’t see much real open-minded discussion happening. Sex, though, that’s a whole different bag of marbles. I think people really do want to learn something about it from others. We want to learn how to DO IT right. ...

Random Thinking and Obsessions

Douglas R Keister — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:37:27 -0700

Just tell us what's on your mind--a lot of the time I’ve got too much time on my hands. I’ve authored and co-authored thirty-seven photo-driven books and for the first time since 1995 I don’t have an active (i.e. paying) book project. So, with that caveat, if you actually intend on reading these 1781 words from start to finish, I suggest you put in the laundry or maybe toss a batch of ...

Book #1 Took Off. Who'd a thunk it?

Douglas R Keister — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:33:22 -0700

My first book (my 37th comes out in Spring 2010) was a thin, but mighty photo-driven tome titled Driftwood Whimsy: The Sculptures of the Emeryville Mudflats. I had lived on the fringes of the San Francisco Bay Area town of Emeryville since 1971 and had marveled at the sculptures people surreptitiously constructed in the Emeryville Crescent, a wedge of swampy land nestled between busy Interstate ...

Before Burning Man there was the empty playa and me

Douglas R Keister — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:36:37 -0700

Pre-Burn: A Bittersweet Remembrance of the Days Before Burning ManAs the time of Burning Man approaches, my thoughts often turn to the before-time. There was an article in the SF Chronicle last Sunday July 27th about the area around the playa. After reading it I decided to pen this missive to illuminate some of the factors that lead to Burning Man. I went to Burning Man once as a guest in the ...

HOLY COW! THREE books published in THREE months

Douglas R Keister — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:42:21 -0700

Douglas Keister has THREE books published in THREE months.Either by fate or design I've have three books slated for publication in three consecutive months. Teardrops and Tiny Trailers, my fourth book on vintage RV's and trailers, was released by Gibbs-Smith Publisher on July 1st. Lincoln in Black and White 1910-1925 (co-authored by writer Ed Zimmer) which features incredible images from my ...