Marlon Brando grew up in Evanston, Illinois during the Great Depression. At age 9, he met a boy his same age who had just moved to town. They became fast friends. His pal was named Wally Cox. Wally’s sister recounted how the boys became inseparable. Once, she said, Marlon tied…

In the early 1980s, being a vegan was uncommon. Tofu and other plant-based foods could only be found at health food co-ops, not at your local grocery store. Teaching naturalism, or the study of nature, was equally uncommon. Both were scoffed at by many Americans as hippie ideals. The founder…

September 1822: A ship set sail from Scotland bound for Central America. Middle-aged commoners had loaded their life belongings aboard the vessel, and they looked forward to a new beginning across the Atlantic in a country filled with promise. They were going to Poyais. Months earlier, a Scotsman named Gregor…

Few people were more instrumental in bringing Eastern philosophy and religion to the West than Alan Watts. He was born in England in 1915 and grew to be a brilliant student. His early fascination with Asian culture came from reading Sax Rohmer’s fictional tales about Fu Manchu. As a teenager…

During the filming of the TV series Better Call Saul in 2021, lead actor Bob Odenkirk suffered a major heart attack and collapsed. According to reports, including from Odenkirk himself, his heart stopped beating for 18 minutes. Then he was revived. He returned to work not long thereafter. Survival without…

1938: Dean Reed was born in Colorado to an all-American family. He graduated from high school in 1956 at age 18, the same year Elvis Presley first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show at age 21. Dean was handsome and a singer and guitarist, so the next year he moved…

October 17, 1989: My wife and I were newlyweds living in a San Francisco apartment with two cats and a bird. Our wedding took place just eight days earlier in Lake Tahoe. 5 pm: I turned on the TV to watch Game 3 of the World Series between the San…

The Japanese love cats. According to their folklore, cats bring protection and good luck. They also represent unbridled freedom. One of Tokyo’s most visited attractions is Gotokuji, a temple dedicated to the Lucky Cat, Maneki Neko. Kyoto also has a famous cat shrine. Cat anime characters abound throughout the country. …

When Americans think of store-bought brownie and cake mixes, two names spring to mind: Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines. Betty Crocker is a fictitious character created for marketing purposes. Duncan Hines was a real man. Despite his name being synonymous with packaged baking products, Hines was not a baker. Nor…