Author Jim Reed

MARIO LANZA// ALMOST ALIVE AND IN PERSON I am here with my brother, Tim, who is busy showing his whimsical art at an enormous civic-center show. I take a break to have an adventure in a town I know little...

THE BABYLONIAN BRIDES // WHO FOLLOWED ME ACROSS THE OCEAN It’s 1998 A.D. I’m dining inside the Tate Gallery exhibition hall at Royal Holloway College outside London, surrounded by Victorian paintings...

MORNING ON CATFISH ROW // YOU SUSTAIN ME I’m plugging in the neon “open” sign in the bookshop window, preparing to begin the day’s business. As I struggle putting the $2-book-and-record racks out...

COUNTING PLEASURES DISTINCTLY REMEMBERED As a ponderer of the unimportant but significant turnstiles of life, I could easily list some pompously conceived New Year’s Resolutions in a way that might induce...

DAD'S TWEED COAT // WEARING YOUR MEMORIES It's just a tweed jacket that's old before its time, but I hate to let it go. I've been wearing it and wearing it and wearing it, and it feels as good as my skin,...

THE HAPPIEST SAD DAY OF THE YEAR The saddest thing I ever saw: a small, elderly woman dining alone at Morrison’s Cafeteria, on Thanksgiving Day. Oh there are many other sadnesses you can find if you look...

2014 // A HALLOWEEN HORROR STORY Beware of Martians and Terrorists Bearing Gifts. Winning at any cost is not something we humans get to do very often. To win at any cost usually translates into some...

RED CLAY DIARY PAINFUL THOUGHTS OF BUGS BUNNY // AND OTHER SMART REMARKERS Pain is what you don’t expect. Surprise! Surprise can be painful; pain is always surprising. Pain is what you anticipate and...

THE IMPORTANCE OF NOT READING BEING SO COOL “So, what are you reading these days?” I ask a ten-year-old customer at the shop. He is accompanied by an avid-reader sister and parents who are enjoying...

RED CLAY DIARY THE OBSCURE MAN OF A CERTAIN GATE MOVES UNNOTICED THROUGH THE DRENCHED CITY The friendly extroverted chatting customer grabs his change from me and heads waving toward the door....