I just can't say enough good stuff about Derf and his excellent graphic novel, Punk Rock and Trailer Parks.
It all takes place in 1980 in Akron, Ohio during the hey day of the punk scene as some of the most influential bands of the day come through Akron as the hero of the book, The Baron encounters all of the shit most people put up with while being a teenager along with discovering punk rock, love found and lost, bullying, bizarre characters in the trailer park, losing a best friend while a lot of the seminal forces of punk rock drift through from the Clash, the Ramones, the Plasmatics and even the Godfather of rock critics, Lester Bangs can be found within these pages.
I’ll shut up now because I don’t want to give too much but this baby is quite the page-turner and Derf’s goofy cartooning style is really fun. It can remind one of Peter Bagge’s Buddy Bradley in a way but Derf definitely has his own style and voice.
Man, I wish we had a place like the Bank (punk club) like they had in Akron, Ohio out here in my home town in California.... but then again, an hour and a half ride down the freeway and I was in San Francisco seeing it all anyway. Great book. Check it out!

Las Chicas Mexicanas de East L.A.


This is a picture of my mom (on the right) with her best friend from James Garfield high school in East L.A. The photo was taken around her Sophomore year circa 1942. That very summer before my mom was to attend Garfield for her Junior year that coming fall her house burned down and she relocated to the town of San Gabriel and finished her last two years of high school at Alhambra High school.
I found this photo again after she died back in 1998 in her home in Sacramento, California.