charleslewisradke

I’m Dying Here

12-minute read In my mid-thirties I once got cruelly nauseous in the middle of the night. Kidney stones, it turned out, no bigger than bee stingers. This was a Sunday during the summer. I remember it was a summer Sunday because I was in a men’s summer baseball league that played its games only onContinue reading “I’m Dying Here”

Mr. Porky Sunshine

Image credit/Scott Wong “All the fat is the Lord’s.” –Leviticus 3:16 We parked our van at a trailhead on one side of a very busy road, which many here consider the local Autobahn for gamblers and gravel trucks. Crossing it, even with traffic stopped, takes nerve, and it’s not a place for people who hateContinue reading “Mr. Porky Sunshine”

My Naïve Melody

“Love me ’til my heart stops. Love me ’til I’m dead.” –David Byrne The day before I saw my doctor for a biennial DMV physical, my thirteen-year-old son announced his intent to go vegan, and a friend of mine from high school died of Covid. There’s a lot to unpack here. First, the 800-lb. gorillaContinue reading “My Naïve Melody”

The axe for the frozen sea…

Kafka said that a book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. Chuck Radke’s stirring, at times heartbreaking memoir, Stuccoville: Life Without a Net, is such an axe. When I finished reading, I was in tears. I wanted to stand up and cheer the author’s unflinching honesty and filial devotion. Weeks later,Continue reading “The axe for the frozen sea…”

The night a beautiful lady soared on the trapeze in Fresno — and came crashing down

from the Fresno Bee, Sept. 8, 2021.by Chuck Radke Few Fresnans alive today will recognize the name Brenda Jones Cuttin. In fact, I may be the only one. I think about Brenda every year about this time, specifically on my birthday, September 8th. I have thought of her every September 8th since 1977, which ifContinue reading “The night a beautiful lady soared on the trapeze in Fresno — and came crashing down”

A Story of Survival, Acceptance, and Grace

A review of Stuccoville: Life Without a Net, by Corrinne Clegg Hales Stuccoville explores the profoundly interdependent relationship between a boy and his mother, whose chronic and increasingly debilitating illness shapes both of their lives. Charles Radke tells this remarkable story without blinders or sentimentality, without flinching from harsh details, or from his own culpability or anyone else’s. A gifted storyteller, he makes excellent use of detail and image, and his gritty descriptions of Fresno’s west sideContinue reading “A Story of Survival, Acceptance, and Grace”

“He Wasn’t a Saint…”

A review of Stuccoville: Life Without a Net, by Tammy Ruggles Stuccoville: Life Without a Net by Charles Lewis Radke is a poignant memoir about a mother/son relationship. Radke tells of his impoverished childhood, having little to eat besides tomato sandwiches, caring for his mother, who was ill with lupus, and dealing with the voidContinue reading ““He Wasn’t a Saint…””

The King of Luxury (Vinyl)

At sixteen years and counting, Perry has gone full grumpy on us. He snaps at every groomer who gets near his face, which is why his damp maw now looks like a pot scrubber.

This Is Where I Stand

Photo Credit: Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images For my son A young acquaintance of mine at a summer camp where we work told me at breakfast the other day that, because of my age, I am now part of a “protected class.” “Protected from what?” I asked. There were about a hundred things that came to mindContinue reading “This Is Where I Stand”

Pretty Bird

Photo source: https://petcomments.com/parakeet-cage/ Published June 30, 2021, Sierra Nevada Review 32, 127-137 When I was a graduate student in South Florida, I had it in my mind to write a short story about an embalmer who falls in love with a dead woman. But it wasn’t just any dead woman, which would have been creepy.Continue reading “Pretty Bird”