Matt's Writing

Matt Werner, writer & editor

1,000+ cyclists turn out for East Bay Bike Party

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Over 1,000 cyclists turned out for one of the most popular East Bay Bike Parties to date. At 8pm on Friday, August 10, 2012, the lower lot at Rockridge BART was overflowing with cyclists of all ages from throughout the East Bay. People were on all types of bikes: road and mountain bikes, tall bikes, track bikes, custom “Burning Man-style” bikes, and even a tricycle outfitted with a canvas frame that made it look like a food truck vending donuts throughout the ride.

Read the full article on Oakland Local.

200 Cyclists Participate in 5th Annual Peace Ride

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Hiram Lawrence was one-year-old when he was shot in Oakland on November 28, 2011. On Saturday, July 21, 2012 approximately 200 cyclists turned out for the 5th Annual Peace Ride in his honor. The event, sponsored by Bikes 4 Life bike shop, ended in West Oakland with a tree planting and dedication ceremony in Hiram’s honor, attended by Oakland Mayor Jean Quan.

Read the full article on Oakland Local

Huffington Post publishes excerpt from Oakland in Popular Memory

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The Huffington Post published an excerpt from Oakland in Popular Memory–the afterword titled “Gertrude Stein’s Oakland.” Read the post here.

This piece is adapted from a blog post I wrote for the Google Books blog for Gertrude Stein’s birthday on February 3, 2012.

Also, the book release party is tonight at University Press Books in Berkeley, California.

Click here for more information about Oakland in Popular Memory.

Oakland in Popular Memory is available from Amazon and Thought Publishing, as well as these Bay Area independent bookstores.

Printing the Old-Fashioned Way in Berkeley, California

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Ever wondered what it’d be like to step back in time? To enter a place that’s surrounded by the post-modern and the digital age, but doesn’t give into the pressures to modernize and refuses to succumb to the latest technology?

Entering St. Hieronymus Press on April 27, 2012, I found a real Berkeley establishment that has stood the test of time. Large letter presses and mechanical offset printing presses from the late 1800s and early 1900s fill the print shop.

Read more about my trip on Oakland Local.