The Fies Files

Proud Dad Warning. Here's a 48-minute podcast/interview with my daughter Laura in her role as the CEO of the USS Hornet Museum in Alamed...

A busy, reflective, celebratory weekend. Friday was the ninth anniversary of the Tubbs Fire, which destroyed my home and about 5,000 others,...

Karen and I getting into position for the start of the march. My "Antifa" sign got some attention from people who said they'd ...

Karen and I are home from a vacation in the Pacific Northwest to celebrate our anniversary. We spent three days in Seattle and two in Victor...

Their first birthday party. More parties followed, including one later today. They're neater eaters now.  The Ides of March have had a b...

It nearly slipped past me! I was just reminded that today is National Twins Day, which I get to celebrate because I raised my own pair of ...

In 1884, sculptor Frederic Bartholdi and engineer Gustave Eiffel built the Statue of Liberty in the middle of Paris before disassembling it ...

Today is "Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day"--really, you can look it up!--and, in remarkable synchronicity, less than 24 hours ag...

Anyone need cookies for 600? My late mother-in-law, Juanita, spent her career as a lunch lady for a middle school (lunch ladies don't ha...

My family and I went to L.A. this weekend to help my little sister get married! It's her story to tell, not mine, but it was fun and bea...

I'm reminded that today is both International Daughters Day and International Comic Book Day. I am in the very unusual and nifty positio...

I reconnected with former syndicated cartoonist and bestselling middle-grade author Terri Libenson when she did a meet-and-greet at Copperfi...

  My daughters treated me to an extraordinary experience yesterday. "Space Explorers: The Infinite" is a pop-up virtual reality tr...

Don. Photo by Peter Maresca. My friend Don Rubin died last week, and it took me a few days to think of something fitting and good enough to ...

  I emerge from the holiday to see that Wayne Thiebaud died at 101. I attended UC Davis between 1978-83, when Thiebaud was an active part of...

Festive! Our daughter Laura is the XO (Executive Officer) of the USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum in Alameda, Calif., and a few times a...

Here's the best obituary I've read in a long time. The late Helen Nicholas of Petaluma, Calif. taught Home Economics for decades. H...