Story and photos by Pete Shaw I felt a bit like a broken record in last year’s “Giving Thanks” when my lede was almost exactly the one from 2023. This time it’s the same record, but a slightly different tune. While Covid remains, I gained the confidence of my better 99% that I would take…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw October 10, 2025 Dear Dad, I have a movie idea. The setting is Père Lachaise, Paris’s famed necropolis where many artists are buried. In many ways this vast burial ground resembles a city of the living. Its buildings are mostly permanent residences: tombstones, vaults, mausoleums. Some are remarkably elaborate,…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw October 6, 2025 Dear Dad, Our numbers have dwindled. We arrived at Paris Gare de Lyon early on Friday afternoon. And then it was time to bid farewell to Howard. He will spend two nights here in Paris before heading Home. He has been a fine traveling companion, and…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw October 2, 2025 Dear Dad, Marc has solved the issue. The other night, having dinner with him and his partner, Zahia, and their Friends, Edoard and Oliver, I jabbered on about how amazing I found Marseille, how it struck me as so different from Paris, or really anywhere. Since…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw September 29, 2025 Dear Dad, How do I describe Marseille? It hit me a bit like New York City. The greeting was not so flagrant and aggressive as The City’s, but similar contours were discernible. Or at least at this early morning hour, I seem to believe that. But…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Last year I began this annual piece at the Portland Occupier with: “Another year with Covid in the air, and so another year where I was largely grounded due to health concerns. As well, as comes with age, there were health issues with which I had to deal. But…
Story by Pete Shaw Another year of Covid, and another year spent largely on the sidelines. Still, there is much to be thankful for this year, including the hope that I will sooner than later be back on the streets. After all, for the first Summer in quite a few years, no fascists marched in…
Story by Pete Shaw The late Joan Didion once wrote, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” While I agree with the general tone of that statement, there are always exceptions to even the most beautiful of rules. When I was a kid, my dad told me many stories. As he was a scientist,…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Someday they may refer to it as the BVWU Number, the universal standard for the interval between impossibility and achievement. It sure seems like it should be in an organizing textbook. In April 2015, when the Burgerville Workers Union made its debut, it was taking on the challenge of…
Story and photo by Pete Shaw About 17 years ago, I was hanging out with Friend Cyndy, and after a good amount of Friday drink she suggested we head to a not far away Vietnamese restaurant, Phở Jasmine. Jessica, my better 99%, was game. I forget what we ordered, but I remember it as a…
