• Martha RossPatch Staff Verified Patch Staff Badge

  • Walnut Creek, CA

I'm a native of Walnut Creek and moved back in 2001, after years of living in other places.  I feel like I'm truly back home, and, more than anything, I want to tell stories—in words, photos, and video—about this place I call home.  I have been doing just that as AKA Soccer Mom for the blog, Crazy in Suburbia. 

I feel incredibly lucky to be doing this job—scratching beneath Walnut Creek's happy, shiny surface but also finding ways to celebrate the people, places and things that make this town great.

<b>You can reach me at martha&#64;patch.com or at 925-457-8012. You can also follow Walnut Creek Patch on </b><b>Twitter</b><b> or </b><b>Facebook</b><b>. </b>

<b>Born:</b> Kaiser hospital, Walnut Creek, January 1963. I&#39;m the daughter of William (now deceased) and Dorothy Ross. I&#39;m the youngest of four children.  

<b>Where I live now in Walnut Creek: </b>Back in the Parkmead neighborhood with my husband, my 12-year-old son, my mother, and our very pretty but dumb cat, Fluffy.

<b>Local product: </b>I graduated from Pied Piper Preschool, Parkmead Elementary and the now closed Parkmead Intermediate, as well as Acalanes High School, after attending the now-closed Del Valle High for two years.

My father, William Ross, was the first principal at Del Valle High School and was superintendent in the Acalanes Union High School District.

I received a bachelor&#39;s degree from Northwestern University in German Studies (convoluted story) and an MFA at Mills College.  The MFA is in English and creative writing. Yes, I have a draft of a trashy murder mystery on my hard drive.

<i>Novel No. 2 will be a </i>Peyton Place<i>-esque expose of a seemingly shiny, happy California suburb of 65,000 people. </i>

<b>Where I&#39;ve worked:</b>Crime reporter for the <i>Valley Times i</i>n Pleasanton and the <i>West County Times </i>in Richmond; editor and correspondent on the AIDS epidemic for the English-language <i>The Nation </i>in Bangkok, Thailand; editor for BeniciaNews.com community news website: correspondent for The Economist.com&#39;s monthly guide to Bay Area news and culture.

Most recently, I was an associate editor at <i>Diablo </i>magazine, where I was twice a finalist for a Western Publications Association Award (Maggie) for news stories I wrote about Internet prostitution in the East Bay suburbs and on a murder suicide involving a San Ramon mother and her 3-year-old daughter. I have also covered education, business, environmental issues, travel and dining. I also edited <i>Diablo Arts</i>, the quarterly magazine that is distributed to patrons at the Lesher Center for the Arts.

I am a recipient of a James Madison Freedom of Information Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California chapter.

And, as AKA Soccer Mom, I publish the Walnut Creek news and commentary blog,  Crazy in Suburbia

<b>What I think, believe, profess:<br></b>It is Patch&#39;s philosophy for its sites to report the facts &#34;as objectively as possible and adhere to the principles of good journalism.&#34; However, Patch--and I--acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible and human beings have beliefs. So, here are my beliefs, or some of them: 

<b>Religion:</b> I don&#39;t practice a religion. However, I am always very interested to hear about faiths that other people follow and how those beliefs and practices bring meaning to their lives.

<b>Politics, generally:</b> Moderate, but left of center on social issues. Notably, I strongly support gay rights and gay marriage. And, I support legalization of marijuana, a stance I hold even though I have not inhaled since college and have no interest in doing so now or any time in the future.

<b>Politics, locally, and as they pertain to Walnut Creek&#39;s own hot-button issues:</b>

I like that Walnut Creek isn&#39;t Mayberry anymore, as if it ever was. As a teenager I wanted to get out of this town because I didn&#39;t want to live in what I perceived to be a boring, homogenous suburb.

Walnut Creek, yes, is much more crowded than it used to be. But it is also a dynamic, interesting place, full of smart, creative, engaged people. 

I&#39;m interested in development policies that support smart growth and of the ability of people of diverse economic levels to live here.

<b>Recent hot-button issues: </b>Personally, because I work in journalism, a traditionally low-paying profession--and because I don&#39;t care about shopping--I doubt I will spend much time browsing the new Neiman Marcus, much less spending any money there. But I supported Walnut Creek residents being able to choose whether they wanted this store to come to Walnut Creek.

I was neutral on the new library when it was initially proposed. From what I see of it now, as this controversial complex nears completion, I think, design-wise, it looks pretty good. I&#39;m interested to see if it plays the kind of role in providing an institutional and geographic anchor to downtown, similar to the role that the Lesher Center played in the downtown&#39;s transformation after it opened in 1990.

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Bites Nearby: Eleve

This stylish North Main Street restaurant serves some of the most delicately flavored Vietnamese food around.

Bites Nearby: Eleve