Robert Taylor, Neighbor

Robert has written about the East Bay for years, first at the Oakland Tribune as film and theater critic, later at the Contra Costa Times, as books editor, fine arts writer and editor of the monthly In Sync magazine.

He was also an editor of the quarterly "Where We Live" sections and wrote extensively about the changing face of downtown Walnut Creek and other cities in Central Contra Costa County. 

Among his favorite Walnut Creek stories: the design and development of Veterans Memorial Park, the Valley Art Gallery's "Slopes of Diablo" exhibits, the California Symphony's Young American Composer-in-Residence program, and the local ceramic artists who were gaining a national reputation, showing in the Bedford Gallery's "Pots: Objects of Virtue."

He also covered the precursor of Center Rep when it was performing (Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," even) in the former walnut processing building known as "the nut house." 

Robert has also been a writer and editor for the Associate Press and has written for the San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, Fairfield Daily Republic and Southwest Art magazine. He is co-author of "Simple Pleasures," published by Berkeley's Conari Press.