Nissue #41: Alia Volz, Author.

It’s fitting that serendipity led me to my interview with Alia Volz, especially when you read her first answer below. I was browsing through one of my favorite local bookstores and just happened to see the cover of her memoir (pictured below) on a display of must-read non-fiction. As you might have surmised from Nissue #39, you just can’t get that sense of discovery from Amazon.

The book is called Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco, and that title says a lot! I was inishally intrigued by the premise since I do a little consulting work with some Bay Area cannabis companies, but once I started reading Alia’s story, I was immediately reminded of the importance of the plant, its history, and the good people who have stood by it, way before it was legal here in California.

Dennis Hearne shot this photo in Jack Kerouac Alley.

Nish: What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Alia: I love serendipity and unexpected adventure. My most treasured moments happen when I’m traveling somewhere unusual, take a wrong turn along the way, and end up in a glorious spot or in welcoming company quite by accident. Colors seem a little brighter when things go wrong in the right way.

Nish: What was your worst job ever?

Alia: Data entry in a cubicle with no windows.

Nish: What was your first job ever?

Alia: At thirteen, I became an assistant breeder on a Thoroughbred stud farm – a supremely weird job that taught me more than any tween should know about horse sex.

Nish: What was your best job ever?

Alia: I’m currently a full-time author. It’s tough, but I’m living the dream.

Nish: What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Alia: Indecisiveness.

Nish: What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Alia: Greed.

Nish: What’s some advice you’d give to yourself at 23?

Alia: Blow this pop stand. You’ll learn more from exploring the world than sitting in a classroom.

Nish: What is your greatest extravagance?

Alia: Travel, travel, travel. I’ll go just about anywhere on a shoestring. Expanding one’s horizons is always worth the money, time, and risk.

Nish: You have exclusive dinner reservations for 4 excluding family and close friends, who are the 3 people (alive, dead or imaginary) you’d invite?

Alia: James Baldwin (for the brains), Dorothy Parker (for the spice), and Josephine Baker (for the daring and glam).

Nish: What is the theme song of your professional life?

Alia: The Long And Winding Road – ha. There’s no clear, logical trajectory toward establishing a career in the arts. It takes time, flexibility, and unfathomable perseverance.

Nish: What is your motto?

Alia: Eat your cereal with a fork and do your homework in the dark. (I’m not a motto person.)

Nish: What is something you’re really excited about right now?

Alia: I’m laboring over my next book right now, which is both thrilling and exhausting.

End Interview.

Shot from Hawk Hill, the Golden Gate in the background.

Another author I interviewed is Nayomi Munaweera (Nissue #36), a big proponent of plant medicine herself. 

I served on the board of The Commonwealth Club, which has been so important for authors of fiction and non-fiction, so it was also an honor to interview Gloria Duffy, President & CEO, for Nissue #20.