Bill Morem

Harvey Balmer pretty much sums up my feelings about the elders in our tribe: If genes and good fortune allow us, most of us will end up in a rest home at the end of our lives.

It was one of the odder gigs I’ve done: Introducing Marvel Comics’ Spiderman to groups of kids and parents at this year’s Central Coast Book and Author Festival. It was a resume-padding experience that anyone would covet, no doubt.

My wife, The Lovely Sharita, and I were Zero Population Growthers for the first 16 years of our married lives. It was a situation that suited our nomadic lifestyles in pursuit of a variety of newspaper jobs.