• Submitted
• Neil Tarpey

James Faulk and Neil Tarpey, local writers and fellow newsies, share stories from their collected works during Surviving the Times, Saturday, March 18 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Morris Graves Museum of Art ($5, $2, free for members, children under 17, and families with EBT cards).

James Faulk, former Times-Standard city editor and reporter, and current Lost Coast Outpost columnist, shares essays and stories that delve into personal topics relating to family, childhood, heroin addiction, love, mental illness and survival. The 41-year old father of four, husband of 20 years, musician and recovered addict, will share work from a manuscript he is preparing for publication, comprised mostly of material that first appeared in his column Dead Reckoning. "I'm happy to be reading with Neil, who has been a friend and role model for years," Faulk says. "I consider this reading a celebration. Life presents awful challenges, lots of them, yet we carry on for the sake of our loved ones, for sunny days like this one, and for whatever passions or arts we pursue. I happen to string words together."

Neil Tarpey, long-time Times-Standard sports writer, former college instructor and substance abuse counselor, and frequent contributor to the North Coast Journal's flash fiction contest, reads from his book, Flashes of Lighting, a collection of 52 stories (each 101 words or fewer), including "Handgun Wedding," the Journal's winner of Best Flash Fiction for 2009.