60th birthday party takes the cake for columnist

Some of Riverside’s most delightful people gathered Sunday to wish me well for my 60th birthday. Softening the blow of the odometer change, almost all of them were older than me.

Even at 60, you can’t feel especially old if you’re practically the youngest person in the room.

(Side note: In his 40s, my dad was always greeted as “young man” at our town’s hardware store by its cardigan-clad, cane-using owner, a near-contemporary of Methuselah. My dad beamed.)

We were on the patio at Riverside’s utterly unique Weber House, the folk-art structure built in the 1930s by local architect Peter Weber. First there were the invited guests, most from the historical community, for a small party. They were followed by the general public, which amounted to, uh, a smaller party.

Oh well. But it was nice of everyone to make time.

Old Riverside Foundation, the nonprofit that uses the property as its headquarters and opens it for tours, hosted me and helped organize the event. So did Nancy L. Cox, my No. 1 fan in Riverside.

Upon my arrival, a plastic fedora with a “press” card in the band was given to me. I wore it throughout.

Susan Straight, the writer, beckoned me to the open chair next to her. “Have a seat. You’re 60. You’re tired,” Straight joked. “That’s why I’m sitting. I’m 63.”

Mostly I stayed on my feet, chatting with people. Tiffany Brooks and Jennifer Mermilliod got in a conversation about my recent interviews with each of them. Both remarked approvingly of how I don’t record interviews, just take notes.

“It makes you listen better,” Brooks theorized about my approach. “You captured everything I said perfectly.”

A cake was brought out with, hi

DAVID ALLEN — STAFF A dessert is presented Sunday at a Riverside party for our columnist’s 60th birthday. To see his own image on top was the icing on the cake.