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Yap Zone: A Bay Area Sculptor's Avocado Pie
Let's talk about pastry, and the thin green line that separates genius from complete chaos.
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Hey there and welcome to the Yap Zone, our biweekly (that means every other week) newsletter where COYOTE gives you a behind-the-scenes glimpse into our newsroom and a rundown of our team's picks for music, food, events, and lots more. This newsletter is an exclusive offering and extra dose of gratitude for our Yapper- and Howler-tier members. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy!
Over the past month, COYOTE's own Reo Eveleth spent many, many hours digging into the apparent disappearance of the dandelion sculptures that used to stand in front of Oakland's Fairyland. They dove into news archives to find coverage of the sculptor, John Jagger; spoke to Jagger's colleagues and friends; created a whole dang Powerpoint presentation about the sculptures; and uncovered the successful sculptor's other life as a pie guy.
Eveleth did actually track down the sculptures, much to the delight of the Liesl Piccolo, the person who initially asked us to investigate. But because this week's intrepid newsletterer (Soleil Ho!) happens to be a food writer, let's talk about pastry, and the thin green line that separates genius from complete chaos.
"Sculpture is not all that I do well. I make a PIE. With Avocados, and it's phenomenal," Jagger declared in an ad he took out in the Santa Cruz Sentinel in 1974. "It's the final touch for any great dinner, bridge party, or encounter session."