San Diego native Joe Cabaniss has just published his debut novel, a collection of short stories that he describes as “30 years in the making,” even though the writing process took just 14 months.
After a long career in copywriting, journalism and marketing, the 78-year-old Alpine retiree has finally written the list of story ideas he’d been carrying around in his wallet for three decades. Cabaniss is the author of “Life Songs and Other ages: San Diego Stories,” a collection of 11 fictional coming-of-age tales, all of them connected in some way with San Diego.
“As I wrote these stories I wanted to show coming of age in all its shades, including that there’s no clear path to a meaningful and productive life, only challenges that must be met head on, even when the road ahead is murky and filled with pitfalls,” Cabaniss said, adding that the book’s overall theme is “that life is a worth the struggle, even though it’s filled with uncertainty, heartache and moral dilemmas … because, through it all, there are moments of pure beauty and happiness.”
Cabaniss was born at what’s now known as Naval Medical Center San Diego in Balboa Park at the end of World War II. His Navy family moved to bases around the country before returning to San Diego when he was 10. He graduated from Kearny High School and, later, San Diego State University, where he studied journalism. After working at a few local newspapers, he went on to work in public and media relations and finally as a copywriter at the Union-Tribune. He and his wife of 37 years, Sondra, now live in Alpine.
Cabaniss said he always dreamed of writing a novel — some of his favorite fiction writers are Ernest Hemingway, Annie Proulx and Tobias Wolff — but he lacked the confidence to ever try. Then during the pandemic lockdown, he used his downtime to flesh out one of his story ideas. He showed it to an editor friend and she encouraged him to carry on writing. “Life Songs” was published April 14.
All of the stories take place during in his own formative years — the 1950s-’70s.
“Those years represent the time period when I came of age and made decisions that would direct my future. When I look back now, San Diego was a much smaller town and things moved a slower pace … but there was ferment just beneath the surface.”
Several stories include surfing at local beaches and in Northern Baja, a ion Cabaniss pursued for more than 30 years. Another is set at a ski resort, where a college student named Jake takes a year off to work at a ski resort and sort out his life — an experience Cabaniss drew from his own life.
Others are pure fiction, though they all take place mostly around San Diego, with references to places like Clairemont, Mission Valley, Golden Hill, South Park, Point Loma and the Coronado Bridge.
There’s one story about a fifth-grade boy who’s the new kid in class; one about three friends heading to Tijuana to explore the nightlife; and one about a 21-year-old man getting his draft notice during the Vietnam War.
One of Cabaniss’ favorite stories is “Summer Work,” about a high school student named Alan who is betrayed by his father, who set him up for a summer job without telling Alan first. Then the corrupt employer refuses to pay him.
The final story in the book is “A Change of Season,” which is the only one that’s not a coming-of age-tale. It’s about a 95-year-old Korean War veteran who survives a mass shooting at a supermarket.
“As someone who is now closer to the end of his life than the beginning, I wanted to understand what it would be like to be very old — perhaps outliving one’s contemporaries — and how someone of that age would be received by younger people,” Cabaniss said. “The story examines these questions while the central character, Michael, looks back at his own life and tries to understand past tragedies and personal failings. The mass shooting serves as a metaphor to validate his worth in an increasingly impersonal, divided and hostile world.”
Now that he has published his first work of fiction (which is available for sale on Amazon), Cabaniss said he’s got a few other ideas that might find their way into print someday. He hopes his later-in-life publishing experience inspires others.
“You may not think you have stories to tell or the ability to tell them, but I believe everyone has a story inside that is worth telling,” he said. “If you’ve ever thought about writing something, especially if it keeps nagging at you, don’t wait. Don’t think of a blank screen as a daunting empty space, but rather as an opportunity to fill it with the stories you want to share with the world.”
“Life Songs and Other ages: San Diego Stories” by Joe Cabaniss (Dimensions, 2024; 256 pages)
