Bob Sipchen is editor-in-chief of Sierra Magazine and an adjunct professor at Occidental College, where he teaches writing and rhetoric. Before moderating a panel on water recycling and reuse, he talked about where he goes to be in nature, why he takes short showers, and the biggest misconception San Francisco has about Los Angeles (and vice versa).
How do you like your eggs?
Over easy usually.
Showers or baths?
Extraordinarily short showers because we have a water crisis.
What’s San Francisco’s biggest misconception about L.A.?
That the people of L.A. think about San Francisco and the people of San Francisco think about L.A.
Whom do you go to for advice?
My wife and my children.
What do you wake up to?
National Public Radio.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Supreme Court Justice.
When are you at your most creative?
During those very short showers.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
My kids on Father’s Day many years ago gave me a ceramic tray in which they hand designed tiles of all the things we’d done together, like camping and rafting and surfing and mountain biking. That was a great gift, a great surprise—they put a lot into it.
What’s your favorite place to go to be in nature?
Any river, any beach.
What’s on your nightstand right now?
Sierra Magazine, a Philip Roth book—Sabbath’s Theater—and a couple books on No Limit Hold ’Em poker.