On Track

David Allen

Humorous and local-interest newspaper columns from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, Calif.) written by David Allen and published from 2001 to 2005. In these columns, David Allen cruises the 210 Freeway before its opening, speculates on the purpose of the Montclair Mystery Tower and fiddles while Chino fumes about its role on TV’s The O.C.
He also interviews a Pomona dentist named Toothaker, checks in with the Rancho Cucamonga company that wanted to glue turkey rectums, and marvels at an Ontario homeowner’s tribute to Iwo Jima.
Enjoy these columns again or for the first time, as well as a bonus, unpublished column, and an introduction by the author about finding his voice and getting on track.


“David Allen is the most underrated columnist in Southern California. Anyone who doesn’t buy this book deserves exile to Orange County” Gustavo Arellano, former editor of OC Weekly and author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America

David Allen, a native of Illinois, has worked in newspapers for three decades, all in California, his adopted home. His career began in 1987 at the Santa Rosa News Herald and continued at the Rohnert Park-Cotati Clarion, Petaluma Argus-Courier and Victor Valley Daily Press, some of which are still in business. In 1997 he joined the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, where he is a columnist. Find his work online at dailybulletin.com, or impress your friends by buying an actual newspaper.